GRAPHIC NEWS GUIDE - SOURCES

Graphics are only as good as the quality of information contained in them -- both the "visual" information and the "words". Over half the cost of a graphic is in the research and the time taken to obtain the information. This page is part of a series of information pages for proofers
When Graphic News started in 1991, the Executive News Service on Compuserve provided the key international news stories from the major news agencies. These agencies prided themselves on the reliability of the data in their stories.

Now, more and more information is obtained from other sources and, even if intentional misinformation is excluded, data is increasingly difficult to validate. So from around May 2017, Graphic News started to include links to the sources of the data used in their graphics so that editors and readers, as well as the person at Graphic News who proofed the graphic, could judge the data for themselves.

If in doubt about a source -- use the “blush test”! If you were asked for the source of your data, would you be embarrassed? If you would, then it’s not good enough. Don’t take short cuts with data. Don’t think editors and readers won’t notice because they will, even if they don’t specifically ask or challenge.

  • Validation: To validate data the tradition is to require two independent sources of data. On the web it is difficult to know what information is independent.
  • Corruption: Remember that information deteriorates as it passes from person to person as in the children's game "Chinese Whispers". It is therefore important to use a source as near to the origin as possible, i.e. the "primary" data source.
    • Wikipedia can be a very helpful starting point but should always be checked against other sources.
    • Don’t rely on information in newspapers or news websites as this can be derivative and unreliable, particularly with a moving news story.
  • Primary sources: Even from primary sources the information may not be consistent. For example, if two people see a traffic accident, what they recall may differ. This is because people rationalise in order to remember events so what a person "sees" depends on that person’s preconceptions. In addition, on repetition what they "remember" as having seen can change according to what questions they are asked. Sometimes people can be prompted to recall events that never actually happened.
  • Originality: The artwork Graphic News produces must be "original". More than one source of reference should always be used and if not "artistic creativity" must be added. Particular care should be used when using "drawn" reference as artists are very good at recognising their own work. For example, Graphic News drew a cow with distinctive black and white patches. This same cow reappeared in two other agency graphics repeatedly over a ten-year period to their embarrassment and our irritation!