Editor & Publisher

Alvin Chang

Independent data journalist and assistant professor of journalism and design at The New School; and, until recently, head of visuals and data at The Guardian US.

How long have you been in creative/visual journalism, and how did you get your start?

My first job was at ESPN in 2009, writing data-driven stories about the NHL draft. Much of my data exploration was with visualizations, but never for publication. While I worked there, I attended NYU’S Interactive Telecommunications Program, a graduate school exploring art and technology. That’s when I really started thinking about visual and nontraditional storytelling.

For example, I collaborated on an installation called “Soliloquy.” We blindfolded the user, put headphones on their ears and sat them on a stool in the middle of a bunch of fans. When the user would lean in any direction, the fans and the audio would give them the sensation of flying through a nonvisual space. Eventually, they would discover the story.

Those experiences really shaped who I am as a journalist. When I got my first job as a data and visual journalist at The Boston Globe, I thought about the best way to tell each story with the resources at hand — in that case, pixels, sound waves and phone sensors.

What gets (and keeps) your creative juices flowing?

I love telling stories that help my readers discover something new — about themselves or the world around them. I often find these discoveries aren’t just about the story but also about how it is told. That’s why I love reporting on a story, understanding the systems at play and then thinking about how the form and structure can amplify the content.

It’s incredibly exciting to tell a story that helps a reader look at our world in a different light.

What advice do you have for young professionals starting out in the creative field?

It’s okay to be bad at something, because otherwise, you’ll never get good at it.

I constantly have to remind myself of this. For example, right now I’m taking on a project that scares me, because

I’m having to learn a bunch of things while working on it. But I’m trying not to let that stop me. I know it’s an opportunity to learn — and if I like it, I can keep going and eventually get good at it. I find the process of learning while exploring so rewarding. I end up encountering so many new ideas, skills and people. But it requires that first step of overcoming the fear of being bad at something.

For more experienced people, particularly managers, a corollary to this is — support people who try something new. Give them the space to learn, give them grace when they stumble, and be proud as they grow.

What do you see as the most important trend or facet of visual journalism/media creative today?

Growing up in Kansas, I’d thumb through big national publications at the grocery store, thinking, “I don’t know the world these stories are describing.” I eventually learned about that world, but I recognize that I’m perpetuating that cycle.

The media industry has become top-heavy. The large national newsrooms are so disproportionately resourced that they’re able to poach most of these folks away from local or niche newsrooms. In addition, these large newsrooms tend to serve a predominantly college-educated, upper-middle class, coastal and white audience. So that’s who gets their world reflected in these impressive, highly produced stories. That’s often who we try to impress.

Journalists will read this as a critique of their work, and that’s fine. But I think it’s important to recognize that we aren’t reaching many of the readers we want to empower with evidence-driven journalism.

Alvin Chang’s work can be seen online:

• “All student debt in the US,

visualized” on Vox.com

• “The climate disaster is here” on

The Guardian US site

• “We can draw school zones to make classrooms less segregated. This is how well your district does” on Vox.com

2022 CREATIVE VISIONARIES

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2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://editorandpublisher.pressreader.com/article/282166475064152

Editor and Publisher