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Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

‘Wall Street Journal’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

April 4: How to throw a fastball (1)

Last year’s burning question at the start of baseball season: How do they get that little criss-cross pattern in the outfield grass? The Washington Post provided the answer. This year, the burning question is about trend in baseball is fastball pitching. It’s on the rise, reports the Wall Street Journal. In 2003, there were only three pitchers who threw at [...]

Feb. 9: Oh, no, New York Post. Really? You went there? (2)

The only paper I can find in the Newseum today playing up the somewhat arbitrary — and frowned upon by most reputable meteorologists — name for this week’s winter storm bestowed upon it by the Weather Channel was the New York Post. Nemo bites. But not as much as the name Nemo does in the first place. Boo, hiss, Post. [...]

Nov. 8, 2012: The problem with a color-coded map on a black-and-white page (1)

…is that you don’t get the colors. As the folks at the Wall Street Journal found today. Ivan Lajara, the social engagement editor for Digital First Media’s Daily Freeman in Kingston, N.Y., puzzled over that one today. My theory was that it was an illustration for that story you see on the “divided nation.” It is, after all, an opinion [...]

June 7, 2012: WSJ graphic shows how an airline makes — or doesn’t make — its profit

Every time I climb aboard an airplane and squeeze myself into a seat designed for someone three inches shorter and 100 lbs lighter, I wonder: Just how much money does an airline make by treating me like a head of cattle? The answer: Not much. According to a report in today’s Wall Street Journal, US Airways typically makes a profit [...]

May 12, 2012: Clever headline alert: Wall Street Journal

Ashley Kritzer of the Jacksonville (Fla.) Business Journal tweets: The headline over which she’s swooning this morning is inside toay’s Wall Street Journal: The reference is to James Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase, which reportedly lost $2 billion in questionable trading, under the noses of regulators. His explanation that no, the bank is not taking bad risks are a bit [...]

May 1, 2012: Wall Street Journal illustration is ‘lively and original and different’

Cathy Clabby — a friend from my old Raleigh News & Observer days and now a senior editor for American Scientist magazine in Research Triangle Park, N.C. — writes: I thought of you this morning when I saw an incredibly charming and inviting and clever illustration in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. I don’t know if you share good work [...]

Feb. 6, 2012: A look at today’s notable Super Bowl pages (4)

There was way too much similarity in choices of front-page Super Bowl art around the country. The best photo choices were made today by some of the nation’s largest papers. Here’s a look at some of the more notable pages of the day… ________________________________ REPRESENTING THE NEW YORK GIANTS — NEWSDAY Melville, N.Y. Circulation: 404,542 Newsday today wrapped its usual [...]

Dec. 7, 2011: Death and carnage — including children — on page one

While most U.S. newspapers put file art of Pearl Harbor, Christmas scenes or local photos on page one today, four of the nation’s eight largest newspapers made a very tough call to show the aftermath of a terrorists attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Three of the four papers used pictures taken by the same photographer, in fact: Massoud Hossaini of Agence [...]

Oct. 6, 2011: How newspapers presented the death of Steve Jobs (7)

A Facebook friend wrote this morning: I will be very interested to see your feedback on the Jobs A1s. Some papers have a very good reason to give the obit huge treatment, but I am concerned that designers and news types tend to be such fans that they will lose sight of what their audiences want/need. I hear you. There [...]

Sept. 12, 2011: For your consideration…

A frequent blog correspondent — who shall remain nameless today — points out the somewhat odd-looking lead photo on today’s Wall Street Journal and writes: Overheard in my newsroom: So…are they standing at the urinal or something? The picture is by D.C.-area freelancer Kristoffer Tripplaar, who was part of the White House pool on Sunday. Find his blog here. The [...]

Aug. 5, 2011: How newspapers played the stock market free-fall on page one

The story of the day, of course, was that disastrous day for Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 500 points Thursday. It has lost more than 10 percent of its total value over the past 10 days. Thursday was the single worst day for the stock market since… well, since 2008. Which doesn’t sound all that [...]

Aug. 5, 2011: Why the Wall Street Journal’s Europe edition needs a copy editor

The Wall Street Journal‘s European edition needs a copy editor to keep it from using the wrong word in its main headline. Like it did today. The word they wanted, of course: Rout. As in an overwhelming defeat. The word they used: Route. As in a road or avenue for passage or travel. D’oh! As in… well: Do’h! Thanks to [...]

July 9, 2011: I like sti-i-i-i-i-ple, Wilbur-r-r-r-r…

So this is what it’s come to for the proud “headcut” stipple drawings in the Wall Street Journal. Back in March of last year, I wrote in my old blog: I wonder if the subject matter of stipple headcuts has shifted a bit over the past few years. And then this ran on page one today. A headcut. Of a [...]

July 8, 2011: Space shuttle media gaffes… and more wonderful shuttle graphics (3)

We’ve seen the last launch of the U.S. space shuttle program. As you can see from this photo posted today by Tom Burton of the Orlando Sentinel. Read more about the launch in the Sentinel. Despite the iffy weather, the launch went off pretty smoothly except for a one brief, nerve-wracking moment. With just over 30 seconds to go, there [...]

June 27, 2011: Close, but not quite there for Monday’s flooding front pages

The big Midwestern flooding story today is the situation around the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, less than 20 miles upsteam of Omaha. A dam protecting the plant from the Missouri River failed Sunday, resulting in two feet of water surrounding the nuclear plant buildings themselves. The plant itself has been offline since April, for refueling anyway. Needless to say, officials [...]

June 9, 2011: Feel free to text someone about this graphic (3)

Here’s a cool — and fun — little graphic from today’s Wall Street Journal: The story itself — by the Journal‘s Anton Troianovski — is here. My take on the data: Verrrry interesting. A real game-changer for the mobile-first crowd. And perhaps not unexpected at all. My take on the graphic: Y’know, it’s funny. Seems like the Wall Street Journal [...]

May 25, 2011: Wednesday’s tornado aftermath pages (7)

The list of this year’s killer tornadoes just keeps getting longer. And the stories just keep getting sadder. But area newspapers continue to do a fabulous job keeping their readers up to date on search missions, relief efforts and prospects of recovery. — JOPLIN GLOBE Joplin, Mo. Circulation: 24,642 Once again, I have a number of pages from today’s Joplin [...]

May 24, 2011: Tuesday tornado aftermath pages from Joplin; Midwest

Again, today, I’ve managed to score just a bit of a scoop for you: A number of pages not posted at the Newseum. Meaning you possibly haven’t seen them yet… — JOPLIN GLOBE Joplin, Mo. Circulation: 24,642 In the friendly little city of Joplin, Mo. — so cruelly hammered by nature Sunday night — the hometown Globe continued its heroic [...]

May 6, 2011: Leave it to those geniuses at the Wall Street Journal… (2)

…to find a way to embed a bar chart into a tweet. Now, that’s the cleverest thing I’ve seen in a long, long time. Next up, I suspect: Stipple portraits in tweets. Find the Wall Street Journal‘s twitter feed here. Thanks to Harvard’s Nieman Lab for tweeting this today.

April 30, 2011: A little royal kissy-face for page one

Well, anyone interested in Friday’s royal wedding must be happy today with their newspapers. Seems like everywhere you go, you see the now-iconic photo of Prince William kissing his bride, Kate Middleton, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Or: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as they’re known now. Here’s the Guardian — circulation 283,063 — with what is typical [...]

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