An evening of ‘Visual Trumpery’
Yesterday was an evening of discussions around fake data, visualisation propoganda and journalism ethics. I was at the Visual Trumpery series of talk by Alberto Cairo, in New York City.
Notwithstanding Alberto Cairo’s high stature in the visualization ecosystem & my following of his data blog, I had some reservations going into this session.
It was partly due to his very vocal discussions on social media in the recent past, with heavy political undercurrents, though often tied back to data. It was also to do with the title of the talk — there’s no ambiguity on the side taken here in today’s massive political divide!
Growing graphical divide
Fortunately, the talk was informative, well-balanced and was anything but a political rant. With contemporary examples, simple illustrations meant for a non-viz audience and witty humour, it was enjoyable.
Starting with a genuine concern about the growing graphical divide of those who can vs cannot read charts, it was aimed at public education. This coupled with the fact that an accompanying data graphic bestows a story with credibility & persuasiveness justified why this discourse was necessary today.
Through several convincing and powerful examples, the talk laid out some simple guidelines and questions with which the public can arm themselves against propaganda visualizations, dubious data sources and twisted editorial interpretations.
I liked the final point that one must endeavour ‘to clarify, and not just simplify’ through Visualization. Having worked for years in information design, I see dual forces in action continually — one for sophistication & graphical excellence, while the other is for a relentless push towards usability and ease of understanding.
This was a good reminder that one needs to be wary of taking things to either extremes by a) alienating your audience, or b) over-simplifying your message. After all, in Einstein’s words, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”.
Check out the talk contents here, all of which Alberto has made public.
