Anatomy of a Tragedy

Oct. 3-9

The interactive graphic “Anatomy of a Tragedy” ran on Newsweek.com beginning Oct. 4. A similar version of this graphic ran in the print version of Newsweek that same week. Jessica Bennett and Monica Parra are credited as Producers for the graphic. Design and Interaction credit goes to Parra, Sarah Frank took and created the video.

One of the strengths of this piece has to be that the information is presented in a visual way that is both appealing and helps aid viewer understanding. For instance, the profile section of the graphic includes a name, age, photo, and a brief account of the accusation and charges each faces. But it also provides a visual line graphic that shows how each person is linked. Click on “Ashley Longe” and you can not only see that she is a friend of Sean Mulvey, but you can see that Sean Mulvey had a brief relationship with Phoebe Prince and his on-again-off-again girlfriend is Kayla Narey. When there are so many people involved in a story like this one, this kind of visual key provides important connections that are otherwise difficult to understand. The graphic is organized simply and is easy to navigate from one section to another.

The graphic provides a lot of information and is organized into three sections: profiles, a timeline and a photo gallery. I’ve already discussed the profiles, but the timeline and photo gallery are just as good. The timeline is like a mini-video that shows photos and gives pieces of information in chronological order.

The audience for this graphic is widespread. The graphic will appeal to many people who have heard about this tragedy. I especially found it interesting as an educator who spends each day in the high school classroom.

The design of the graphic is effective. The black background creates a dramatic effect that adds to the dark subject of the graphic, while the faint and faded pattern keeps the black from becoming too overwhelming. The red accent on texts is also effective as it maintains the overall serious and angry mood of the graphic and story.

The graphic is interactive and very easy to use. Viewers can move back and forth between sections with ease and a simple click on a section or photo will provide additional information.