From Decoding a Graph to Processing a Multimodal Message: Interacting with data visualisation in the news media

• Published in: Nordicom review Vol. 41; no. 1; pp. 33 - 50
• Main Author: Engebretsen, Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Gothenburg Sciendo 01-01-2020; NORDICOM, University of Gothenburg; De Gruyter Poland
• Subjects: Animation; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Communication; data visualisation; Decoding; Designers; Digital media; Education; Graphs; Grounded theory; Informers; Intelligence gathering; Journalism; Media literacy; media reception; Metaphor; multimodality; News media; Public relations; Public relations executives; Reading; Scientific visualization; Students; Visualization; Visualization (Computer); Norway; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 2001-5119; 1403-1108; 2001-5119
• DOI: 10.2478/nor-2020-0004

Data visualisation – in the forms of graphs, charts, and maps – represents a text type growing in prevalence and impact in many cultural domains; education, journalism, business, PR, and more. Research on data visualisation reception is scarce, particularly that related to interactive and dynamic forms of data visualisation in digital media. Taking an approach inspired by grounded theory, in this article I investigate the ways in which young students interact with data visualisations found in digital news media. Combining observations from reading sessions with ten in-depth interviews, I investigate how the informants read, interpreted, and responded emotionally to data visualisations including visual metaphors, interactivity, and animation.