The Dalk – Data Talk digital studio, led by Tommaso Guadagni, has decided to celebrate this anniversary with a reflection on what visual journalism is today based on a series of interviews with industry professionals who work in international magazines, such as Bloomberg, CNN Digital , DER SPIEGEL, South China Morning Post SCMP, ProPublica, @epsiloon Magazine, Star Tribune.
We start from the definition given by Sarah-Grace Mankarious, Supervising Editor of Special Projects at CNN: «Visual journalism consists in publishing news online by exploiting all the techniques that digital can offer, such as interactivity, public participation, and multilinear narratives, among other things, while maintaining the journalistic standards of reporting, in-depth analysis and fact-checking. Basically, to tell a story, visual journalism adds graphics to words alone».
This is the experience we have with Lab24 on the Sole 24 website, the expression of a set of professionals: journalists, designers, graphics and developers.
From Snowfall to today the projects have multiplied. The great avant-gardes remain the main international publications. As some of the interviewees also say, visual products are generally appreciated by younger audiences and bring results such as pages viewed and time spent on the article.
Even today they are an expensive option for smaller companies, even if the increasing availability of tools that do not require development skills are lowering this entry barrier.