CommonWealth Magazine

2023 Shortlist

Entry type: Portfolio

Country/area: Taiwan

Publishing organisation: CommonWealth Magazine

Organisation size: Big

Cover letter:

台灣天下雜誌數位敘事組（Graphic desk at the CommonWealth Magazine），是由四個熱愛數位新聞敘事的工作者所組成的小團隊。我們在組織內扮演數位轉型的火車頭，而目標也很清楚：在資源有限的傳統媒體中，掌握好議題和關鍵技術，也能發展優質的資料新聞（data journalism）和視覺新聞（visual journalism）。長期，我們也希望這個小組的經驗，能提供亞洲其他新聞室借鏡和參考。

天下數位敘事組成員目前僅有四人，包含PM、前端工程師、UI/UX設計師、還主編/記者，每個人都能同時身兼兩種職能，並對新聞有高度熱情。在我們提交的作品集中，可以看到我們不僅有處理即時新聞的能量，也有透過數位工具進行的長篇報導或調查報導。

我們採用的工作流程非線性，而是透過科技公司的專案管理方法來跑題目，也就是小步快跑、不斷修正。透過我們提交的作品，也想鼓勵各家新聞室，數位工具不僅是報導工具，也是新的工作流程思考。

[English translation by the organiser]

The Graphic desk at the CommonWealth Magazine in Taiwan is a small team of four individuals who are passionate about digital news storytelling. Within our organization, we serve as the locomotive for digital transformation, with a clear goal of mastering key issues and technologies to develop high-quality data journalism and visual journalism in traditional media with limited resources. In the long term, we also hope that our team’s experience can provide inspiration and reference for other newsrooms in Asia.

The CommonWealth Digital Narrative Team currently consists of four members, including a project manager, front-end engineer, UI/UX designer, and editor/reporter. Each member can perform two functions simultaneously, and we all have a high passion for news. In our submitted portfolio, you can see that we not only have the ability to handle real-time news, but also long-form or investigative reports using digital tools.

We use a non-linear workflow and rely on project management methods used in technology companies, which involves small steps and continuous adjustments. Through our submitted works, we also hope to encourage other newsrooms to see digital tools not only as reporting tools, but also as new ways of thinking about workflow.

Description of portfolio:

在傳統雜誌發展數位優先、且data-driven、visual journalism的報導，最大的挑戰是，要去證明新興的報導手法和呈現方式，和傳統特寫報導（feature writing）一樣有深度、甚至更能回應讀者的閱讀場景和需求。

在我們提交的作品集中，可以看到我們不僅有處理即時新聞的能量，例如「最新台灣疫情關鍵數字」、「烏俄戰爭的即時戰況數據」、「台灣2022年地方選舉暨修憲公投」、「解放軍24小時環台軍演」，也兼具長篇報導、調查報導，例如「人民日報十年頭版解讀」、「躲不掉的中國天眼」。

同時，考量到有超過八成的讀者是透過行動裝置來閱讀報導，在作品集中，也能看到我們特別針對行動裝置的UI/UX設計，讓讀者不管是透過桌機或行動裝置，都能與我們的視覺化、或大量的資料集（datasets）進行探索和互動。

[English translation by the organiser]

In developing digital-first, data-driven, and visual journalism for traditional magazines, the biggest challenge is to prove that emerging reporting techniques and presentation styles can have the same depth as traditional feature writing and even better respond to readers’ reading scenarios and needs.

In our submitted portfolio, you can see that we not only have the ability to handle breaking news, such as “Key figures on the latest Taiwan epidemic”, “Real-time battlefield data of Ukraine-Russia War”, “Taiwan’s 2022 local elections and constitutional referendums”, “24-hour PLA’s military exercise around Taiwan”, but also long-form and investigative reporting, such as “Interpreting the People’s Daily Front Page for the Past Decade”, “The Inevitability of China’s Sky Eye.”

At the same time, considering that more than 80% of readers read reports through mobile devices, our portfolio also showcases our special UI/UX design for mobile devices, enabling readers to explore and interact with our visualizations or large datasets regardless of whether they use desktop or mobile devices.