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Storytelling with Maps

Tell better stories using maps for data visualization

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For years, maps have been telling many different stories. Maps can summarize a situation, show change over time and reveal patterns. They can be used to compare and contrast places, make plans, predict outcomes and support decisions. 

Why tell your stories with maps?

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Let us help you tell your story.

To help you tell your stories, we provide journalists with a flexible platform for creating content-rich maps. These maps can be private, shared among groups or completely open to the public.  

ArcGIS Online, Esri’s cloud-based service, provides easy-to-use tools and content for creating and publishing your story with maps. It allows you to combine background maps, thematic maps, tabular data, popups and other functionalities into intelligent web maps that can be shared and viewed on multiple devices. You can then place these web maps into storytelling apps or templates that provide key components including narrative elements and an intuitive user experience to complete your story map.

ArcGIS Online can also be used for spatial analysis to investigate data and find stories.

Let us help you tell your story.

Creating a map is easy.

  • Select a map from our online library that will serve as a backdrop for your data.
  • Drag and drop your data file onto the map.
  • Edit the symbology and titles on your map.
Creating a map is easy.

Combine multimedia content into a story map

You could stop there, or you can then select from a range of ready-to-use templates that provide several different ways to effectively present your data and map to best tell your story. You simply supply the web map and text, and watch your story come to life.

Supercharged with functionality, maps can now integrate big data, video and social media, solicit crowdsourced information, and leveraged to answer a myriad of questions -- both complex and simple.

Combine multimedia content into a story map

Educate, entertain and engage

Story maps are interactive maps combined with text and other content that tell a story about the world. They use titles, text, legends, popups, charts, graphs and other visuals to bring the power of geography and spatial analysis to a large audience. Geographic information is presented in such a way that informs, educates, entertains and engages.

Explore ArcGIS StoryMaps
Educate, entertain and engage
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Resources


If you'd like to use ArcGIS beyond the free trial period, contact us and request to join the ArcGIS for Media program. The program provides free ArcGIS access to qualified journalists.

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