|
The
Charlotte Observer
Map of
Iraq
How the idea developed.
As
war loomed DME Tom Tozer pulled together a newsroom
team to look at producing some preliminary graphics
to run in our Sunday Perspective section. During the
war on terrorism I had produced a full-page map that
was very well received and used by a wide audience,
so I was asked to produce a couple of these maps to
provide context and clarity for our readers on the
War with Iraq.
How it was researched.
Perspective
editor Dee Dee Strickland, began culling through wire
reports and various web pages looking for the basic
information we wanted for the first map: Prelude to
War. During this time I also started a collection
of reference material for the second map, Inside Iraq,
while selecting material to use in the first map.
For the initial map, we wanted to show the entire
Middle East and European region. I chose the Persian
Gulf and Turkey as insets, since there were many additional
details that we had to include on these two areas.
The design used for the insets was also used for the
daily maps we have published during the war.
The second map was designed as a general geo/political
style map to provide background information that most
of our readers were clamoring for. It includes a very
detailed map with several other topical maps.
The first map was published on Sunday, Feb. 9, the
second one a week later on Feb. 16.
Feedback
Huge,
huge interest and response from readers. We eventually
re-published each map in our special section on the
war. I also produced a smaller version of the Iraq
map that we posted as a PDF file on our web site.
An earlier black and white map of the Middle East
was also posted for download. We printed these maps
out for all the newsroom staff to use as general reference.
Many readers called or e-mailed to get additional
maps.
Who worked on the graphic?
I researched, designed, and illustrated both maps.
Dee Dee Strickland, perspective editor, edited the
maps and did a lot of the research. She also compiled
the main copy blocks on each map. Tom Tozer is the
overall editor for the section, and Jo Miller is the
art director.
--Submitted
by Wm Pitzer/News Graphics Editor
|
