David Blood

Visual/data storyteller and creative technologist. Currently Creative Director at BBC News.

London, England, United Kingdom

About

Multi-award-winning visual/data journalist of proven expertise, creativity and news judgement. More than eight years’ experience at top international news organisations, including BBC News, CNN, The Guardian and Financial Times; total of 14 years’ experience in data-driven and visual communications. Experience also includes creative direction, change management, open-source investigation and digital project management across the media, non-profit and education sectors.

Experience

  • Creative Director, Editorial at BBC News
    Dec 2024 - Present · 1 yr 8 mos

    Leads the daily news graphics team and a programme of technical and operational transformation across its tooling, workflows and house styles. Details to follow.

  • Senior Visual Editor at CNN
    May 2023 - Dec 2024 · 1 yr 8 mos

    Led visual journalism projects, with combined design and technical responsibility, from concept to completion. Commissioned and coordinated multi-disciplinary teams of staff and freelance contributors.

  • Visual Projects Editor at The Guardian
    Nov 2021 - May 2023 · 1 yr 7 mos

    Pitched, reported, wrote and edited visual and data journalism projects across the Guardian’s digital and print output. Coordinated designers, developers, graphic artists and reporters across the newsroom.

  • Senior Adviser, Crisis Evidence Lab at Amnesty International
    Nov 2020 - Nov 2021 · 1 yr 1 mo

    Brought visual journalism and computational analysis techniques to a team of open-source human rights investigators. Presented findings through press releases, reports, and static and interactive graphics.

  • Interactive Data Journalist at Financial Times
    Mar 2016 - Nov 2020 · 4 yrs 9 mos

    Pitched, reported and wrote visual and data-driven stories ranging from international front-page news to interactive features. Coded the data analysis (Python), graphics (D3.js) and front-end work behind many of them.