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Mona Chalabi, known around these parts for her illustrative approach to data journalism, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her New York Times piece on Jeff Bezos’ extreme wealth. She compared the scale of Jeff Bezos wealth against median wealth, and the absurdity of the scale leant itself to ridiculous comparisons.
Amazing. Congratulations to Mona.
Tags: illustration, Mona Chalabi, New York Times, Pulitzer
Posted by in illustration, Mona Chalabi, New York Times, news, Pulitzer
Jeff Bezos’ wealth is difficult to understand conceptually, because the scale is just so much more than what any of us are used to. So for NYT Magazine, Mona Chalabi took a more abstract approach, focusing less on monetary values and more on how many multiples more Bezos has compared to the median household.
See also The Washington Post’s comparison from a couple of years ago, scaling things down to spending equivalencies. I think Chalabi’s comparison works better. It’s abstract compared with abstract.
Tags: illustration, Jeff Bezos, Mona Chalabi, scale, wealth
Posted by in illustration, Infographics, Jeff Bezos, Mona Chalabi, scale, wealth
Mona Chalabi has a new podcast Am I Normal? and it’s very good:
We all want to know if we’re normal—do I have enough friends? Should it take me this long to get over my ex? Should I move or stay where I am? Endlessly curious data journalist Mona Chalabi NEEDS to know, and she’s ready to dive into the numbers to get some answers. But studies and spreadsheets don’t tell the whole story, so she’s consulting experts, strangers, and even her mum to fill in the gaps. The answers might surprise you, and make you ask: does normal even exist?
There are two episodes so far: the first on how long it takes to get over a breakup and the second on how many friends people have. A takeaway from both is that defining “normal” is a fuzzy matter and the data only gets you part of the way there.
Tags: Mona Chalabi, normal, podcast
Posted by in Mona Chalabi, normal, Podcast, statistics