We were lucky to catch up with Yutao Chen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Yutao, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

In 2019, I joined The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the newspaper of record in the state of Arkansas, as the first Multimedia Editor in its history spanning over two centuries. I was hired to explore areas of online growth and facilitate visual news coverage as the newspaper navigates its digital transition.

I experimented with different visual mediums such as photography, videos and graphics, but after the outbreak of covid-19 in the U.S. in early 2020, I shifted my attention to enhancing our coverage for the pandemic. The main effort was a tracker page designed from scratch to offer readers daily updates on the spread of covid with graphics and maps. The project soon attracted a significant readership and became the most visited page on the newspaper’s website.

Despite the impact it generated, I think the most meaningful project I’ve worked on was actually the one that followed. A few months into publishing and maintaining the tracker page, I came to realize that the page was so heavy on metrics and failed to convey the gravity of lives lost. At the time, the newspaper was also publishing obituaries of people who passed away due to covid-19. I saw the need to design and construct a page where we could compile and highlight these stories. I wanted to create a space to celebrate their lives, serving as a reminder that each individual lost to covid-19 had a unique story, rather than just being statistics on a page that continues to rise everyday. I became increasingly invested in the project and before I left the paper, I wrote thorough documentations for colleagues so we could continue maintaining the page and adding stories to it.

Yutao, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a multimedia journalist primarily operating in the intersection of design, filmmaking and photography. I’m currently working as a news designer at The Washington Post focusing on designing and developing immersive and interactive projects. I work closely with the photo, video and graphics team to conceptualize multimedia stories and come up with a compelling and engaging approach to present them to an online audience.

Looking back, I think sports was a major reason why I started my path as a non-fiction storyteller. I’ve been passionate about sports growing up and thought journalism would be a great entry point to pursue my passion. But as I started practicing and gaining more experience as a storyteller, I found myself increasingly fascinated by various methods of visual storytelling. I wanted to learn as much as I could with each medium I was interested in, whether it was photography, documentary filmmaking or design.

Reflecting on my career thus far, I feel grateful for the opportunities to work on a diverse range of non-fiction projects. As a versatile storyteller, I was able to develop unique visions for each narrative and think about storytelling in a multifaceted way.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think being able to connect with readers or audiences feels the most rewarding for me. I spend a lot of time thinking about the look and feel of a story and trying to approach each project in a unique way, but ultimately these efforts serve the purpose of effectively reaching and resonating with an audience. Seeing my visions come to fruition feels fulfilling sometimes, but witnessing stories make a tangible impact on readers, whether it’s through social media, comments or engagement metrics, always brings a sense of reward.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Rather than having a specific long-term goal, I feel much more driven and excited by ideas I’m developing or projects I’m working on. I suppose the mission that’s driving my creative journey is to do what feels good about the project at hand, execute it to the best of my ability and move on. Repeating this process comes with a lot of learning and growing along the way, as I won’t always have the necessary skills to execute a story exactly the way I envisioned. I hope I can maintain this mindset throughout my career so that each project feels fresh and presents its own unique challenges, allowing me to continue evolving and improving as a storyteller.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yutaochen.com/
• Instagram: @yutaochenn
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yutaochenn/
• Twitter: @yutaochenn

Image Credits
Photo by Meiying Wu and Yutao Chen