Representation of infographics: its types, functions and features in Ukrainian Internet mass media
Students Name: Lykhodid Kateryna Serhiivna
Qualification Level: magister
Speciality: Journalism
Institute: Institute of Jurisprudence and Psychology
Mode of Study: full
Academic Year: 2022-2023 н.р.
Language of Defence: ukrainian
Abstract: Keywords: infographics, its types, functions, features in Ukrainian online mass media, means of summarizing information for social orientation, making important decisions, increasing mass media readers. The object of our research is infographics in the Ukrainian online media " 24 Channel", "Texty.org.ua", UNIAN and ESPRESO.TV. Subject: types of infographics: graphs, charts, diagrams, maps, illustrative infographics; their functions in the investigated Internet mass media. The purpose of the research is to promote the expansion of information, influence on public opinion through effective types of infographics as visual forms of providing information in the Internet mass media. The relevance of the master’s thesis lies in the fact that infographics are not always used or are used incorrectly in modern mass media. The main means of expression, the laws of composition of graphic design require clear analytical work, correct presentation, they should be based on the basic principles and laws of infographics, explain invisible phenomena, give new assessments. The work explores the main ways of visualizing content in Ukrainian online media as a means of visualizing information thanks to modern design and the use of infographics to inform readers. The work reveals its types, functions, and principles of creation as a tool for presenting information in the most popular mass media and analysis of online media of Ukraine for understanding, supplementing, and summarizing information collected on specific examples of various types of infographics in mass media and works of Ukrainian and foreign scientists. The study reveals infographics in Ukrainian online media as a tool for visualization, expansion, generalization and understanding of information and analytical tools, which not only attract the attention of new readers of the content and deepen their understanding of the problems, but also contribute to the increase of the readership and encourage independent generalization of reasoning, conclusions of recipients and making decisions important for social orientation. The novelty of our research lies in the fact that the subject and object have not been analyzed and studied in the last 5 years, and it is during this period that infographics have become an effective tool of the Internet mass media of Ukraine. In order to achieve the goal of the research, it is necessary to perform the following tasks: to reveal the peculiarities of the types of infographics in the studied Ukrainian online mass media; on the example of the materials of the Ukrainian online mass media, identify the functions of various types of infographics; to show the influence of types of infographics on the perception and understanding of the meaning of the content by the audience of the Internet media; identify types of low-quality infographics, formulate basic requirements for high-quality infographics. In our research, we relied on both Ukrainian and foreign scientists. Among the Ukrainian researchers are V. Shevchenko ("Forms of visualization in a modern magazine"), O. Shved ("Infographics as a means of visual communication in modern journalism"), A. Baranetska ("Visualization of media content as an important component of communication implementation"), Rudchenko A. ("Infographics and dynamic visualization as a trend of modern media"), Gladun O. ("Visualization of information: infographics"), Borysenko D. ("Infographics as a method of information visualization in the latest mass media on the example of the online publication "Ukrainian Pravda" ; and online versions of "Radio Free Europe"; "Radio Svoboda") and others. Among foreign researchers, we relied on the works of Edward Taft with his books "Visual Display of Quantitative Information", Alberto Cairo in the works "Functional Art. An Introduction to Infographics and Visualization," True Art: Data, Charts, and Maps for Communication," as well as works by R. Lowe, D. Liewalter, R. Mayer, W. Levy, R. Lentz, P. Johnson Leard, A. Paivio, T. Van Dijk, W. Schnotz, M. Bannert. In the work, we explored the types of infographics and their functions, illustrating each of them with an example from the studied Ukrainian mass media. Thanks to this, we analyzed which types of infographics are often used in these media (for example, dot graphs, bar charts, histograms, tables, etc.), and which types of infographics are rarely or not at all used by the investigated online media over the last 5 years (Venn-Euler Diagram). We also investigated the peculiarities of infographics in the studied Ukrainian Internet media. In the work, we analyzed how long ago the media started using infographics, and how it has been actively using them in recent years. The dynamics of growth or decline in the use of infographics in the studied media also were monitored. In addition, we analyzed which topics prevail in materials using infographics. We came to the conclusion that each of the analyzed media has its own characteristics, style, frequency of use, subject and the most actively used types of infographics.