Uses and abuses of data
visualizations in mass media
ESS Visualisation Workshop 2016
Valencia. May 17-18, 2016.
#ESSvisualisation
Pablo Rey Maz nó
@numeroteca
numeroteca.org
pablo@montera34.com
Montera34
montera34.com
Open Evidence
open-evidence.com
Slides bit.ly/datavisabuse

AlltheNews(andAds)That’sFittoPrint
http://numeroteca.org/2013/06/23/all-the-news-and-ads-thats-ft-to-print/
News media are not neutral

Data visualizations are cultural artifacts.
They are subjective as we must distort and simplify reality.
There are white lies, misuses and... lies.
Nobody is neutral.

Dataviz in Mass media
News media want to tell a story…
and show the context
Video: http://graphics.wsj.com/countdown-to-a-greek-showdown/

http://info.ils.indiana.edu/~katy/S637-S11/gershon01.pdf

Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you've ever seen.
https://youtu.be/RUwS1uAdUcI

(news media)
… and let you explore the data.

For collaborative journalism.
exploration.

http://www.elconfidencial.com/economia/papeles-panama/2016-04-03/papeles-panama-papers-interactivo-politicos-internacionales-sociedades-offshore_1177852/
Panama Papers

Above all:
Show me the data!

1. Data visualization Key concepts
(tuftean way)
+ Data-ink ratio
+ Chart Junk
+ Data Density

http://www.perceptualedge.com/example6.php
Data-Ink ratio

= proportion of a graphic's ink
devoted to the non-redundant
display of data information
Data-ink ratio =
data-ink
total ink used to print a graphic
Image: http://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=9824&context=theses

Data-ink Ratio and Task Complexity in Graph Comprehension. Kevin McCurgan
http://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=9824&context=theses

Chart junk
What you should erase.
http://www.elsalmoncontracorriente.es/?El-bombardeo-comercial-de-las

Data density
data density of a graphic =
number of entries
in data matrix
area of data graphic
Example by Stephen Few.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/us/census-race-map.html
1 dot = 60 people

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/08/us/census-race-map.html

2. Review of data visualization types
with examples

Data tables
Tables work best when
+ It is used to look up individual values
+ Data must be precise
+ You must include multiple units of measure
+ You wish to show both details and their sums
Slide borrowed from Stephen Few.

Stephen Few. Show me the numbers.
Tables also need to be properly designed!

Change order of the rows!
Datatables.
Free software available at http://datatables.net/

http://www.eldiario.es/gastos_tarjetas_black/GRAFICO-extractos-responsables-Caja-Madrid_0_312169637.html

Black Credit Cards analysis of type of spending
http://numeroteca.org/tarjetasblack

Black Credit Cards analysis of type of spending
http://numeroteca.org/tarjetasblack

Banks Market value
Example by Alberto Cairo. Visualizar. 2011
Understanding areas

Societ G n rale Market valueé é é
Example by Alberto Cairo. Visualizar. 2011

Societ G n rale Market valueé é é
Example by Alberto Cairo. Visualizar. 2011

Example by Alberto Cairo. Visualizar. 2011

Tree maps
and sankey
diagrams
Public sepnding.
Material transparency
https://presupuestos.gobierto.es/places/madrid/2015

Where does my money go?
http://wheredoesmymoneygo.org

http://Kulturometer.org
Cognitive transparency

Spain is in 2013 the mayor wine
producer in the world

Bar charts
Useful Junk? The Effects of Visual Embellishment on Comprehension
and Memorability of Charts
http://ww.w.cedma-europe.org/newsletter%20articles/misc/The%20Effects%20of%20Visual%20Embellishment%20on%20Comprehension%20and%20Memorability%20of%20Charts.pdf

Bar charts
By Spanish Public Television. TVE.
Evolution of unemployment in August

Displayed on TV
All the data
Evolution of
unemployment
in August

Be careful with multivariable graphics
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21660550-growth-has-returned-dangers-still-lurk-back-its-feet

Film Dialogue from 2,000 screenplays
Broken Down by Gender and Age
http://polygraph.cool/films/

Data maps
Maps are great data visualizations to show geospatial
data, but they have to be used carefully.
+ Chorophlet maps
+ Bubbles maps

Chorophlet
map
“Chorophlet wrongly equate the visual importance of
each country with its geographic area rather than with
the number of people living in the country”. Tufte

John Snow 1854.

How to lie with maps. Monmonier
Depends where
the boundaries
are drawn.

Depends on how you color the map.

Select a good color scale!
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/mapToolClosed.do?tab=map&init=1&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=tsdde220&toolbox=types

http://cartodb.github.io/labs-colorscales/

The winer takes it all problem in election maps.
http://datos.elespanol.com/elecciones-generales/resultados/congreso/

http://elpais.com/elpais/2015/12/18/media/1450461184_895079.html

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/RSI/#?vis=nuts2.population&lang=en
Eruostat: data and distibution plot. Population.

Bubble maps
Femicide map in Turkey
http://kadincinayetleri.org/

http://especiais.g1.globo.com/politica/mapa-manifestacoes-no-brasil/17-04-2016/contra/

http://xkcd.com/1138/

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/BubbleChart/?lg=en#tableCode=pat_ep_ntec

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/BubbleChart/?lg=en#tableCode=pat_ep_ntec

Recommendations and tools
Think what you need to tell. What, whom, where?
Select type of visualization.
Do not let the tool take decisions for you.
Show context. Show the data
Use of multiple skills: statisticians, designers,
Journalists, developers, artists.
Tell a story or allow others tell a story.…

Uses and abuses of data
visualizations in mass media
ESS Visualisation Workshop 2016
Valencia. May 17-18, 2016. #ESSvisualisation
Pablo Rey Maz nó
@numeroteca
numeroteca.org
Montera34
montera34.com
Open Evidence
open-evidence.com
pablo@montera34.com
Questions!
bit.ly/datavisabuse

Show me the data

Show me the data

https://robots.thoughtbot.com/analyzing-minards-visualization-of-napoleons-1812-march

Show me the data!

Show me the data
but tell me a story!

Show me the data
but tell me a story
with an image!