• by Sara Guaglione , June 26, 2020

The Washington Post plans to add 14 new positions to the graphics and design teams.

“We live in an increasingly visual society, and communicating information with the powerful visual tools we now have is proving to be particularly effective – in explaining complex subjects, encouraging readers to explore subjects more deeply and attracting more readers and subscribers,” Marty Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post, told Publishers Daily.

Six of the seven most visited stories in WaPo's history have been graphics, including the coronavirus simulator that became the most visited article in the publisher's history.

It has more than three times as many visits as the newspaper's second-most-visited article. 

This year’s Democratic candidate quiz, which also heavily features graphics, sets the record for converting readers to subscribers. 

Baron stated that WaPo wants to “regularly and quickly” produce more visual journalism for its readers.

The job postings will be up in the coming weeks.

“With these additions, graphics editors and designers will be able to work more closely with individual departments,” which will help The Post create more “visually sophisticated work” driven by rapid news developments," Baron stated.

The job postings include a position for an editor and three designers/developers for a visual development team.

A data editor will coordinate and edit data efforts across the newsroom.

A reporter will be part of a new visual reporting team that researches information for graphics and helps integrate text and visuals.

WaPo also plans to hire two rapid-response designers, two graphics assignment editors and four graphics reporters.