Alvin Chang

Data journalist and Professor at the New School
About Data/visuals Videos Other

Videos

I create videos that use data visualizations to show big trends. I've produced videos in collaboration with other producers, and I've produced them solo. I often combine interactive data visualization and motion graphics to create these videos.

The man who rigged America's election maps

Vox.com
I always knew, in theory, that gerrymandering had ramped up in the last two decades. But I wanted to see exactly how it was done, so I dug into the data and the secret files of a Republican operative who drew the maps. What I saw was far more brazen than I'd ever thought.

The real reason Boeing’s new plane crashed twice

Vox.com
I learned so much about pacing, editing, and visual storytelling while working on this piece. It started with a rough sketch I made after I read a story about the design decisions Boeing made with its 737 MAX. After I did my research, reporting, and scripting, I wondered: Is this even a good video? But my colleagues Dion Lee and Kim Mas showed me how they think through these storytelling challenges, and my editor, Adam Freelander, showed me the power of structure. This piece has been cited in academic work, lauded by the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and it's been viewed nearly 10 million times.

How tax brackets actually work

Vox.com
I wrote a quick visual explainer on tax brackets and posted it on Vox.com, and didn't think much of it. But a few days later, my colleague Christina Thornell said it would make a great video, and my colleague Kim Mas helped us execute this by using construction paper. I love this piece because we often stumble on Twitter and Reddit threads where people recommend our video as the place to learn how marginal tax rates work.

American segregation, mapped at day and night

Vox.com
I read a lot of academic research to find compelling visual stories. And sometimes you hit the jackpot. In this piece, I mapped how Americans move throughout the day in every major American city. When you toggle the map from day to night, you'll see what I mean.

All student debt in the US, visualized

Vox.com
As progressives pitched various proposals to cancel student debt, I looked at exactly who holds this debt. This video visualized every single person with student debt in the US, while explaining how student debt got so massive and who would benefit if we canceled that debt.

How heat is radically altering Americans' lives before they're even born

Guardian US
This data-driven video shows exactly how American policies created hot neighborhoods – and how it hurts children born into their neighborhoods.

Red Summers

Guardian US
Artist Bayete Ross Smith worked with the Guardian to create a series of 360 immersive videos on the untold American history of racial terrorism from 1917 to 1921. I was the editor on the series on the Guardian side, in collaboration with Bayete, Guardian staff and other journalists.