The collaboration between The Associated Press and NORC at the University of Chicago has yielded hundreds of polls over nearly 15 years. Last week, the AP’s polling and interactives teams created a home on APNews.com for nearly a decade of key AP-NORC poll data.
The polling tracker combines data visualization with brief text explanations for a clean, intuitive experience that allows readers to explore how views on key issues like presidential approval, the economy, abortion and even belief in climate change have shifted in the United States. Users can go even deeper, seeing shifts in public opinion by gender, party, age and race.
Under the guidance of polling editor Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and election interactives editor Linda Gorman, reporter Linley Sanders and developer Pablo Barria Urenda worked together to standardize data and isolate trends going back to 2017. Visual journalist Humera Lodhi designed the page, which was built by developers Eunice Esomonu and Hyojin Yoo. The tracker guides readers through the data with care and nuance, including a margin-of-error visualization that helps explain uncertainty without distraction. It also includes analysis from AP polling experts and links to related stories.
This living project is designed to be a return destination for readers. A custom tool built by the interactives team enables easy updates, and individual charts can soon be embedded in stories on AP’s website and by customers.
The judges appreciated how the tracker aligns with AP’s digital priorities to create an evergreen resource and a blueprint for future newsroom projects and editorial products.
For their digital innovation and teamwork, Linley Sanders, Pablo Barria Urenda, Humera Lodhi, Eunice Esomonu, Hyojin Yoo, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Linda Gorman are this week’s Best of the Week – First Winners.
Submission Links
https://apnews.com/projects/polling-tracker/Related articles
