The Süddeutsche Zeitung draws graphical tables. Good. And has done so for a while. Since 2007, I think. Now they’ve changed something. I rushed to the kiosk. And had a look.
Share prices in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Above: 2008-10-23, below: 2011-12-07.
Bars for change vs. previous day.
The five columns on the right are wider now. By five digits. But none were added. The column for the chart is now narrower. And used to the full even less.
I wanted to know more precisely and had a very close look. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Five times ouch.
Ashes instead of longer, starting at approx. 5 percent.
Above: 2008, below: 2011. View enlarged.
First ouch: The SZ chops the heads of bars off. Starting at approx. 5 percent. And draws ashes. They used to do this. They still do. 13.86 is as big as 7.23. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Second ouch: The ashes make larger values smaller than smaller ones. 4.80 looks longer than 6.26.
Third ouch: The new ashes are dust. Chopped off or not? You can tell with a magnifying glass. Only then.
Excerpts from above. Left: 2008, center: 2011, right: redesign by me.
Fourth ouch: The bars are shorter than they could be. Whether chopped off or not. They used to be. They still are. And now even shorter. I scanned. And counted pixels. There used to be 45 pixels for 3.4%. Now there are only 25 pixels for it.
Fifth ouch: Correct would be easy. I’ve drawn it, on the right.
