6.8: Graphics

News journalists sometimes resent the use of graphics because they feel graphics take up space, forcing stories to be shorter. But good graphics not only add to the visual appeal of a newspaper but also attract readers’ attention and make stories more understandable. They help journalists’ stories rather than take away from them. Graphics help tell full stories.

Every graphic must have a purpose. Filling empty space or airtime (broadcasting time) is not a sufficient reason for using a graphic. A graphic should enhance the reader or viewer’s understanding of the story, which means the designer (often the journalist) must fully understand the story before designing or choosing a graphic to go along with it. Graphic artists sometimes produce the graphics, and sometimes journalists need to create their own graphics, using a variety of programs.

Graphics can convey basic facts or illustrate a process. Imagine you are reporting on air pollution in your country. A map could be used to show where the air is most unhealthy. An illustration could be used to show how air pollution affects the lungs. Both types of graphics work just as well for broadcast as they do for print.

Whatever the medium, avoid graphics that are crammed with too much information. The reader or viewer should be able to look at the graphic and take away some basic ideas. Think of a graphic as a sign next to the road where you can only stop for a minute or two – the driver does not get a chance to study it because things are going by too fast, so the information has to be clear and easily absorbed.

Whenever you are working on a story, you should think about ways to tell parts of the story using graphics. Our readers and viewers enjoy graphics and visuals. That is why the online world is a very visual place now – think of the success of Instagram or TikTok, both very visual.

You can use graphics to, among others, explain difficult concepts in stories to your viewers or readers; to help them understand the story better; to show them locations; to help them understand data; or to provide them with steps on how to do something. Graphics, like any news story, should be full stories. They should contain short introductions and/or clear headlines to explain what the graphic is about, information that tells the story, and visuals to explain the story.

Use images carefully in graphics; make sure they actually help to illustrate the graphic. Many people make the mistake of using any pretty picture they can find to illustrate a graphic just because they think the picture is pretty. Pictures in graphics should illustrate the content only, they should not be used “to make the graphic look pretty”. Graphics should always contain sources, just like any news story, to give the graphic credibility.

It is easy and fast to create graphics. There are many free online programs, including Canva and Infogram. But be careful when you use these programs; do not simply use any illustration or any diagram you find in templates available on Canva or Infogram because you think they look pretty. Use images in a meaningful way, because your viewers and readers are looking for meaning in a graphic. A simple example – if you have a graphic that shows the number of people in your country who are 100 years old (let’s say there are 11 of them), then your graphic should have 11 tiny human figures. Not one figure, not 10 or 12. Not 100. The viewer will look for the meaning of the number 11, so show it correctly. Just like any news story, a graphic should be accurate and credible. Remember this when you create a graphic. It is just as important as a news story and should be approached in the same way by using good sources and telling a truthful story in an accurate way.