Misrepresenting COVID-19: Lying With Charts During the Second Golden Age of Data Design
Department
Technical Communication and Interactive Design
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Abstract
In this second golden age of data design, digital affordances enable the news media to share occasionally misleading charts about COVID-19. Examining data visualizations about COVID-19 highlights three ways that charts can mislead viewers: (a) by displaying inadequate data, (b) by manipulating scales and visual distance, and (c) by omitting contextual labels needed to fully understand a chart’s message. This article provides takeaways for technical communicators about including and displaying adequate data, representing numbers consistently, and humanizing COVID-19’s effects.
Journal Title
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Journal ISSN
10506519
Volume
35
Issue
1
First Page
73
Last Page
79
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1177/1050651920958392
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