This year marks the 30th anniversary of the creation of the GIF file format. Although GIFs are often used in a lighthearted way, Public Radio International’s global affairs program “The World” uses looping GIF animations as conversation starters to help tell serious news stories. Steven Davy, multimedia editor at “The World,” tells us how they do it.
Reporting by Sarah Sabatke, Rachel Wise and Jessica King.
Examples shown in our report:
You’ll find more examples from “The World” on PRI's Giphy page.
Main image CC-licensed by Flickr via E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.