How an FT team tries to leave readers with a “lightbulb” moment

Charlotte Tobitt of Press Gazette writes about how the visual storytelling team at the Financial Times works on providing “lightbulb” moments to its readers.

Tobitt writes, “Joiner explained that having a dedicated investigations unit will also make it easier for the rest of the team to concentrate on the other types of stories that do well for them – explanatory pieces about how the world really works whether it’s via quantum computing, generative AI or the British countryside.

“‘It is hard to explain the world and investigate it in one piece,’ Joiner said. ‘You kind of need two teams doing that. To go very forensic is a slightly different skill set – you’re looking for the needle in the haystack, the one thing that reveals something new. And then our visual stories should be explaining the much broader context and using visuals to explain to you why and how some things happen. And there’ll be crossover between those two teams, it won’t be mutually exclusive.’

“These explanatory stories often offer a ‘lightbulb moment’ for readers, Joiner said: ‘If you break down these things, explain it to them, they get so much from those pieces, it helps them really understand the story and that in turn makes the project much more memorable.

“‘It’s this visceral response to showing people stuff that when you combine with great reporting becomes super powerful.'”

Read more here.