3340 Digital Story Telling Graphics March04 08

Graphics University of North Texas Department of Journalism Online Journalism 3340 March 4, 2008

What’s Happening Today
Infographics
For Thursday:
Read Handout on Blogs
Find a blog on a news website. Compare the content on the blog with a specific news story that the blog may be talking about it. What are the major differences? As a journalist, how do you distinguish the two? As a reader, how do you know the difference?
Guest speaker: Marissa Trevino, publisher, LatinaLista.net

Graphics Transform media
1980s – USA Today
For purists, it ‘cheapened’ newspapers
Made it look like cartoons
1990s – Became a standard
Color, graphics – a more reader-friendly publication
2000s – The Web
Content/Graphics/Interactivity

Info Graphics – The Basics
Accuracy
Just like a newspaper story, you’ve got to report it
Research and verify
Avoiding any distortion of key facts
Clarity
Information has to make sense to you – the journalist, your editor(s) and the reader
Built around a central idea
Precise

What it takes
George Rorick, former Knight Ridder graphics expert: “Plan, Plan, Plan”
Brainstorm well in advance (today would be good if you haven't started already).
Be proactive. Ask for what you need. Don't wait for someone else to tell you what the plan is. If you need a single point-person to copy edit graphics, get one.
Plan how graphics will be updated online. Depending on the size of your staff, decide how many times you will update your online graphics. Be realistic. Ask yourself if you have the resources to update online graphics on the fly, or whether they follow the same deadlines as the newspaper.
Talk to the production department and get them involved early.

What it takes
Create shells for charts and maps for local and national races.
Work out any bugs with technology. Find out in what format election results will be released and how the information will gel with your system.
Get an estimated schedule of when results will be released.
Make sure there is a point person who will receive the results and translate them into the right format if necessary.
Be clear about who is assigned to a specific task and with whom they will be working.
Practice dry runs to ensure the process will work.
B e prepared for the unexpected. Think about the "what ifs" that could occur. For instance, what if there is a serious malfunction at a precinct? What archived graphics should you have on standby?

Types of Graphics
Type-based
Lists
Refers
Web based
Chart-based Graphics
Simplicity
Consistency
Attribution
Charts
Bar Charts
Line
Pie Charts
Maps
Symbols
Location
Data

Examples
CNN.com
Alberto Cairo: http://www. ojr .org/ojr/stories/070523ruel
Http://www. steveouting . com/a-brilliantly-designed-web-infographic .html

3340 Digital Story Telling Graphics March04 08

by Neil Foote on Mar 09, 2008

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3340 Digital Story Telling Graphics March04 08 — Presentation Transcript