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Journals / LOKUM Sanat ve Tasarım Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 4 Sayı: 2

Interface Rhetoric in Digital Data Journalism: A Comparative Semiotic Analysis of Six Interactive Data Stories

DİJİTAL VERİ HABERCİLİĞİNDE ARAYÜZ RETORİĞİ: ALTI ETKİLEŞİMLİ VERİ HABERİNİN KARŞILAŞTIRMALI GÖSTERGEBİLİMSEL ANALİZİ

Duygu Aktaş Durmuş(BURDUR MEHMET AKİF ERSOY ÜNİVERSİTESİ, SANAT VE TASARIM FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0003-4790-8297
Pages
361–378
Publication Date
2026-08-25
DOI
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The findings indicate that the interface does not merely make data visible; rather, it shapes the news argument through selection, ordering, emphasis, comparison, and interaction.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

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Objective & Hypothesis:This study aims to examine how the interface in digital data journalism constructs news meaning, evidentiary structure, and reader orientation.
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Key Findings & Data:Designed as a qualitative study, the research employs comparative semiotic analysis.
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Conclusion & Impact:The findings indicate that the interface does not merely make data visible; rather, it shapes the news argument through selection, ordering, emphasis, comparison, and interaction.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Arayüz retoriği · Dijital veri haberciliği · Etkileşimli veri haberi

Abstract

This study aims to examine how the interface in digital data journalism constructs news meaning, evidentiary structure, and reader orientation. Designed as a qualitative study, the research employs comparative semiotic analysis. The sample consists of six interactive data stories published by Reuters Graphics, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, South China Morning Post, and Journo, selected through purposive sampling. During data collection, interface components such as headlines, text, graphics, maps, colour, typography, icons, scrolling structures, filtering options, animation, sources, and methodological notes were examined. The data were analysed through Barthes’s concepts of denotation, connotation, and myth, as well as Kress and van Leeuwen’s visual grammar. The findings indicate that the interface does not merely make data visible; rather, it shapes the news argument through selection, ordering, emphasis, comparison, and interaction. In the cases examined, rhetorical operations produce meaning fields such as objectivity, public scrutiny, causal explanation, analytical distance, geopolitical positioning, and local visibility. The study therefore reveals that the interface in data journalism is not a technical layer of presentation, but a fundamental structure that constructs the epistemological and rhetorical architecture of news.

Özet

Bu çalışma, dijital veri haberciliğinde arayüzün haberin anlamını, kanıt yapısını ve okur yönelimini nasıl kurduğunu incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Nitel araştırma modeliyle tasarlanan çalışmada karşılaştırmalı göstergebilimsel analiz yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışma grubunu amaçlı örnekleme yoluyla seçilen Reuters Graphics, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, South China Morning Post ve Journo tarafından yayımlanan altı etkileşimli veri haberi oluşturmaktadır. Veri toplama sürecinde haberlerin başlık, metin, grafik, harita, renk, tipografi, ikon, kaydırma, filtreleme, animasyon, kaynak ve yöntem notları gibi arayüz bileşenleri incelenmiştir. Veriler Barthes’ın düzanlam, yananlam ve mit kavramları ile Kress ve van Leeuwen’in görsel dilbilgisi yaklaşımı doğrultusunda analiz edilmiştir. Bulgular, arayüzün veriyi yalnızca görünür kılmadığını; seçme, sıralama, vurgulama, karşılaştırma ve etkileşim olanaklarıyla haber argümanını biçimlendirdiğini göstermektedir. Retorik işlemler incelenen örneklerde nesnellik, kamusal denetim, nedensel açıklama, analitik mesafe, jeopolitik konumlanma ve yerel görünürlük gibi anlam alanları üretmektedir. Sonuç olarak çalışma, veri haberciliğinde arayüzün teknik bir sunum katmanı değil, haberin epistemolojik ve retorik mimarisini kuran temel bir yapı olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Durmuş, D. A. (2026). Interface Rhetoric in Digital Data Journalism: A Comparative Semiotic Analysis of Six Interactive Data Stories. LOKUM Sanat ve Tasarım Dergisi, Cilt: 4 Sayı: 2, 361–378. https://ajindex.com/articles/1630187

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