army publications’ use of information graphics

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    The purpose of project was to analyze several Army publications to determinehow they utilize and integrate information graphics. The study will help toimprove how the Army communicates with internal and external audiences byutilizing some basic principles of information graphics.

    Paul Hayes

    PR 691

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    Currently there are hundreds of Army publications. To narrow the analysis, Ifocused on weekly newspapers for Army units deployed to eitherAfghanistan or Iraq. A complete list of these publications is available at :

    http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=pubs/pubs_main.php

    The four publications finally selected were

    1) The Desert Mesh which serves all soldiers stationed in Kuwait.

    2) The GWOT Reconstruction Report which covers all Army Corps ofEngineers projects in Iraq and Afghanistan

    3) The Anaconda Times which services Logistics Support Area Anaconda(20,000 persons) near Balad, Iraq.

    4) The Iraq Reconstruction Report which covers all reconstruction within Iraq.

    All these papers contained either information graphics or data (stories) thatcould be rendered as an information graphic. In all four cases, theaudiences of these papers are soldiers and civilians serving overseas.However, due to online availability, a secondary audience might also befamily members and friends of those stationed at the particular base.

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    The staff of these papers consist of 3 to 5 Army soldiers or civilians. Thesesmall teams generate all content to include all information graphics.

    The content of these publications typically covers special events that occuron the base, special visitors to the base, safety messages, and feature stories

    on individual units. The content best suited to information graphics are theweekly police blotters, safety articles, and messages from the commander.

    These publications are generally created using commercially availableprograms such as Microsoft Publisher, Photo Shop, and Adobe. Thesepublications are created and published (including printing) at remote locations.

    Major publications such as the New York Times or National Geographic cancall upon journalists, researchers, graphic artists, and other specialists tocreate information graphics. For the Army, however, the team writing andcreating weekly publications is much less robust. For example, the editor of

    the Anaconda Times (Major Chris West) must rely on 2-3 personnel to helpwrite, lay-out, and publish each paper. Their expertise is limited to basicsoftware training (PowerPoint, Adobe, Word) and any artistic developmenttheyve done on their own. To expect these teams to routinely producegraphics comparable to National Geographic is not realistic.

    The audiences of these papers are soldiers and civilians serving overseas.However, due to online availability, a secondary audience might also be familymembers and friends of those stationed at the particular base. Due to theaudiences, there is an opportunity for editors to utilize their papers to educatepersonnel on important safety, personal, health, and welfare issues.

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    Based on the publication staff and audiences, I felt it important to limit the

    expectations for information graphics used in the papers. The question that

    came up the most when thinking of how to apply the information graphics

    principles was,

    Given the publications staff, resources, and purpose what are the most

    important principles that must be followed?

    Based on that question, I selected including a prcis, telling the truth, interpret

    implications, stimulate learning, and amplify content as the most important.

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    The first graphic analyzed was from the Iraq Reconstruction Report. This table

    provides data on the current and projected progress of Iraq reconstruction

    projects.

    The graphic does not include a prcis. The reader is left wondering whether

    the progress is ahead of schedule, behind schedule, or right on track. Asimple statement on the top of the page could highlight the overall purpose of

    the data table. Iraq Reconstruction Ahead of Schedule, would be an

    example.

    The graphic does tell the truth. The Army must be straightforward in its

    dealings with all audiences and from experience, this graphic does provide

    factual information.

    The graphic does a poor job of interpreting, contextualizing, and explaining

    implications for the data. For example, the oil category could be further

    explained. How is this progress compared to other countriesor otherindustries? How will this oil infrastructure improvements effect the world oil

    supply? By not contextualizing and explaining the implications, skeptical

    media can fill the void with their own context.

    This graphic misses an opportunity to educate and stimulate learning in its

    audiences. Taking graphical examples from National Geographic might help

    here. Educational publications tend to use maps, pictures, and other eye-

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    catching images to help stimulate understanding of mundane data.

    Finally, this graphic does not amplify other content. In this publication, this

    graphic was used by itself without any text. As a result, the text used within

    the graphic needs to amply contentnot simply restate it.

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    The next graphic analyzed was from The Anaconda Times. The tableprovides data on POV (privately owned vehicle) accidents during the year

    Once again, the graphic does not include a prcis. Was this a bad year forArmy accidents? What should soldiers know about accidents this past year?The data in the table proposes that the year saw a significant increase in both

    accidents and fatalities. A simple prcis should state this fact.The graphic tells the truth. Unfortunately, the truth needs to be highlighted in

    the prcisotherwise it looks like the data is being hidden.

    The graphic does a poor job of interpreting, contextualizing, and explainingimplications for the data. For example, the creator needs to explain what aClass A accident is. If the reader does not know they might be skepticalthat the accident rate matches the fatality rate. Additionally, civilian accidentrates could also be shown to place the accident rates into context. How doesthe Armys rates compare to the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard? Onceagain, by not contextualizing and explaining the implications, a skeptical

    reader might draw their own conclusions.

    This graphic was placed in the paper to educate soldiers on the dangers ofreckless driving. As a result, it has an educational purpose. The creatorneeds to develop the graphic keeping in mind the reader may only read thefirst paragraph and glance at the graphic. How can the graphic be designed tohold the readers interest long enough to educate them on this important safetyissue? Pursuing educational periodicals might provide ideas on samplegraphics that could help in this task.

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    Finally, this graphic does not amplify other content. In this publication, thisgraphic was used next to an article about POV safety. Neither the text nor hetable complemented each other. The table was probably added as anafterthought.

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    The next graphic analyzed was from The Desert Mesh. This map graphic charts thelocations of units, reconstruction projects, and geographical regions.

    Once again, the graphic does not include a prcis. The lead sentence of the article

    was, Electricity, medical, water projects enrich Diyala Province. Despite thisimportant lead, the graphic does not highlight the progress in Diyala, but the overallstatus of projects throughout the country. If the success in Diyala was the prcis, thegraphic failed to represent that.

    The Army again uses graphics to tell the truth. Unfortunately, the truth in thisgraphic is difficult to ascertain. How many projects are on-going? The reader mustphysically count each flag to come up with the number of projects on-going.

    The graphic does a poor job of interpreting, contextualizing, and explainingimplications for the data. For example, the author talked extensively about waterprojects in Diyala. How are these projects contextualized on the graphic? How manywells existed last year? The map also lacks a key. What does each flag represent?

    The reader must come up with these key points of context on their own.

    This graphic was placed in the paper to educate soldiers and external audiences ofthe great progress being made in Diyala. As a result, it retains an educational as wellas informational purpose. How will the reader know about all the great things going?

    Additionally, what does a sample project look like? How many people will a wellservice? All these seemingly small items would help a reader with little reconstructionbackground understand better the improvements being made. Overall, however, theuse of a map and unit symbols do help to educate readers as to the locations andorganization of the reconstruction effort.

    Finally, this graphic does not amplify other content. It does a poor job highlighting

    Diyala province as well helping the reader understand projects mentioned in the

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    article.

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