Some killer graphics

Some killer graphics from some top talent. But the bottom line for me was that these things are difficult and time-consuming to produce, a challenge to edit, yet something we need to master to prepare for ongoing shift to digital platforms.
Panelists were:
Don Wittekind, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, moderator
Len De Groot, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Matthew Ericson, The New York Times
Xaquin Gonzalez Veira, Newsweek

Newsweek guy showed:
IEDS The Hidden Enemy wanted to do more with this, but ran out of time, which he likes to call "production issues."
The Hole in Manhattan's Heart
"traffic is much better if well promoted (in the magazine)."

Sun-Sentinal guy showed how his site's redesign will have video player in the middle of story page. Flash. Now it's in a separate player, like SignOn's, which he pointed out doesn't work well for storytelling, better to have everything on same page.
Multimedia media graphic work worthwhile, bringing in thousands more page views.
The Edge, page to highlight Sun-Sentinal multimedia.
some cool things I found on there:
Marine census
Fla boating accidents
Hurricane maker

NYT -
30 people. build templates for multimedia elements. tabs.
Assessing the surge This is really good. very deep and rich
Election Guide 2008
Campaign finances
Candidate schedules

Times guy recommended prominent home page promotion, with a thumbnail of the graphic element so people get a tease to what it is.
Get as much editing done in advance before the data goes into Flash (example: it says By th numbers in the Newsweek IED graphic)

Can you make a good business case for the work these Flash graphics take? Panelists wanted to say yes, but could offer no certainties.