1. Based on the Cairo and Cohen readings, there are certainly several things I’d like to be able to do with my data visualizations going forward. To start off, I really didn’t understand the basics of data visualizations in the first place until I really started doing some researching on my own, asking for help from some of my classmates and visiting Prof. Wells during office hours. Now that I feel comfortable putting together graphics, I want to ease in and make sure I can continue to follow the basic procedures. When I do reach a certain point, though, I’d like to create a graphic that compares the Razorback men’s basketball team’s three-point percentage on the road versus in Bud Walton Arena. When I get the correct information formatted, I’d like to put it into a graph that is both understandable and aesthetically pleasing to an average reader.
Secondly, I hope to begin implementing graphics in my work for the Traveler and Democrat-Gazette. While I believe it would be easy to do for the Traveler, I’m not sure if I could include them in the Democrat-Gazette or not. Regardless, I would love to start using them in my work.
Prior to studying the readings, I never thought about the relationship between a reader and printed graphics. I generally take sports graphics at face value when I see them, because I typically stick to ESPN when it comes to reading sports articles. While there are other sites that use statistics in much more in depth ways, ESPN seems to keep numbers out of their stories unless they are presented in a certain way. I never realized that graphics could mislead a reader in a way that skewed facts and packaged them as pure truths. In the same way, I didn’t think about how easy it can be to misrepresent information without even knowing it. That puts the onus on me to make sure my stuff is as accurate as it can be, especially since I’m just now grasping the basics of data reporting. That’s no excuse for misrepresentation of facts.
2. Based on the interview readings, I learned several ways I can interview low-income workers. Instead of asking them about how they feel about certain things, which is something I have the tendency to do, I should focus on tangible questioning. “What did you do in this situation? How did you react to this? What did you do next?” I also learned that objects and props can play a role in interviewing, as questions about certain artifacts could spark good interview answers. While I’ve had to tap into my own humanity during the executions and tornado coverages I did last spring, this will be a different level of empathy I need to try and reach to make the subject comfortable. That’s something I need to practice and figure out how to implement during interviews.
Recent Comments