Mapping the News

How many times have we been looking through the newspaper and instead of reading the story you just look at the graphic or map? I know that I do every time. Not just because I am a map geek but because if you can get the same information from looking at a map versus reading a page long story most likely filled with hard to decipher statistics, why not?

Maps are a great communicator of information. They are used to tell stories or convey information easily to a particular audience. The news industry uses this powerful tool to convey information to their captive audience to tell their stories and make their point.

There are almost an infinite many types of maps that can be created to depict any story. We are use to weather maps, crime spree maps, traffic maps, and many more in our everyday examination of the news.

Just today I checked the news on Google News and Yahoo News and found many maps right off the main pages. As talked about in a previous blog, interactive maps are being used more and more as a useful tool to convey information to a large audience.

Its has been said over and over that pictures are worth a thousand words but I think that maps are worth even more. It is my goal that one day we can do away with newscasters and hire only cartographers and have the news be depicted all through maps. No more funny haircuts, fake laughs or weather men pushing storms around with their funny arm movements, just maps.

interactive maps

With the growing use of the internet there is a growing audience for interactive web-based maps (who would have thought). There are many great uses for interactive maps. They are not only fun to look at such things are your home town or planning a trip but there are also many potential uses for businesses or academics as well. It can be a great place to show such things are what data you have to sell or offer. You can show where you stores are located and how to get to them. You can show where your cell coverage is or planning to be. The uses are almost infinite.

However I prefer the fun aspect of interactive mapping. Most of us are familiar with Google earth however I found another site that is also fun to play with and has more thematic based maps that depict many cool data layers not offered by other interactive maps.

The MapMachince created by National Geographic is one cool example of interactive web-based mapping.http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/ My favorite is the "more theme maps" tab where you can pick different thematic layers to view for the selected map extent.

Maps and the American Identity

Maps have always been an important element in the American identity. From the days of the exploring age to the latest political race, maps have played an enduring role in the development of what the American identity has become and is evolving onto.

When many immigrant families arrived in the “new world” they had nothing more than a map and the storied that they had heard from friends, relatives or the stranger passing through. Maps were an important component in the early development of the American landscape and identity.

Even today maps still play a crucial role in many aspects of forming not only what people think of us but also what we think of ourselves. With the development of better technology we are now capable of mapping more diverse and complicated problems or questions about ourselves. Like I mentioned we can map political races and how certain regions of the US align politically. However with such data as the census we can also understand even more complicated questions or problems such as poverty, housing, transpiration and many other topics relating to our population or identity. Maps have and always will have a defining place in our American identity.

FACT/FICTION

Maps are a generalization of space. Obviously we can’t include all aspects of what we are trying to depict because the map would become overloaded with information. Maps are a great tool to express and point of view or idea about about a particular issue with scaled down representations to give focus.

This generalization and simplification of the real world is where some contention can arise. Maps can be a great tool to communicate our ideas. However are our ideas always correct or fact? Also perception and human understanding play into how maps are understood. In the early age of discovery many believed the world to be flat. So were the maps created depicting the world to be flat fiction? They were, as far as human understanding for that time period, fact. Hoever this is my opinion and many disagree.

The rise in technology and easy availability of software to create maps has also enhanced our ability to create deceiving maps. Employing such tools as color, hue and pattern for example can greatly change the message of the map. Most assume that the darkest color means the most dense representation such as population density. However there are no laws requiring cartographers to employ such techniques. In my opinion this isn’t fiction it is just deception. Is it good judgment or bad cartographic conduct?
There are many ways to utilize deception and sway public opinion when making maps. Despite this, in my opinion, its not fiction or fabrication it is just a distorted perception of reality. Cartographers still have creditability however with the advancement of technology and animated mapping software the public must become more aware of cartographic practices and how they are applied to sway opinion of the audience