picking the right media for a story

Here are the types of stories or aspects of stories that lend themselves to data visualizations, databases or maps:

Statistics and data - displaying data in graphics or on maps makes it easier for readers to digest and fun to explore. Examples:

• Gapminder - click on the Gapminder World link, then click the play button (see also Hans Rosling's video about the origins of this visualization)
• How Different Groups Spend Their Day – NY Times
• Oakland's Food Divide - Oakland North
• Columbia Stink Map - TheState.com (South Carolina)

How things work or how to do something - graphics are especially good for describing complex processes (video better for

Where humans can’t go - stories about space, microbiology, etc. Examples:

• Loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia - USA Today - illustrates many of the above points about graphics
• Evolution of the Shuttle Columbia disaster graphic - USA Today

History - timelines are especially effective ways of showing historical events

• 1969 - The New York Times
• History of Las Vegas - Interactive Casino History Map - Las Vegas Sun
• Sea Monsters: a Prehistoric Adventure - National Geographic
• Dying Tongues: Along the River of Time - Fargo Forum (KDMC fellow Helmut Schmidt was the multimedia reporter on this project)

Geo-locational events and stories - can be plotted on a map so the viewer immediately has a sense of where something happened.

Practical and personal - data that people can personalize and use in their everyday lives.

• Dollars for Docs - ProPublica

Readings and Resources

• Transformation to Digital Journalism - Databases, Data Visualizations and Map Mashups - a section on databases, data visualizations and map mashups in another KDMC guide