For "Trends in Communication & Information Technology," JOUR 4871-003, fall 2012, CU-Boulder

1. Data visualization: 2
Storytelling by the numbers
Trends in Communication & Information Technology
JOUR 4871-003

2. Great blogs featuring best of data visualization
http://infosthetics.com/
http://chartporn.org/

3. A few great examples of news data visualizations
Enhanced State of the Union Address (WhiteHouse.gov)
Video with 1/3 of screen devoted to contextual graphics and charts
Roller coaster animation of housing-value ups & downs
Game-like approach to presenting otherwise boring chart
NYTimes.com: Words used at GOP convention
Word cloud enhanced with interactive content
Olympic medalists compete against predecessors
Plain scatter chart pales in comparison to visual race results
FoodMood: Measuring global food sentiment via tweets
Most-mentioned foods, by country, with “happiness index” ... A bit silly, BUT
indicative of what journalists, researchers can find in social-media data
Twitter activity through Murdoch testimony, pie incident
Activity level and most-used words through testimony to UK parliament
Public Face II smiley installation (Lindau, Germany)
25-foot smiley shows mood of city; driven by data from street camera and
algorithm that analyzes facial expressions

4. Motion graphics:Tools of the trade
Data visualization:Tools of the trade
Tableau Public is free version;
Windows only; Mac soon

5. Skill requirements: NYTimes interactive graphics
Interactive Graphics Editor Opening (currently open)
The New York Times is looking for a interactive designer/
programmer/editor to join the Graphics department, which
produces interactive maps, motion graphics and data
visualizations. ...
Requirements:
• Proficiency in development of interactive graphics or Web sites
• Skill in interface design and traditional information graphic design
• Fluency in HTML/CSS and JavaScript
• Fluency in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop

6. At-home exercise: Google Fusion Tables
http://goo.gl/mL4UM

7. Learn more: Journalism & data visualization
http://datajournalism.stanford.edu/#

8. Discussion, brainstorming...
Story: Missouri couple wins $588M Powerball jackpot
Split with AZ winner ... After taxes: $192.5M
How might this story be told using data visualization?

9. How might this story be told using data visualization?
THINK INTERACTIVE!!!!
Visualize: What that money would buy (school lunches; portion of fighter jet; iPads for
how many schools...) -- Could be quiz; enter answer, click for result. Hover to see answer/
data.
Visualize: $192M vs. their town’s annual budget; school district budget; etc.
Couple’s current income vs. Powerball money split over X number of years
Comparisons: car can afford then and now ... Or house
Bar chart: biggest lottery prizes awarded
Pie chart: top 10 biggest prizes, showing how much this one takes of the pie
Line chart: likely amount over time if couple follows spending trend of previous Powerball
winners
$192M vs. top CEO annual salaries
Word cloud or pie chart: What did previous Powerball winners spend on (big items)?
Twitter visualization of Powerball mentions: emotions (disgust, happy, envy, sad...)
Twitter visualization in hour before and after numbers announced (number of tweets per
minute; emotion...)
Map visualization: 3D bar charts of amount won + location of winner