In an article titled “Visualizing Trans Coverage: A new tool, the Trans News Initiative, draws from data to reveal patterns and proportions,” Columbia Journalism Review author Carolina Abbott Galvão looked at The Trans News Initiative’s (TNI) “collection of 190,000 articles organized under 13 themes.”
[The themes spanned] 2020 to 2025, showing how publications have covered trans stories over time.” Themes included: violence & hate, u.s. federal measures, health care & bodily autonomy, and state & federal measures.
The TNI, Galvão writes, “tracks coverage of trans communities for the benefit of journalists, media organizations, and researchers.” The Initiative was created by the Trans Journalists Association (TJA) in association with Polygraph and the University of Miami School of Communication. [Polygraph is the in-house brand creative studio and financial engine of The Pudding (pudding.cool), which is the editorial publication.] The article considers the themes that emerged and how the stories were covered.
Weighted by the size of the circles, the news events are further classified to reveal who published the story and whether the publication is considered left, lean left, center, lean right, right, or unknown. Each of the dots within the circle represent a story that can be chosen to reveal a pop-up box (sample below).
The article also looks at the work involved in bringing the project to life, and quotes Kae Petrin (co-founder and president of the TJA) and IDSC Visualization Director Alberto Cairo, who funded and advised on the project.
The visualization further reveals the coverage (see gold-colored dot clusters on the timeline below) as well as the overall political lean (who chose to cover it). It also reveals what wasn’t covered. “We wanted a tool that would be a mirror for journalists,” Petrin told Galvão. Quoting Alberto Cairo the article reveals the true value of the project. “Visualization is one of the best ways to spot large patterns in data when we have discussions about coverage,” he said. “Those discussions, if you don’t have data at hand, they’re all going to be based on vibes.”
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Trans News Initiative (TNI)
Trans people and [their] place in society are at the center of a fierce political debate, legislative attacks, and inaccurate media coverage. The Initiative tracks and analyzes the news coverage of trans communities in context of the political moment. This tracker provides data for journalists, media organizations, and researchers committed to covering issues that impact trans people fairly and accurately. Read more about TNI.
Trans Journalists Association (TJA)
The Trans Journalists Association is a nonprofit professional membership organization that promotes accurate, nuanced coverage of trans rights and communities in the media and fosters the careers of gender-expansive journalists.
Alberto Cairo, PhD
Through his website www.albertocairo.com Dr. Cairo offers visualization consulting, training, and art direction. His latest project is the Open Visualization Academy: https://openvisualizationacademy.org/. Dr. Cairo is also Knight Chair in Infographics and Data Visualization at the University of Miami School of Communication’s Department of Journalism and Media Management.
pudding.cool
“The Pudding” is a digital publication recognized for its focus on data journalism and visual storytelling. It covers a broad range of complex cultural, social, and entertainment topics.
University of Miami School of Communication
Committed to developing forward-thinking, analytical, and ethical communication professionals, the University of Miami School of Communication (SoC) prepares students for success in a rapidly evolving global society. Our undergraduate and graduate programs integrate theory with practice, emphasizing creativity, collaboration, and independent thinking. Faculty at the SoC champion freedom of expression, guiding future scholars, professionals, and leaders toward a lifetime of service and learning.
