Does the Tagesschau manipulate Corona graphics in order to depict the infection situation more dramatically?
What's behind it?
And what is the situation with our cards?
Munich -Die
Tagesschau
is confronted with the allegation of manipulation.
Corona graphics would be falsified, it was recently said on social media.
But this assumption is grossly wrong.
We also use appropriate graphics, what is the situation in our illustrations?
Corona: Diagrams of the Tagesschau - Incidence maps in focus
The reason for the digitally expressed displeasure are two images published on Instagram, in which the seven-day incidence of the German urban and rural districts is shown.
One graphic is from March 17, 2021, the other from April 7, 2021. Both maps show the corona cases per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days, but differ in their choice of color.
The April graphic is colored significantly darker than the one from the previous month.
On Twitter you read allegations like this: “Who are they actually trying to fool?
Pay attention to the color scale and the associated incidence values.
A graphic can be manipulated that quickly ... “However, this has nothing to do with alienated content.
Corona graphics: Different colors - changed classes
Instead, the different presentation is based on an adjustment in the course of the pandemic.
As the incidence has risen sharply, the applicable parameters have been changed.
In the first version, the highest value had an incidence greater than 50.
In the meantime, however, there is also a subdivision into 50-100, 100-200 and more than 200. The original incidence of 50 retained its hue.
The new classes are shown in darker red.
If this had not been done, it would have been difficult to compare the individual urban and rural districts with one another.
Because more and more circles are now ranking above the 50 mark.
Nationwide, the incidence is 140.9 (as of April 13).
The criticism of the
Tagesschau is
also
based on the
fact that there were different graphics to be seen in different channels - television and the Internet, as
explained by
the
ARD fact finder
.
In this regard, the editor-in-chief of
ARD-aktuell announces
: "We are sorry if the use of the different graphics led to misunderstandings or irritations."
Corona graphics: No manipulation - information on our images
Overall, however, there can be no question of targeted processing or manipulation - similar to the unjustified accusation that the ARD falsified weather maps.
Like many editorial offices in Germany, the
Tagesschau
uses
graphics and images to make the infection process in the country visible.
We also use corresponding images.
The color classification of our data was also changed in the course of the pandemic.
In this way we can show you a comparable picture of the infection situation in Germany as well as specifically in Bavaria.
From the side of science, there have been critical voices time and again, according to which the pure processing of (worldwide) infection numbers is similar to sports reporting ("which country currently has the most cases?") And is sometimes referred to the bare data as the background .
We try to always show you a balanced picture of the numbers, but at the same time we are also aware of the possible problems behind this data reporting.
The data / interactive team of the Ippen digital network also provides current figures on the occupancy of intensive care beds and the vaccination rates in Germany's federal states.
We are constantly expanding this offer for you.
Feel free to contact us with your suggestions.
Even after more than a year, the development of data and research is still rapid.
(as)
Transparency: Our data, sources and methods
The basic database for the interactive elements in this article is the Robert Koch Institute.
This provides an interface with comprehensive corona data.
We filter and integrate these automatically and especially at midnight.
We also automatically update the map on a regular basis.
Naturally, the data can only be as up-to-date as the authorities provide.
For example, there is always a delay in advance from the occurrence of the infection to the final report to the RKI.
Even if individual state offices are often faster: from our point of view, the RKI remains the nationwide uniform official source for residents and politicians for assessing the current infection rate.
We obtain the data on intensive care bed occupancy from the DIVI intensive care register.
We integrate these, also automatically, into our data elements such as the map.