Ryan Restivo is a newsroom product leader and the founder of YESEO, an audience optimization tool designed to help journalists apply SEO best practices without disrupting editorial workflows. He currently serves as director of product at Newsday Media Group, where he works across mobile, over-the-top streaming platforms (OTT), which deliver video content directly over the
Why everything feels harder now is not just a mood or a passing frustration. It reflects how modern systems are built and what they are optimized to do. Ordering food takes longer. Customer service is less responsive. Commuting grows more unpredictable. Subscriptions quietly cost more than they did last year. Individually, these frustrations feel small.
As newsrooms test generative AI, the challenge is no longer whether to experiment, but how to do so responsibly. Questions of accuracy, oversight and real newsroom value remain unresolved. Clare Spencer is a reporter at Generative AI Newsroom and a former BBC journalist.In this Q&A with Storybench, she reflects on where AI has already proven
OpenAI’s short story “A Machine-Shaped Hand” is good. After being given the touchstone prompts “short story,” “metafiction” and “grief,” it produced not just a compelling and polished story but a touching examination of a subhuman existence that will never know grief. But, while the story movingly depicts the perplexities of its stunted experience, there is still something
Alvin Chang is no stranger to visual storytelling. He has built his career on turning data sets into captivating, compelling tales for The Pudding, The Guardian, Vox and others. Chang’s past work often explores themes of community and human behavior, and his newest piece continues that trajectory. In “30 Minutes with a Stranger,” for The
If you have ever opened the U.S. Census website looking for tract-level data, you know how quickly things can get overwhelming. Tables, codes, geographies, shapefiles, downloads: before you even ask a question, you are already having to decide which tools you need to answer it. Inspired by a video explainer by Kyle Walker, this tutorial
Sharon Pan and Amelia Dsouza are longtime friends and fourth-year students at Northeastern University from Edison, New Jersey. Together, they co-host “noctiphany,” a late-night radio show on WRBB 104.9 FM. Each week, their two very different playlists become a “sleepless nights” rating game as they trade songs, build themed playlists, and look for common ground
In a time of constant evolution, data journalism is becoming more of a necessity in multimedia reporting. Darryl Laiu is helping the DevHub at Hearst Newspapers to help make interactive graphics accessible to local newsrooms as their 2025-26 data visualization fellow. By blending together engineering, design, and reporting, he helps make data visualization possible for
On Wednesday, The Washington Post laid off more than 300 of about 800 journalists in their newsroom. And while much of the coverage has focused on the elimination of the sports and books departments, the design and data visualization teams were also gutted. Those cuts didn’t just damage a storied institution, they dealt a body
As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in newsrooms, a key debate is emerging: Will AI displace journalists or help them do their jobs better. At Reinvent: A Video Innovation Summit, hosted by Northeastern University on March 21-22, media innovation expert David Cohn, a senior director at Advance Digital, argued that AI-powered newsroom tools could be
Climate change is everywhere in the news. Maps, charts and interactive projects try to explain how fast the planet is warming and what that means for the future. But the same data can tell very different stories, depending on how it is framed. Some newsrooms focus on what warming looks like in a single city.
U.S. Border Patrol head Greg Bovino justified the shooting of Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal agents at a protest in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, saying the 37-year-old ICU nurse was aiming to cause “maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” Bovino and other officials claimed that Pretti “violently resisted” disarmament until the officers fired
Let’s be real: tools like Mapbox and Leaflet are great. You click a few buttons, and boom—you have a map. But if you want something fully custom—a 3D globe that moves with your story, “flying” from a close-up flight path to a global view just by scrolling—D3.js is still the GOAT. No fluff today. I’m
Despite being made over 10 years ago, the documentary “Bear 71” remains one of the most innovative pieces of digital journalism. The humanistic and empathetic storytelling brought thousands to the website to experience a bear’s story as she traverses the Canadian Rocky Mountains and protects her cubs, invoking a broader theme of the effects of
Since he was young, Mike Antonellis has immersed himself in the world of baseball. From growing up playing to being a minor league broadcaster for the last 28 years, Antonellis knows the game inside and out. His knowledge of the game and experience seeing players move through the Red Sox farm system led to hosting
As the school day started on May 24, 2022, students and families at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas were celebrating the end of the school year with trophies, friends and family. Many of those parents would never take their kids home. Hours later, 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos opened fire, killing 19 children and two teachers
What began as a small women’s health podcast gradually evolved into a weekly ritual for mother-daughter duo Alyssa and Nadia Herrera-Set. “Papaya Talk,” launched in November 2022 by Alyssa and her colleague, originally focused on pelvic floor education and guidance for new and expecting mothers. When the colleague stepped away in 2023, Nadia — then
Tim O’Rourke is the vice president of Editorial Innovation and AI Strategy at Hearst Newspapers. With AI evolving at breakneck speed, the challenge for newsrooms isn’t using it, it’s integrating it responsibly so it enhances journalism rather than replaces it. For many local and regional outlets, these tools bring both opportunities and challenges, making reporting
Digital fashion is an emerging field in which styles exist entirely online, and garments are created with 3D design software, virtual and augmented reality, and video game engines. It trades the traditional wearability of clothes for a greater focus on aesthetic design that may not be possible in the physical world. While the art form
Translating cutting-edge research on childhood trauma into clear, accurate narratives is no easy feat—especially when scientists themselves are still defining what’s “normal.” For her Knowable Magazine investigation “Unseen Scars of Childhood Trauma,” Colorado-based freelance science journalist Amanda Keener tackled this challenge head-on, exploring how adverse childhood experiences leave biological fingerprints that researchers are only beginning
Imagine scrolling through TikTok or Instagram and pausing for a few seconds because the animation makes you feel something. That’s the moment video-motion designer Will Bottone, a UK-based motion designer and creative at SHOUT, is chasing. Trained in film production, Bottone translates his love for short-form design into a form of storytelling that bridges emotions,
The world’s largest sporting event is coming to North America next summer. For the first time since 1994, the Fifa World Cup will be partially hosted in the United States, with games also being hosted in Canada and Mexico, for a massive 108 game tournament across 16 cities. Of those 108 games, the United States
As 2025 winds down, AI in journalism feels less like a side project and more like the infrastructure underneath reporting, distribution and even business models. Newsrooms are building in-house systems, funders are backing AI experiments in membership and fundraising, and watchdogs are scrambling to keep up with new risks, from AI browsers tunneling through paywalls
Have you ever imagined leading one of the most influential digital newsrooms in the U.S.? Swati Sharma, editor-in-chief of Vox, has built a career defined by innovation and a commitment to audience trust. Speaking at Northeastern University’s 2025 Reinvent Video Innovation Summit, she reflected on her path from journalism student to the top of Vox’s
It’s been seven years since The New York Times made a splash by using augmented reality (AR) to allow users to experience the plight of a Thai youth soccer team trapped in a cave, part of an early experiment in immersive media. “We wanted to showcase that we had this data about all the little
It’s time for turkey! Across the nation, approximately nine out of every 10 Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. And Americans aren’t the only ones celebrating the holiday. Around the world, people from countries such as Canada, Germany and Japan come together with friends and family to express their gratitude. Nothing unites people more than food, and for
To better understand what digital consumers want from local news online, Northeastern University’s Reinventing Local TV News Project (RLTVN) explores how TV stations can share stories that connect with younger audiences on digital platforms. Gabby Aidam, a recent Northeastern graduate in Game Art and Animation, was a RLTVN fellow, collaborating with all three other fellows
Do you want to visualize data but don’t know how to code? As data becomes central to storytelling, journalists increasingly need to be able to turn numbers into something readers can understand. Not everyone in the newsroom may know how to code, but nowadays a solution exists. Platforms like Flourish Studio, Datawrapper, Tableau, and Google
While nostalgia might cloud the vision, some sci-fi enthusiasts are noticing a changing theme in their beloved films and television. What was once a genre characterized by sleek, futuristic technology and thrilling visions of scientific discovery now appears to be turning bleak and depressing. Storybench spoke with Alvin Chang whose project “Who Killed the World?”
Freelance photojournalist Stephanie Keith has spent the past several months documenting the arrests and detentions carried out by ICE at 26 Federal Plaza, a little-known federal office building in Lower Manhattan where many immigration hearings take place. After Donald Trump’s inauguration, Keith anticipated that immigration enforcement would intensify and that ICE’s expanding reach would become
October baseball is one of the best times on the sports calendar. This year, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays proved exactly why. In a nail-biting seventh game of the World Series, the Dodgers defeated the Blue Jays in 11 innings to capture their second straight championship, solidifying their reputation as baseball’s
If the only things you’re doing on bluesky are scrolling, liking and posting, then you are still riding a bike with training wheels. Hear me out. There are several simple and free tools out there that let you take advantage of bluesky’s secret weapon: its open-source skeleton. A how-to A few firehose ideas: First, you’re probably
When Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” was released in 1975, it not only redefined summer at the movies, becoming the first summer blockbuster, it also redefined how people thought of sharks, causing a massive and mostly newfound terror of these ocean dwellers . And yet, yes, out of the 130 minute runtime of “Jaws” Bruce ( infamous
Every day, countless government web pages quietly disappear. Policies, reports and datasets once accessible to the public now show “Page Not Found.” Curious about what kind of pages have been removed, I took the Department of Justice (DOJ) as a test case, to recover the missing pieces of the once discoverable public record. We’ll be
As a Visual Editor at the Swiss daily NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), Adina Renner is responsible for stunning projects like “Switzerland in 2075,” a visualization of the impact of climate change. That kind of work is built by many people with specialties that cross disciplines. Storybench spoke with Renner about newsroom dynamics and the different
Maps are one of the most powerful tools in our storytelling toolbox. They can illustrate where an event happened, how resources are distributed across a city, and even plot where your favorite coffee shops cluster in your neighborhood of interest. Maps allow readers to not just read stories–but explore them. The good news: you don’t
Leer en español After more than 20 years of professional experience in the strategic planning and operation of the real estate sector, degrees from the Wharton School of Management and Stanford University, and success as a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, Germán Ahumada Alduncin, a disruptive Mexican entrepreneur, knew it was time to share the key
There’s a bit of coding magic behind every map-based visualization in the form of a GeoJSON file. That’s the code that literally lets you connect the dots to the data. While visualization programs like DataWrapper and Flourish offer maps with built-in GeoJSON files for commonly-used locations and boundaries, there are lots of times when you’ll
Say goodbye to the days where artificial intelligence simply generated ideas and images. This summer, audiences saw how AI was used on big screens around the world. From reimagining a Hollywood classic, to headlining its own film festival, to creating a full-length animated feature film, here’s a quick round-up of how AI has shaped moviegoing
Journalism’s AI summer is over, and the reckoning has begun. Fast-moving trials gave way to uneasy debates. Now fall brings something sharper: clarity on what artificial intelligence actually means for the news business. Newsrooms are building chatbots. French unions are securing direct payouts for reporters. Misinformation is targeting journalists themselves. Legal settlements are reaching into
“This is the moment before the Israeli military killed a group of journalists,” the video begins. The footage shows a group of people, some wearing bright orange vests and helmets, steadying themselves on a half-demolished exterior staircase. Twelve seconds in, a large blast erupts, engulfing the staircase in smoke. The camera shakes as voices cry
Hundreds of journalists gathered in New Orleans earlier this month for the Online News Association’s annual conference. This year, ONA focused heavily on artificial intelligence, along with climate and resilience. Some highlights of the sessions on AI: Prompt Like A Pro: AI Skills Every Journalist Needs, Yumi Wilson The Big Idea: Journalists can use generative
Battle of the Bots: Which AI Translator Is Best? We put three to the test As AI translation tools spread into classrooms and newsrooms, we decided to put a few of them to the test. We asked three leading language models – ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini – to translate the same technical tutorial on
Last week, the Trump administration announced one of its most aggressive immigration policies yet: a $100,000 fee for filing new H-1B petitions, the visa program that allows U.S. employers to hire skilled foreign workers in specialized fields. Much of the reaction has focused on how the move could affect the tech industry, which has long
Read this article in English Прочитайте эту статью на русском языке. 作为一名网页开发者，你每天都在和文字与排版打交道。你经常需要决定这些文字的呈现方式，尤其是在没有设计师参与的情况下。即使你没有意识到这些选择，它们也确实存在。坦白说，有些人做出的选择相当糟糕。 在本指南中，我们将介绍关键的排版设置，并学习如何用 CSS 来调整它们，这样你网页和应用程序上的文本就能默认呈现出不错的效果。这个教程适合那些想用 20% 的努力获得 80% 排版效果的开发者，而不用一头扎进复杂的排版设计中。如果你本来就熟悉排版，但还没怎么用过 CSS，这篇文章也能帮你快速掌握与常见概念相对应的 CSS 语法。 本文不会涉及为你的项目选择特定字体或字体分类。但我们会讲到字体的合适格式。此外，也不会讨论引号的正确使用或连字符与长破折号的区别。不过如果你对这类话题感兴趣，我强烈推荐阅读 Butterick’s Practical Typography。 相反，我们将专注于让文本看起来更美观、易读的通用调整，尤其是实现这些效果所需的 CSS 规则。 最后要记住，在设计中，规则固然有用，但不必害怕打破它们。今天我会分享一些规则和建议，但这并不意味着你不能走另一条路。如果你对自己的选择有信心——请尽情打破规则！但如果没有把握，那就坚持合理的默认值。 排版基础：选择字体 考虑使用本地字体 在网页中使用字体时，你可以选择用户设备上已安装的字体，也可以加载自定义字体。对于没有特殊排版需求的项目，我推荐直接使用系统内置字体。但这并不意味着你只能用 Arial 或 Times New Roman！你可能会惊讶于 system-ui 能带你走多远。想要更多选择，可以看看 Modern font stacks。 这段文字使用 CSS 的 font-family: system-ui 设置。它会根据你的系统而呈现不同的效果 外部字体 要加载自定义字体，你需要托管字体文件并在样式中添加 @font-face rule。 也有一些服务可以帮你托管字体，其中最受欢迎且免费的就是 Google
This article has also been translated and can be viewed in both Chinese and Russian. As a web developer, you constantly work with text and typography. And you will often make decisions on how this text will look, especially if you work without a designer. Even if you don’t notice those choices, they are still
Read this article in English. 阅读这篇文章 Как веб-разработчик, вы постоянно работаете с текстом и типографикой. И вам часто приходится принимать решения о том, как будет выглядеть этот текст, особенно если вы работаете без дизайнера. Даже если вы не замечаете этих решений, они всё равно есть. И, честно говоря, некоторые из вас делают плохой выбор. В
Unlocking Emotional Waves: How Time, Location, and Context Shape Social Media Sentiments By Jin Chen In recent years, social media has become an important part of our daily lives, serving as a platform for people to express their emotions and share information. Users express their feelings and emotions through text, images, videos, etc. on social
Russell Goldenberg and Arjun Kakkar of The Pudding dissected 34 YouTube apology videos, or “vlogpologies,” including the apology video for the scandal that sparked perhaps the most public backlash, when a vlogger filmed and uploaded footage of a corpse in Japan’s Aokigahara Forest, known as the “suicide forest.” A sign at the entrance of the
Alvin Chang’s project for The Pudding, “The Search for My Kimchi,” reflects his signature approach: blending personal narrative, cultural memory, and interactive design to explore the emotional terrain between food and identity. In this Q&A, Chang discusses how he structured the interactive essay, the challenges of researching kimchi’s history in the West, and why his
One of the biggest challenges working with text data is the many different ways that people can enter the exact same information. A human knows that “St. Lucie, Florida,” “Saint Lucie, FL,” and “St Lucy, Florida” are probably all the same place, but a computer doesn’t. “Fuzzy” matching pulls similarities between the letters in words and
GenAI has emerged as a transformative tool in data visualization, offering the ability to interpret and represent complex datasets with ease—but can it consistently maintain accuracy while doing so? At “What can GenAI really do for data visualization?,” part of the IDDV360 series at Northeastern University’s Center for Design, experts pointed to the technology’s potential
For those looking to get started with data storytelling, DataWrapper may be just the free, easy-to-learn tool you’ve been looking for. The locator map option certainly gets the job done, letting you display dots on a map to pinpoint locations. But what if those dots could tell a story? What if your map could make
In today’s data abundance, it’s easy to create visualizations that blend in, yet creativity and originality are essential to producing an effective and meaningful visualization that stands out. In “Blooming,” Kristin Bauman used an unusual visual metaphor of plants and flowers to reveal how poverty rates in the Pacific region vary by age, gender and
Many people think of R as a way to visualize data, but it can also be a useful tool to explore datasets and seek possible story ideas. At the 2023 Investigative Reporters and Editors conference, Charles Minshew, the digital storytelling editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, walked through using basic R code to question datasets. Knowing
What do Hot Ones hot sauce and COVID vaccine hesitancy have in common? For video journalist Joss Fong, they’re both opportunities to inject evidence-based science into topics people don’t usually think of as “hard science.” Fong, a video journalist based in Brooklyn is half of the two-person team behind the YouTube channel Howtown, which has
A research partnership between Northeastern University’s School of Journalism and WCVB-TV in Boston has been recognized with a major journalism award. WCVB received a 2025 regional RTDNA Edward R. Murrow award for excellence in innovation. For the award, WCVB submitted ten videos produced by Leanna Scachetti. Scachetti joined the WCVB newsroom in December 2023 as
As the spring turns to summer, the intersection of AI and journalism is marked by fresh experiments and deepening debates over the future of storytelling. Here’s a look at where things stand now. What’s happening in local newsrooms Some of the most promising AI applications in journalism are emerging from small and non-Western newsrooms. In
As protests against the Trump administration spread, journalists are covering local rallies — but putting them in context of larger movements can be a challenge. To help, I built a simple tool that lets you search for recent protests near you and create an embeddable map you can use in your reporting. Try out Protest
The US Census paints people’s ancestry with a broad brush. While people of Middle Eastern and North African origin are put into the racial category of “white,” this designation does not accurately capture their unique identities, leaving many feeling misrepresented. “No Box to Check: When the Census Doesn’t Reflect You” is a recent project by
The Investigative Reporters and Editors’ (IRE) annual data journalism conference – commonly referred to as NICAR, short for National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting – brought together over 900 attendees and data experts from seven countries in Minneapolis, Minn. this year. Over four days, attendees immersed themselves in different levels of training sessions, from beginner-friendly tutorials
He’s braved Arctic storms, fought for endangered species, and risked everything to bring the world closer to nature. But can powerful storytelling truly save wildlife before it’s too late? Step into Martin Gregus’ world and decide for yourself. Beginning with a camera stolen from his dad, Gregus has come a long way from his teenage
A New York Times analysis found that the new Trump administration took down over 8,000 government web pages in its first two weeks. Among these include 3,000 pages from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention containing crucial federal healthcare data, 3,000 pages from the Census Bureau and 180 pages from the Department of Justice,
Since its breakup with NBC, WHDH Channel 7 News in Boston has continued to thrive as a bastion of independent journalism without a network affiliation. Nestled in the heart of the city, 7News has distinctly carved out its space in the competitive Boston media market, delivering snappy and visually compelling stories on a daily basis.
What does it take to earn a community’s trust and tell their story with integrity? James Estrin has been teaching us all that for the last few decades at The New York Times where he is a staff photographer, and a founder and co-editor of the photography blog Lens. We sat down (virtually) with him
What does climate change feel like? How will your city’s climate shift, fifty years from now? How can we better understand the long-term effects of climate change? These are the questions Derek Taylor, a data scientist and GIS specialist, set out to explore in his latest piece for The Pudding. Expanding on an earlier project
In 2025, the sight of a steaming cup of coffee and a freshly printed newspaper on a kitchen table is a rare snapshot of a bygone era. Journalists of the past quarter-century have seen newspapers and magazines grapple with declining circulation in a world driven by digital media, and younger generations are forcing publications to
From lawsuits that may define AI’s limits to new partnerships sparking innovation, here’s a look at the month’s notable developments that are reshaping the intersection of AI and journalism. Continuing Legal Tensions The year opened with the news that The New York Times is taking OpenAI to court. According to the complaint filed by the
Forrest Sanders is a reporter, videographer, editor, geek, Collierville, Tennessee native, Middle Tennessee State University grad, Nashville resident, a rambler of useless information and a horror movie nut – as his Instagram handle fondly articulates. He is a multimedia journalist for Nashville’s WTVF who enjoys the independent process of reporting and producing stories that he
To better understand what digital consumers are interested in when it comes to engaging with local news content online, Northeastern University’s Reinventing Local TV News Project (RLTVN) explores how TV stations can share stories that entertain and inform their growing audience on digital platforms. Leanna Scachetti was an RLTVN fellow at WCVB, Boston’s ABC affiliate,
The Big Mac Index has been around for years for people to intuitively compare and contrast prices at their favorite chain restaurants. The opening of Din Tai Fung in New York City inspired Felix Salmon, Sarah Grillo and Danielle Alberti from Axios to create a similar index using Din Tai Fung dumplings. They reported on
Local television stations all across the country are asking what they can do to draw in younger audiences. To answer that question, Northeastern University’s Reinventing Local TV News Project (RLTVN) placed four fellows in newsrooms across New York, Chicago and Boston. These fellows create content exclusively for the stations’ digital platforms including streaming channels and
We’re living in the era of mass sharing and large data sets. Journalists have used all this new data to do everything from investigations to developing useful tools for the public. The relationship between journalism and data isn’t one way. As much as journalists have used data to strengthen their storytelling, data has deeply shaped
As 2024 winds down, the relationship between AI and journalism is heating up with new lawsuits, licensing deals and AI usage in newsroom practice. Here’s a summary of the latest developments. Legal Battles Lawsuits over AI’s use of copyrighted content are heating up. In Canada, OpenAI faces a joint suit from five major news companies,
Northeastern University’s Reinventing Local TV News Project (RLTVN) wants to revolutionize local TV news to appeal to younger audiences. In partnership with leading newsrooms in Boston, New York and Chicago, the project has funded year-long fellowships for three producers and one animator. At the heart of this effort is a focus on over-the-top content —
Imagine standing inside the magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral, sunlight streaming through its iconic stained-glass windows, the sound of a choir resonating through the vast stone arches. Now, picture being able to experience this breathtaking moment from wherever you are, with just a scroll of your mouse. Through the power of immersive storytelling, a team from
Lynn Johnson is the type of photographer whose images you don’t just see, you feel. Since her beginnings as a photographer for The Pittsburgh Press, Johnson’s portfolio has grown to include a broad range of subject matter. Johnson built a name for herself as an artist who could not only shoot the most elusive subjects,
At the Computation + Journalism Symposium hosted by Northeastern University Oct. 25-27, journalists and data scientists from around the globe came together to discuss the ways that technology to be used to tell compelling stories. A panel of data-driven research projects centered around the theme of “Audience and Representation” looked at new work on everything
At first glance, it’s just a list — a familiar sight to music lovers and critics everywhere, another ranking of the 500 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, created in 2003, 2012 and 2020. But upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary list. In “What Makes an Album
Since 2005, more than 3,200 newspapers have shuttered. At the same time, terrestrial radio’s popularity has plummeted – with most of its listeners aged 50 to 64. Margaret Low, CEO of WBUR in Boston since 2020, has seen it all. And what she’s seen has given her ideas about what the future will look like.
Podcasts, the rising stars of digital media, have a significant portion of their audience being listeners in their 20s and 30s. As this modern medium reshapes how stories are told, it’s also finding new ways to revive an old one: local news. But what’s it like to work in this dynamic and fast-growing industry? We
Let’s start this with some confessions: Something I’ve been coming around to, though, is maybe there isn’t a Manhattan Project level world changing use case for AI in journalism. Maybe Chris Albon has the right of it, that the real value is AI saving a human an hour of work … millions of times a day.
The carbon credit market is a system designed to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. It allows companies or countries that emit carbon dioxide (CO2) or other greenhouse gases to buy “credits” that permit them to release a certain amount of emissions. These credits can either be mandatory, regulated by law, or voluntary, where companies
If you followed along with part one of our Mapbox tutorial, you should have a simple choropleth map on your hands. It’s a nice map, if a little skeletal. In this tutorial, we’re going to put some meat on them bones — so to speak. In, and on top of, Mapbox, we’ll add a point
Who is Kamala Harris? You’d have a hard time finding anyone who hasn’t heard her name by now – Harris is the current vice president of the U.S. and the Democratic presidential nominee. Harris’ long-standing public service career spans from her beginnings as district attorney in San Francisco to her role as California attorney general
The U.S. presidential election is five days away, and it’s going to be close. Or is it? CNN Senior Political Data Reporter Harry Enten noted last week that despite polling showing a historically close race, either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris could still capture more than 300 out of 538 electoral votes – a relative
If you’re an iPhone user who doesn’t delay updates until your phone is on the brink of breakdown, you may have noticed something new in your Notes app. The iOS 18.1 operating system, which hit our pockets this week, included a new feature for phone calls and the Voice Memo and Notes apps that take
While we prepare for the cold winters and shorter days, here’s some need-to-know news about what’s happening at the intersection of AI and journalism. AI’s role in newsrooms Poynter reports that ESPN is going ahead with having AI help cover “under-served sports” for game recaps. These AI-generated summaries will be reviewed by a human editor
Few things grab a reader’s attention quite like a map. While bar and line charts have their place in data visualization, a choropleth map is a great option if you’re looking to do something a little more sophisticated. For static maps, free tools like QGIS work well, but if you want to add interactivity and
Generative artificial intelligence, once considered futuristic, is now becoming part of newsroom workflows, with major organizations like the Associated Press and Bloomberg incorporating it into their news production. But how does the public feel about this? A recent study, “What Does the Public in Six Countries Think of Generative AI in News?” from the Reuters
Yup, Apple Keynote! Let’s push this “free” presentation software to the limit! Using Keynote for animation and creating motion graphics is unconventional but totally suits my illustration style, problem solving and process. Plus, I love a creative challenge. I do know After Effects enough but find it convoluted and a lot of AE work looks
Scrollytelling has become a way for journalists and media outlets to engage their audience, and online platforms in a way that will keep their readers locked into the story. While Grist, an independent, non-profit media organization, utilizes this innovative technique, they don’t lose sight of the core of their story. Founded in 1999 by Chip
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas fighters, who killed 1,200 soldiers and civilians and took more than 200 hostages. The Israeli military response that followed has resulted in the deaths of at least 40,000 in Gaza, most of them civilians, and leveled large swaths of
For a conversation between two men, Tim Walz and JD Vance spent a lot of time talking about “women” at the vice presidential debate on Oct. 1. But the way they did, showed that their views are worlds apart. The Storybench team combed through the text transcript of the debate and found that, while Walz
Hernandez is a Graphics Editor at The New York Times. Long time ago someone on Twitter asked me to do an explainer on how I did the “smoke” animations for this Reuters piece. It has been a while since then, but maybe it would be useful for someone out there, even if that means learning how
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape various industries, its influence on the music world has been profound, sparking excitement and controversy. AI-generated music tools, such as those developed by companies like Suno, are making waves in the creative process. However, they also raise questions about authorship, copyright, and the future of musical identity. Yan Wu,
From heated exchanges to subtle digs, the Harris-Trump debate on September 10 left plenty to unpack. The debate offered a window into the distinct communication strategies and policy priorities of both candidates. Here at Storybench, we love a good data-driven debrief. Theatricality and noise aside – let’s dig into what the candidates actually said. Are
The kinds of music played behind NPR’s Tiny Desk have changed significantly since the concert series started in 2008. I decided to use data to show exactly how it’s evolved. To accomplish this, I used a web-scraping package called Playwright, Last.fm’s artists API, Datawrapper, Adobe Illustrator, some CSS and JavaScript for animation, and, of course,
Welcome back from the summer. So much has happened at the intersection of AI and journalism while you’ve been at the beach. Here’s my latest summary of what caught my attention. Skill Building The Online News Association (ONA) has launched a huge new effort to build AI skills in newsrooms with support from various funders.
