One of my very first exposures to Data Journalism was the article, “Life in the Camps: The Rohingya Crisis” by Simon Scarr and Weiyi Cai. I remember the emotional impact of seeing the rapid expansion of settlement camps over time. This emotional response could never have such an impact if it were to be displayed as charts or numerically represented. It was a reminder that behind all the data, the numbers, the computations and trends in the data that there are human beings; people who experience the gamut of human emotions just like you and me.
This emotional component is where I believe this article provides so much value– much more than I can put into words. While of course, any article that provides exposure to the plight of a group of individuals provides a great value to society, but if the article can transcend its numerical representations, not only is it of greater value to the reader, but also the ones that are personally affected.
If you are unfamiliar with the Rohingya, I will provide a an extremely non-exhaustive summary: The Rohingya are an indigenous ethnic group belonging to the northern region of Myanmar. In the 1980s they were essentially labelled as foreigners in their own country, denying the freedom of movement and any basic human rights. They even banned the use of the “Rohingya” and referred to them as “Bengalis” essentially ascribing them to the neighboring sovereign state. Myanmar, and then Burma, has been accused of Ethnic Cleansing and genocide several times in the past but It wasn’t until 2017 when the military, who was essentially controlling the “democratic puppet state” escalated conflict, and the issue saw increasing international attention.
It is here where data journalism plays such an important role in reporting. The article presents images of the same location over an extremely short period of time (three months!). It shows how expansion of displacement camps and how much they’ve grown over time. But the authors do not stop there. They present how these mini cities lack access to roads and how they must rely on bamboo bridges to transport essential items to their camps. They show the extent of overcrowding by providing visual maps of the limited access to latrines per clustered shelters. They even go as far to show that not even every can access the 7,839 latrines located both within “official” limits of the camp and outside surrounding clusters. The article even doesn’t stop there, they provide many instances and issues these camps are facing, all accompanied by geospatial pictures, and snapshots of life within the camp. If this information were simply presented on a chart of a table, it would not produce such visceral “emotional information” that the images bring forth.
By introducing an emotional component, the authors can, in my opinion, provide more information on the data. Although it is intangible, and might be considered a bias, this emotional aspect introduces concepts of humanity, of struggle, of empathy—this numbers and figures tend to erase. This in turn benefits those experiencing this tragedy and the reader. It creates a sense of urgency and lowers the threshold of inhibition to take a clear stance. I feel when concepts are displayed on such a level, it is easier call out and ask International Leaders to address the issue, and that is exactly what happened. Unfortunately, Myanmar experienced another coup in 2021 resulting in the dissolution of the pseudo-democratic state, and much of what these people are facing rarely comes to light. But this article goes to show how much of an impact the visualization of data can have, compared to numbers and figures and how it can inspire global movements and create accountability.
