how to make a boeing 787
From 2018 to 2019, I was a multimedia intern for CSIS’s Dracopoulos iDeas Lab.
The lab is a unique entity within CSIS and think tanks more broadly, a group consisting primarily of ex-journalists and other multimedia producers within a primarily research-focused organisation. As a team, we made videos, microsites, graphics, scrollytelling features, podcasts, guidebooks, and more to translate policy documents into engaging materials. I spent a lot of time taking photos of CSIS representatives on Capital Hill and debugging websites as a part of this work.
At the iLab, I helped to build websites like The Trade Guys, <a href=’https://aerospace.csis.org/”>Aerospace Security</a>, China Power, Beyond Parallel, Asia Maritime transparency Initiative, On the Radar, Stephenson Ocean Security Project, and Strengthening America’s Health Security.
One of my favorite projects (and my first real scrollytelling feature!) was “How to make a boeing 787”, about the the supply chain of the Boeing 787. I’ve included the drafts of this dataviz below.
At the time, data and explanatory journalism were emerging to solve what they believed to be the problem of information overload in an era of big data. Many believed that by making the key stakes and people more visible and accessible, we might be able to better address the underlying problems they pointed towards.
I only found out about this after my time there, but Johnny Harris is also an alumni of the iLab. Given the lab’s work on explanatory journalism, a term that gained notice after the explosion of Vox Media (where he is also an alumni), it makes sense.