Ciaran explains that an inability to grasp the difference between an information
graphic and an illustration has been, in his experience, the source of bad interactive
and infographic ideas in the past. According to Bella, some general issues may lead to
bad commissions, for example over-prescriptiveness on the part of other teams and
journalists in the corporation (commissioning an interactive that will enhance a story to
make it more successful, but not to explain or explore the story or data better). Similarly,
she explains that journalists (and readers) like maps, but the geographical location
of a story is not always central to its significance, and the use of satellite imagery in
maps for visual impact is not always the most appropriate representation. Maps are
nonetheless used to add verity to stories, to give the audience a sense of rootedness in
their own space and geography, to connect them with news events, even when this is
not appropriate to the story being told.
Michael Agar says that he had engaged in some bad commissions in the past in
order to serve a purpose in the newsroom. He recalled a story comparing the cost of
bread in the 1940s and today—involving a series of pictorial slides. This commission,
from a senior news editor, served the purpose of encouraging the print newsroom to
make more use of infographics as a means of online-only story publishing. Emily has
been asked to undertake “bad” commissions at the FT, but they have never been
published. Sometimes she has questioned whether some commissions represent the
best use of her time