A similar work to Jonathan Puckey’s “The Quick Brown” referencing to a German news RSS feed.

It’s almost like meta-infographics – the original kind of infographics have always been about outside information that the newspaper presents visually, but these efforts are like infographics about the newspaper itself, representing its internal informational footprint in a self-reflexive kind of way.

Brilliant.

In addition to revealing a “history of history’s interpreters,” visualizations like Derek Gottfrid’s also invite more interpreters to the table. And the historical narratives that emerge seem to be shaped as much by the words we choose to pay attention to as by the visual trends they produce. Another interesting visualization could show us which words are most frequently typed into the input boxes.

Visualizations like those of Jer Thorp may also challenge social science’s tendency to use linear visual metaphors for time. Thorp’s clock-like design reminds us that repetitions and continuities in a paper’s coverage may be as striking as moments of apparent change.

As more news sources release APIs, it will be interesting to see these visual projects take a comparative approach to trend-mapping. Then we’ll be able to see how the Guardian and Times’ nutrition facts line up.

As Clifford Geertz put it– “the woods are full of eager interpreters.”