People tell me Spanish papers have a strong tradition of using many and good information graphics. I wouldn't know, I don't speak Spanish. But El Mundo and El Pais sure have great collections of the "interactive" kind.
A quick brainstorm on the "vocabulary" of interactive graphics: They use all kinds of imagery but with a preference for the schematic, the formalised, maps, aerial views, overview, or -- on the other hand -- close up of details. These are combined with printed language, normally in short chunks. And the language stands in a stated relation to the image. This relation may be expressed in the position of the text, in vectors (arrows and the like), or in numbers or other kinds of tabular codes. Often, the image commands the text: the text only fills out and clarifies the image. Is this relation a defining trait of the genre? Possibly. But there are also sets of images in a more "comic strip" idiom where there is a running text, and the images illustrate. Example: Stem cell debate at CNN.com.
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El Pais on 9/11