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    Alan Smith

    Head of Visual and Data Journalism

    Alan Smith leads the FT's newsroom team of data reporters and visual journalists. A data visualisation specialist, his TEDx talk Why You Should Love Statistics was featured on TED.com in 2017. Alan is the author of How Charts Work, a handbook on designing with data using the FT's principles.

    Before he joined the FT, he was head of digital content at the UK Office for National Statistics where he was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to official statistics.

    Email Alan Smith @theboysmithy  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)

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    • Friday, 24 November, 2023
      ExplainerIsrael-Hamas war
      The Israel-Hamas war in maps: latest updates

      A visual guide to the war

      Montage of Gaza map and photograph of Israeli tanks on the border
    • Tuesday, 21 November, 2023
      ExplainerIsrael-Hamas war
      How public opinion on the Israel-Hamas war has shifted

      Surveys have picked up significant changes in the US and Europe that are rippling through national politics

      Pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters in New York and Washington
    • Monday, 20 November, 2023
      War in Ukraine
      Tracking Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia in maps

      A visual guide to the war

      Montage of map of Ukraine and tanks
    • Wednesday, 15 November, 2023
      Global inflation
      Global inflation tracker: see how your country compares on rising prices

      Inflationary pressures are beginning to wane

    • Monday, 13 November, 2023
      Conservative Party UK
      Is this the age of churn in UK politics?

      Some policy experts say rapid turnover of cabinet positions since Brexit vote has undermined effectiveness of government

    • Tuesday, 31 October, 2023
      Israel-Hamas war
      Satellite images reveal Israeli forces’ path into Gaza

      Dozens of military vehicles advance into territory already pitted with craters from bombardments

      Montage showing Israeli tanks in northern Gaza and satellite image
    • Friday, 27 October, 2023
      UK census
      Census data captures impact of Covid on England’s commuters

      Maps show how lockdowns, furloughs and remote working changed the way the country worked

    • Friday, 27 October, 2023
      ExplainerIsrael-Hamas war
      Gaza: the history of an embattled territory

      From trading hub to war zone, the 363 sq km strip of land has long been fought over

      A conductor checks a Palestinian man’s ticket on the first train from Gaza City to Tel Aviv on November 1 1972; a historical map of Gaza
    • Monday, 16 October, 2023
      ExplainerIsrael-Hamas war
      The Gaza Strip — in charts

      A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Palestinian enclave which is more crowded than Manhattan in parts

      Montage showing Palestinian man waving a flag in front of population spike map and line chart, with satellite image of Gaza in the background
    • Sunday, 27 August, 2023
      Water scarcity
      How Europe’s water supplies turned to ‘gold dust’

      Drought, leaky pipes and poor policy among several factors contributing to continent’s scarcity problem

      A man walks on the cracked ground of La Baells reservoir in Spain
    • Tuesday, 22 August, 2023
      FT SeriesExtreme renting
      Extreme renting: how rising rates turned the screws on tenants across Europe

      Heated market in housing hotspots is compounded by increasing mortgage costs deterring buyers

      A montage of a photo of a residential building, a line graph and a euro symbol
    • Monday, 21 August, 2023
      The rise of the middle powers
      The à la carte world: our new geopolitical order

      With the US and China at loggerheads, a range of ‘middle powers’ see an opening to pursue their interests

      Monuments representing the countries
    • Wednesday, 2 August, 2023
      News in-depth5G networks
      UK in danger of falling behind on 5G, analysts warn

      Rollout of high-speed mobile networks hit by factors including limited investment and disruption from ban on Huawei kit

      Montage including photo of woman using smartphone
    • Friday, 28 July, 2023
      The Weekend Essay
      The UFO whistleblower and the search for extraterrestrial life

      After David Grusch’s testimony to the US Congress this week, is it OK to talk about aliens? Henry Mance looks at the evidence

      curious citizens scan the night sky
    • Friday, 14 July, 2023
      News in-depthCricket
      Thrilling Ashes series gives England cricket team chance to inspire new generation

      Finely balanced contest against Australia is teed up for a nail-biting climax — weather permitting

      From left: England’s Heather Knight and Kate Cross after squaring the Women’s Ashes; Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali at Headingly
    • Saturday, 8 July, 2023
      FT GlobetrotterThe wonder of Wimbledon
      The FT Globetrotter tennis quiz: how well do you know your Wimbledon?

      Love all, or game, set and match to you? Put your SW19 Grand Slam knowledge to the test

      A general view of Centre Court shows Nick Kyrgios returning the ball to Novak Djokovic during their men’s singles final tennis match on the fourteenth day of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 10, 2022
    • Tuesday, 4 July, 2023
      ExplainerGlobal inflation
      Why are interest rate rises not taming inflation?

      Tight labour markets and outright home ownership delay the return to price stability

      Montage of Christine Lagarde, Andrew Bailey and Jay Powell with a chart behind
    • Friday, 16 June, 2023
      Visual and data journalism
      Disapproval of Russia in former Soviet states is rising

      Other charts of the week: carbon emissions from Canadian wildfires, foreign worker surge in Japan, global bias against women and differences in tipping culture

    • Sunday, 11 June, 2023
      Visual and data journalism
      Surge in STIs in England sparks anxiety over reproductive health

      Other charts of the week: foreign graduates, overcrowding in Europe, UK emissions and global trade restrictions

      Montage of a microbiological culture and a lab worker
    • Tuesday, 6 June, 2023
      News in-depthWar in Ukraine
      Households flee war-torn Ukraine towns as dam floods spread

      Floodwaters rise on both Ukrainian and Russian-held sides of Dnipro river following breach

      Ukrainian volunteers evacuate residents in Sadove, on the west bank of the Dnipro river, as floodwaters rise
    • Thursday, 25 May, 2023
      UK immigration
      Britain’s record-high immigration — in charts

      The ONS’s net migration figure of 606,000 reflects hiring of healthcare workers and opening of humanitarian routes

      Montage of a bar chart and a woman pulling a suitcase
    • Saturday, 20 May, 2023
      News in-depthUK regional policy
      ‘New town’ offers vision of how to breathe life back into ailing UK high streets

      Stevenage moves away from reliance on retail by creating new jobs and homes to regenerate its centre

      Stevenage town centre
    • Tuesday, 16 May, 2023
      FT CollectionsTurkish general election 2023
      How Erdoğan beat the odds: Turkey’s election in charts

      President held together a coalition of conservative voters despite problems with economy

      Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
    • Sunday, 7 May, 2023
      Visual and data journalism
      Incomes stagnate for all but the richest in the UK

      Other charts of the week: EU workers, Republicans and Twitter, young people who have not flown the nest and US presidential rematches

    • Saturday, 6 May, 2023
      US banks
      Local stress: The US regional banks under pressure

      The FT looks at the midsized lenders that have suffered since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

      The logos of Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank and Signature Bank
    Previous page You are on page 1 Next page

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