Introduction
While interactive online journalism has been the subject of much analysis in contemporary communications studies (Boczkowski 2004; Bruns 2005; Deuze 2008), to date our understanding of the field of interactive visual journalism has been limited to output studies; including typological studies (Schroeder 2004; Quandt 2008), an audit of pre-existing materials in the context of newspaper workflow management routines (Giardina and Medina 2012), and a games-centric, end-use-focussed review (Bogost, Ferrari, and Schweizer 2010). But what of those individuals who create these innovative interactive story-telling devices? How they think and work is little understood in the literature.
The growing status of interactive graphics on our news and on the news profession more widely is evident within and beyond journalism practice. Today the Guardian has two interactive teams, one of which is concerned uniquely with its US audience. The BBC has a News Online Specials team, and The Times has a new Visual
Journalism unit. Journalistic excellence in this field is officially recognised in the form of
Digital Journalism, 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2013.841368
2013 Taylor & Francis
new professional awards such as The Data Journalism Awards (established in 2012 by The Global Editors’ Network), and in new categories within existing industry awards, such as ‘Digital Innovation’ in the Amnesty International Media Awards and ‘The Digital Award’ within The British Press Awards. There is a growing recognition of the potential for innovation, originality, and excellence in the field.
The production of interactive visual journalism often involves bringing profession- als from statistical, information design, and computing backgrounds into the news- room. Do these professionals bring influences that in turn affect how interactive stories are selected, treated, and published? Interactive news graphics inform the public sphere and the functioning of society just as traditional print and broadcast news formats do, so the professional norms at play are pertinent in any discussion of news values.
This exploratory study is concerned with establishing the routines, processes, and relationships that shape the interactive news we consume. More specifically, it aims to address a series of interconnected research questions: