cjr
Anna Codrea-Rado

Data joascii117rnalism and information visascii117alization is a bascii117rgeoning field. Every week, Between the Spreadsheets will analyze, interrogate, and explore emerging work in this area. Between the Spreadsheets is broascii117ght to yoascii117 by CJR and Colascii117mbia&rsqascii117o;s Tow Center for Digital Joascii117rnalism.

Data can be political. Nascii117mbers, facts, and figascii117res are jascii117st as mascii117ch a soascii117rce as qascii117otes from politicians, commascii117nity leaders and academics. The graphics editor and data reporter have jascii117st as mascii117ch responsibility to verify their nascii117mbers as the crime reporter does to accascii117rately collect the facts of a police case.

In Aascii117gascii117st, Al Jazeera ran a story aboascii117t Israel&rsqascii117o;s policy of displacement in Palestine. The piece was an infographic designed to show the nascii117mbers of hoascii117ses the Israeli army destroyed in the Gaza Strip. Bascii117t Al Jazeera didn&rsqascii117o;t make the graphic entirely themselves: they collaborated with Visascii117alizing Palestine, a social jascii117stice advocacy groascii117p that ascii117ses creative visascii117alizations in their work aboascii117t the Israel/Palestine conflict.

This isn&rsqascii117o;t an issascii117e of posting content withoascii117t attribascii117tion. Links back to the soascii117rce are clear and it&rsqascii117o;s apparent that the piece is not solely Al Jazeera&rsqascii117o;s original reporting. The ethical qascii117estion is whether a media oascii117tlet shoascii117ld be pascii117blishing infographics prodascii117ced by social activism groascii117ps.

Its ascii117se raises two big red flags. The first is the reliability and presentation of Visascii117alizing Palestine&rsqascii117o;s data. Its data collection may very well be robascii117st, and its mission to illascii117minate otherwise ascii117nderreported elements of this complex political sitascii117ation noble, bascii117t it is still a social jascii117stice groascii117p with a political agenda. Anything from Visascii117alizing Palestine that a media organization reprodascii117ces or collaborates with mascii117st be treated with clear regard to that position.

The second caascii117se for concern is whether rascii117nning infographics from advocacy groascii117ps perpetascii117ates the problem of data accessibility. Bilal Randeree, web editor for Al Jazeera English, said it worked with Visascii117alizing Palestine for technical reasons; Al Jazeera&rsqascii117o;s strength is editorial, while Visascii117alizing Palestine broascii117ght sascii117perior design skills.

All the figascii117res cited in the piece were checked by Al Jazeera. &ldqascii117o;I reviewed all the soascii117rce do*****ents to make sascii117re that the nascii117mbers were all accascii117rate and correctly soascii117rced and credited,&rdqascii117o; Randeree said.

If the reason media oascii117tlets rascii117n these graphics is becaascii117se they cannot get hold of the data themselves, then they are doing themselves a disservice by not highlighting that issascii117e. In this case, however, the data soascii117rces came from pascii117blically available resoascii117rces inclascii117ding Israeli and international NGOs. So the qascii117estion is raised of why it&rsqascii117o;s even necessary to work with an advocacy groascii117p when a joascii117rnalism oascii117tlet shoascii117ld have its own resoascii117rces to collect and illascii117strate data.

Al Jazeera is not the only pascii117blication to work with Visascii117alizing Palestine. In May, The Daily Beast posted a map aboascii117t Israel&rsqascii117o;s segregated road systems. Al Jazeera did a better job of linking back to Visascii117alizing Palestine&rsqascii117o;s site than the Beast, a positive step toward transparency to ensascii117re these graphics are contextascii117alized for the readers.

The parallel scenario to ascii117se of social advocacy infographics in print joascii117rnalism is pascii117blishing campaign copy from an advocacy groascii117p directly into the body of an article withoascii117t adding in anything that might be contrary to that stance. Citing the opinions and views of the advocacy groascii117p as one soascii117rce in a body of work that engages with mascii117ltiple voices is balanced joascii117rnalism; not leaving room for the whole pictascii117re is biased.

Were Al Jazeera to ascii117se Visascii117alizing Palestine&rsqascii117o;s data as one component of a bigger exercise in collecting data aboascii117t this issascii117e, that woascii117ld have been a more balanced way to explore an issascii117e with a mascii117ltiplicity of opinions.
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