Tim O’Rourke (Hearst Newspapers) | San Francisco Chronicle
We’re pleased to announce that Darryl Laiu has joined the Hearst DevHub — Hearst Newspapers’ editorial engineering, data-visual storytelling and content strategy team — as the 2025-26 Hearst Fellow on the data visualization track.
“I’m very excited to use the skills I developed in school and in newsrooms to learn from the DevHub and the data and graphics journalists in newsrooms across the country,” Laiu said. “I’m eager to produce stories and projects that help readers make sense of their communities through data.”
The Hearst DevHub works with local teams such as the San Francisco Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle, (Albany) Times Union and newsrooms across Connecticut, Illinois, Texas and Michigan. The team is focused on local news, and its journalists build projects such as election live results sites, tools such as the the Texas Heat Tracker and California Fire Tracker, data-driven analyses that help readers understand their communities, and a collection of self-service templates that allow journalists to publish interactive stories without having to rely on engineering support.
Laiu is a multimedia journalist who was most recently at BBC Studios as a video fellow, where he combined his data analysis and video production skills to produce features for BBC.com. He is an alumnus of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism data program, where he was a duPont awards fellow and served as a teaching assistant.
“With his background in video production, Darryl is coming to Hearst with a deep understanding of how to storyboard and construct stories with visuals at the center,” said Senior Director for Data and Visual Storytelling Danielle Rindler. “We’re excited to see him combine his talent for explanatory journalism with rich data analysis and front-end development during his fellowship.”
The Hearst Fellowship data visualization track was founded in 2019 and has served as a pipeline for talented data, engineering and graphics journalists into local newsrooms. Each fellow has been offered a full-time position with a newsroom or the DevHub, and their work has helped newsrooms grow, innovate and better serve their communities.
Laiu is the seventh Hearst data visualization fellow. Before moving to the U.S., he was a video journalist for three years at Singapore’s largest independent media company, Mothership, where he led a team that produced explainers on current affairs and culture for a youth-focused audience.
“I admire the DevHub’s work to help local newsrooms and communities,” Laiu said. “Innovation is essential for local newsrooms as reader habits change. People still crave information, and it’s even more important now to be engaged with the communities around us. Local newsrooms are in the best position to serve this need — and we will figure out how to do it.”
At Hearst, it is our mission to be the most trusted, most respected and most accurate source of news and information in the communities we serve. We place our readers’ interests above all others, and dedicate ourselves to the principles of truthfulness, fairness and independence. We understand that the free flow of accurate information is vital to our system of government and the foundations of our economy.
Hearst Newspapers (HNP) is a leading media organization that employs 2,500 professionals across more than 75 brands in a national network. While HNP’s reach is national, its focus is local. HNP’s portfolio includes newsrooms such as the San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman and Times Union of Albany, N.Y.; data-driven content led by the Hearst DevHub; innovative digital products such as Puzzmo; and specialized businesses such as King Features Syndicate and StoryStudio.
The company is investing heavily in digital experiences, data engineering and machine learning to power next-generation news products while maintaining its core commitment to high-quality journalism that informs and connects communities across the country.
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