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Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism

 

‘Washington Post’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

today: Interesting Trayvon Martin graphic in yesterday’s Washington Post

In case you missed it, the Washington Post ran a story Sunday updating us on the forensic work being done on the 911 calls made the night in February that George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman admits he shot and killed Trayvon Martin. But there’s a lot of discussion as to how the episode went down. Did Zimmerman — who [...]

May 20: It’s always cool when a visual journalist gets to write a story

Especially when that story is in the Washington Post. Jon Wile — a senior news designer for the Post — wrote a story published in today’s travel section about how to compile and use frequent flier miles. The story started on the front of today’s section which, for some reason, is posted on the Post’s web site today minus its [...]

May 18: The Washington Post pays tribute to a local music legend

“Go-go” music legend Chuck Brown passed away Wednesday at age 75. Quite frankly, I had never heard of him. But Brown was huge in the D.C. area, the Washington Post reported Thursday. The Post‘s Chris Richards explains: As go-go bloomed in the early ’80s, New York City musicians were using drum machines and turntables to mint a futuristic new sound [...]

April 21: Today’s burning question: How do they cut a pattern in the grass at baseball stadium?

OK, maybe the question isn’t quite so burning. But still, it’s at least an interesting question. And just in case you would like to know, the Washington Post today obliged us with that photo — by freelancer Matt McClain — and this nice graphic by Bonnie Berkowitz and Todd Lindeman. Click for a larger, readable look. Not very complex at [...]

April 18: The only space shuttle Discovery page I’m going to show you today (5)

Many, many newspapers today built nice pages with photos of the shuttle Discovery, orbiting downtown Washington, D.C., on the back of a NASA 747 en route to its new home at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles airport. I was tempted to do a roundup of the best. But after I saw the front [...]

April 7: How the Virginian-Pilot — and other area papers — covered Friday’s Navy jet crash (3)

As you may have heard, we had huge news here in Virginia Beach yesterday. A two-seat Navy F/A-18D Hornet fighter slammed into an apartment complex yesterday, destroying about 40 homes. Astonishingly, no residents — and neither of the crewmen who ejected from the jet — were killed. I spent nearly five years as graphics editor of the Virginian-Pilot. A jet [...]

March 12: A look at a few notable Bracket Monday pages

Today is one of the biggest days of the year for any sports section: The day we present to our readers this year’s NCAA basketball tournament brackets. Years ago, all the better papers out there began building their sections around themes. Over time, those themes have become a) more inventive, and b) better executed. Meaning it’s a great time to [...]

March 8: The 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Ironclads (1)

You’ve probably heard of the infamous battle of the Civil War ironclads, the Monitor and either the Virginia or the Merrimack, depending on whether you attended high school south or north of the Mason-Dixon line. That battle — depicted here by lithographers Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives — happened 150 years ago Friday. When the Civil War began in 1861, [...]

March 7: A look at today’s front-page Super Tuesday graphics (2)

Lately, I’ve done a lot of writing about election charts. Especially regarding what you might and might not want to try to show, graphically, during the primaries. I’m finding a lot of papers out there building huge map displays when, quite frankly, the story at this point of the election cycle isn’t about states or electoral votes. The story is [...]

March 6: Is it the shoes? It’s gotta be the shoes.

Just in time for this conference tournament season: Why it is that even some short guys can dunk a basketball. Click for a much larger view. Ah, it’s gotta be the shoes. Right? Wrong. It has more to do with the ass. Full disclosure: I’m six-foot-one. All I can dunk is a doughnut. And I don’t even do much of [...]

March 5: A superb Super Tuesday primer by the Washington Post

And it’s not a print piece, nor is it an interactive. It’s a video. Proving that news videos can be done well. Sometimes I wonder, given all the dreck I see out there. See if this Washington Post video doesn’t explain nearly all you need to know about tomorrow’s Super Tuesday races. You’re watching Chris Cillizza of the Post‘s the [...]

Feb. 22: ‘Trust us’? Why would we NOT trust the Washington Post? (3)

The folks at the Washington Post tweeted a few minutes ago: Wow. That certainly is an incredible photo of the Capitol, shot by Angela Pan — a reader, evidently. But that tweet sure seems like an odd choice of words. I mean, why would we not trust the post? Oh. Right. Refresh your memory of that little episode here. in [...]

Feb. 7: A look at the Washington Post’s huge political earmark story (3)

The big story today in Washington D.C.: The Washington Post launched the next big segment of its ongoing series in which they examine the personal finances of all 535 of our legislators in the House and the Senate. Today’s topic was huge: Earmarks. We used to hear a lot about “pork barrel” politics. That meant when a Congressperson or a [...]

Feb. 6: 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 [...]

Feb. 2: Tim Ball leaving the Washington Post to go freelance

One of the top sports designers working today — Tim Ball of the Washington Post — is leaving daily newspapers to go freelance. Tim tells us this is… …a move I’ve been considering for a while now, and the result of some very careful consideration, and one which has me thrilled at my prospects for the future. I’m heading to [...]

Jan. 31: Lots of infographics goodness in the Washington Post this week

Let’s take a look at three awesome graphics that have appeared in the Washington Post over the past two days… — REPUBLICAN DELEGATES I was so delighted to find this graphic in Monday’s Post. As I wrote in an article for Poynter a while back, the Republican nomination isn’t about state maps that get colored in, county-by-county. It’s about delegates. [...]

Jan. 26: I love it when science makes the front page

I’m sure you’ve been reading about the massive activity scientists are detecting on the sun lately. It’s not been strong enough — yet — to disrupt power grids or satellite communications. But it has created some spectacular nighttime displays — especially for you folks who live in the norther latitudes. This picture was taken by Rune Stoltz Bertinussen Tuesday night [...]

Jan. 25: A look at today’s State of the Union pages (1)

Here’s a look at some of today’s most notable State of the Union front pages. And a few not-so-notable ones as well… — WASHINGTON POST Washington, D.C. Circulation: 507,465 Not surprisingly, the Washington Post did a fabulous job with how it presented today’s State of the Union coverage. You get the feeling they’ve done this before. The lead picture — [...]

Jan. 24: Washington Post graphic explains two types of touch screens

There’s a great technology graphic in today’s Washington Post by artist Alberto Cuadra and graphics reporter Bonnie Berkowitz. Click for a much larger look: Find an online version of the graphic here. Or download a PDF of the entire page — today’s page 1E — here. I don’t know Bonnie. She’s a 1987 graduate of the University of Kansas and [...]

Jan. 22: No, this is NOT a real front page from the Washington Post (17)

Have you seen this? It’s been making the rounds today. At first, it looks like a surreal juxtaposition — the kind I’ve been writing about lately (here and here). That looks nothing like the Washington Post you’ll find at the Newseum today. Most folks passing it around are claiming it’s an earlier edition. No, it’s not an earlier edition. It’s [...]

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