Kapwing: Tips and tricks

This month I tested Kapwing Studio, a free online editing tool where users can make videos and GIFs with original news content for social platforms.  Overall, my experience with Kapwing was positive. I set out to utilize Kapwing’s tools to create factual guide videos for Missouri voters for RJI’s social feeds. I experimented with various features … Continued

Your first web-scraping project will be easier than you think

Last week, a colleague emailed me with a data request. She was working on a story about the shifting sands of Republican congressional rhetoric on climate change and was wondering if GOP voting records had seen any corresponding shifts in recent years. She pointed out that one good measure of environmental voting comes from the … Continued

Scrappy hacks for scrappy visual journalists

As far as I can tell, the Internet is mostly duct-taped together. And why should visual journalism be any different? In a world of flashy D3.js wrappers and React components and the like, sometimes you just need a chart—and you need it as quickly as possible. In other words, you don’t need interactivity; you need … Continued

Going virtual: Tips for a rewarding remote summer internship

Replicating the everyday office interaction Since you no longer have the everyday opportunities for casual communication with your coworkers, building those relationships can be quite the challenge. Every type of communication must be self-initiated and might exist on different platforms depending on who you are aiming to work with. Slack, email, project management software, Zoom.  In … Continued