This web network is significant.  It indicates awareness amongst infographic artists and editors that they are essential players in the future of the news product, and that visual journalism itself is a craft that you can learn.

Before this, I had seen a few sites dedicated to infographics.  The difference now is a wider selection, with people contributing from many different regions.

In a quick perusal, I found infographics published in Europe, the United States and India – all markets I have been keen to view.  I’m certain more regions are represented.

The most exciting aspect of this web community is the daily posting of work by artists and editors, and the subsequent critiques.   

And it isn’t simply the big, showcase pieces that artists are showing.  They are sharing the bread and butter stuff, too.  The stories covered are the usual ones, including accidents and disasters, civic projects, elections, sports, lifestyle, technology, business.  

For me, based in Asia, this network fills a void in visual media.  The sites provide access to expertise that is not easy to find in relatively remote locations, and examples of how others outside my own media market are solving the typical challenges of the craft.  

The best qualities of an infographic - dynamic, audience-friendly, attractive, interactive, and informative – are also inherent in effective online journalism.  So, from that perspective, the community is valuable to anyone seeking to produce news in a mixed media format.

I see this network as the beginning of a long overdue web-based conversation about what visual journalism is, and exactly how one goes about making an infographic.  

It comes at a time when an increasing number of books are available to give practical and theoretical advice on how to produce this form of media, and journalism schools are including several courses on the topic in their curriculum.  This depth of instruction wasn’t available less than 10 years, at least not in Asia.

For that reason, I am tempted to throw the phrase “coming of age” into the mix, but I won’t, as there are still too news organizations struggling to define the role of images and art in their publications.  But, clearly, the skills people are learning here are transferable to other areas of new media, and thus indispensable to the future of the industry.

Here are some of the main features of this infographics community (let me know of any sites or features I have missed):

•  Forum for uploading recent work and having it critiqued:
http://visualeditors.com
http://www.newspagedesigner.com
http://www.newsartists.org (restricted to people in the industry)

•  Blogs providing specifically infographic industry news
http://www.newsdesigner.com/blog/, http://visualeditors.com, http://www.newsartists.org (restricted), http://www.albertocairo.com, http://www.nixlog.com/archives/2006/03/19_infographics.php,

•  Experts sharing articles and tip sheets:
http://www.albertocairo.com, http://visualeditors.com, http://www.newsartists.org (restricted), http://www.snd.org/, http://www.poynteroline.org/, http://www.infovis.net, (Some of the other sites include this, too),

•  Case studies:
http://poynterextra.org/ARTOFEXPLANATION,
 
•  Showcase for artist portfolios:
http://www.newspagedesigner.com

• Showcase for student projects:
http://www.albertocairo.com

•  Prize winners:
http://visualjournalism.com (in a slide show), http://www.snd.org/competitions/contest27.lasso, (in a search engine) http://malofiej.blogspot.com/

•  Upcoming seminars postings:
http://www.snd.org/, http://www.poynteroline.org/, http://visualeditors.com, http://www.newsartists.org (restricted), http://www.albertocairo.com,

• Job postings:
http://visualeditors.com, http://www.snd.org/, http://www.newsartists.org (restricted)

• Books reviews:
http://www.albertocairo.com, http://www.snd.org/, http://www.amazon.com

Katie Ratcliffe is in charge of infographics production in the Asia-Pacific for Agence France Presse.  She is now on a one-year sabbatical doing postgraduate studies in economics.  During her leave, she will also be volunteering at WEF's Editors Weblog.