Anna Brand, Managing Editor for Data and Graphics at CNN Digital, discusses building a data journalism team, balancing breaking news and long-term projects, creating impactful evergreen content, collaborative work on mass shootings, and impactful career development resources.
Anna Brand oversees a diverse global team focusing on daily news and lasting multimedia projects.
CNN Digital's data journalism team creates enduring content by humanizing data through personal narratives and interactive pieces.
Deep dives
Team Structure and Collaboration
Anna Brand, the managing editor of CNN Digital's database and graphics team, oversees a unique and diverse team of around 15 individuals located globally in the US, London, and Hong Kong. The team comprises data analysts, editors, visual editors, cartographers, developers, designers, and illustrators, enabling them to work on various projects and adapt to different storylines. Their workflow involves active participation in editorial meetings, adapting to newsroom priorities, and collaborating on projects across different regions and expertise.
Balancing Daily News and Long-Term Projects
Anna's team balances their focus between daily breaking news pieces and medium to long-term projects. They ensure that at least one data-related piece related to breaking news is published daily, while also working on medium-term projects that are not constrained by immediate deadlines and can engage audiences beyond the day of publication. Long-term projects, such as interactives and special multimedia pieces, are undertaken around twice a month, emphasizing the team's commitment to producing lasting, impactful visual journalism.
Data Visualization and Storytelling Impact
One of the team's significant projects involved visualizing data on mass shootings, analyzing trends and sharing personal stories to humanize the data. The project aimed to depict the proximity of individuals to mass shootings over the years, integrating data analysis with firsthand accounts to provide a comprehensive narrative. They emphasized the importance of creating enduring content that maintains relevance, even as data ages, through trackers and interactive pieces that can be updated to sustain reader engagement over time.
Anna Brand is the Managing Editor for Data and Graphics at CNN Digital. She chats with Simon and Alberto about building a data journalism team at the news outlet, explains how it works and what inspires her.