The importance of visual communication in the field of Data Journalism

Abstract

While attempting to convey a message or idea, it's usually easier and more effective to do so face-to-face than on paper or via email. This might seem so because written or audio communication has certain limitations that could mess up your message or result in misunderstanding or miscommunication. That is when multimedia technology comes in picture. Audiovisual communication breaks down the traditional barriers of written communication to attain the result of the audience understanding the message easily, resulting in better discussion in business, education and personal applications; as well as mass communication and journalism.

In the past, journalists had one responsibility: reporting the news. But today news stories disseminate as the incidents unfold, from multiple sources. Thus, gathering, filtering and visualizing events has a growing value. Huge amounts of data are available, but exploiting them is not an easy task. Data journalism can be defined as a journalism specially in which numerical data is used in the production and distribution of information.

This research paper investigates the characteristics of data journalism and the essential visual tools and their importance in the field of data journalism.