Politics and Maps: A Critical Review of German News Maps on the War Against Terrorism in Afghanistan
Maps or Photographs?
One general conclusion is, that news maps are not recognized as a distinct category of information representation. The editors’ selection shows many common issues with those for press photographs, which have a longer tradition in the print media. Even authors with a proven topical and regional expertise are not consulted regarding the selection of suitable maps, a procedure which is also confirmed by the additional survey among the editors. MONMONIER (1999) even states that news maps are often just supplements for the non-availability of press photographs.
Map Titles
Textbooks on topical cartography as well as those for information graphics generally argue in favour of informative titles to give a direct introduction into the map’s topic. Although this process is common for all written articles in the print media, and mostly for photographs as well, less than one third of the maps, except those issued by news agencies, show a title or heading. Topographical sketch maps generally do not have titles. A brief survey of map titles does not show clear differences between the papers under survey; short and generalized titles are common and a topical differentiation is hardly possible. On the other extreme, however, map titles may simultaneously serve as page-wide headlines. In some papers, the map titles are substituted by short comments, similar to those for photographs.
Map titles also hint to the papers’ editing intentions; next to the selection of articles also the one of maps is primarily based on domestic interests. In one local daily there were very few maps on Afghanistan at all. However, as soon as the German Minister for Foreign Affairs visited the Middle East and South Asia, a map with all his destinations was printed. The same happened as soon as the German Air force started cargo flights to Turkey.
The Editing Procedures and Policies for News Maps
A brief comparison shows that there is often no direct topical link between news maps and related articles. In one nationwide daily, a map on the global distribution of the Muslim population is added to an article on the controversial discussions on German immigration laws. Contrary to this article’s message, the map’s choice might lead to the readers’ imagination of a “Muslim immigration threat”.
It should be recognized that mistakes or technical inaccuracies may easily occur, given the daily time constraints newspapers editors have to face (c.f. MONMONIER 1996). However, the present analysis leads to the question, whether the editing procedures for news maps are appropriate and result in informative news maps.
One of the most obvious aspects lies in the transcription of Asian toponymes into German. There are differing modes: identical locations are spelled differently in different issues of the same paper, on different pages of the same issue, or even within matched maps. Several cases can be traced back to particular news agencies, which obviously follow their own principles, differing from official transcription rules, and also from those commonly used in encyclopaedias. However, the issue of transcribing Asiatic toponymes cannot be easily solved and scientific standards may either be unknown or inappropriate to editors.
Additionally, all editorial offices of this sample’s papers (totally 13) had been contacted with a written questionnaire and eight actually replied. Their brief analysis provides interesting insights regarding the current practises of publishing news maps. Maps are generally published as “supplements” or “topographical overview” to particular articles; other reasons are the “current relevance” of regions or topics. The importance of maps as eye-catchers and part of headlines had been identified only twice as a “frequent” reason.
The editors generally perceive the frequency of news maps in their papers as “sufficient”. Only one nation-wide daily regrets their own limited drafting capacities. According to the editors’ responses, there are no major constraints with regard to the availability of basic sources and maps, “generally problematic” has been identified only once regarding the non-availability of suitable maps for tabloid papers.
Of particular interest are the criteria for selecting news maps: “reliable sources”, “timely availability” and a “focus on relevant contents” are generally identified as “very important” or “important”. “Coloured maps” are “important” or even “very important” only for tabloid dailies as well as for weekly papers; the utilization of “additional illustrations” is “important” for two weeklies and even “very important” for one of the yellow press dailies.
News maps are mostly selected by the responsible editors, in this sample generally those for politics and international affairs, sometimes in co-operation with the photography or graphics departments. One daily even has a department for cartography. In general, these bodies are also responsible for proof-reading of maps. The articles’ authors are not mentioned at all for this process, in contrast to scientific publications. This analysis, however, identifies frequent and significant shortcomings in news maps, which can directly be related to the papers’ deficiencies in the selection, drafting and proof-reading processes.
Mislocations
One of the most obvious issues in maps is the right location of places, topographical details and even of countries. Several cases of wrong locations might be traced back to sudden breaking news with insufficient time for detailed research or for proof-reading.
In spite of the different steps of map editing, mentioned by the editors, quite often identical mistakes remain in subsequent maps (see figure x a & b). In some cases, even a previously correct solution had been exchanged for wrong ones.
This analysis does not aim at checking all locations according to their coordinates. However, outstanding examples of wrong locations are identified which could easily be recognized even by common map readers. Small-scale maps often locate settlements in a manner that clearly exceeds the principles of cartographic generalization. For example, Kabul, Jalalabad and Kandahar are repeatedly shown either too close to the borderline, or towards wrong directions.
Since it is obvious that publishers and news agencies maintain their own data bases and maps, a critical proof-reading of these base maps should be in their own interest. At least the observation of competing papers might provide first hints. Eventually, the occasional consultation of external expertise would help to up-date such data bases. However, MONMONIER (1996) and LIEBIG (1999) state that modern computer systems and especially available graphics software allow even non-professionals to draw new or to change existing maps without knowing the basic principles of cartography.
A Critical Review of Map Contents and the Spheres of Map Meaning
A weekly news magazine’s coloured map on the global distribution of Muslims represents a striking example of inappropriate handling of statistics. This map shows a detailed classification with one class of one to nine percent for the percentage share of Muslims in particular countries. Several countries, however, such as Sri Lanka, are shown as having no relevant Muslim population at all. Additionally, also the representation of core areas of particular Muslim sects, like the Shia community, is wrong. This map also gives no reference regarding data sources. The same map, however, can be found in a recent German atlas on Islam (KETTERMANN 2001), and the magazine’s copy, without any hint to the authorization, includes the original map’s basic mistakes and also new ones, such as the statistical representation of Indian Muslims.
Other examples mostly show over-generalizations of particular topics which eventually lead to misleading or false information for interested map readers. There are, for example, routes of drug trafficking out of Afghanistan, focussed only on the one through Iran and Turkey. Actual routes are more diverse and include Pakistan, the Central-Asian republics and Russia. Similar cases can be found for pipeline projects for natural gas through Afghanistan. None of this sample’s pipeline maps can really compete with the very accurate the map in Ahmed Rashid’s book on Afghanistan (2001), which had been widely reviewed in the German press.
There are also positive examples, such as a series of maps in a regional daily, which did not publish many maps at all, showing the changes of territorial coverage and control of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan for four dates during November 2001. No other graphical solution - and no other paper - offers such a comprehensive overview of territorial dynamics. However, the status quo represented in this map only shows the Tajik faction’s core area in the northeast, without showing other areas under control of the opposition. Those are occasionally shown in other maps.
Conclusion and Recommendations
MAC EACHRAN (1995) summarizes his discussion of different approaches of cartography – the idea of functional maps versus the one of deconstructing the presumed neutrality and the focus on (hidden) political agendas – with the conclusion, that these approaches may not be exclusive ones. Maps also have to be functional in order to inform map readers. However, this is only possible as long as the circumstances of map meaning are transparent.
With regard to the usefulness of the presented sample of news maps from a wide range of German papers and news agencies it can be concluded that these do not intentionally provide misinformation on Afghanistan, its neighbouring regions and related topics after September 11th, 2001. There is, however, a narrow edge to hidden bias or paradigms of “Western superiority” versus Islamic countries which are shown even in serious nation-wide dailies. The potential censorship by intelligence services is beyond the scope of this study, but scepticism remains regarding aerial and satellite imagery.
The occurrence and frequency of news maps is – not surprisingly – directly related to the perceived political importance and relevance of particular topics, events and regions, seen primarily from a Western and German perspective. Only from this perspective and in the context of the “International War on Terror”, news maps contribute significantly to the coverage of previous “white spots” of common regional knowledge. This finding contradicts wide spread assumptions that wars actually generate new “white spots”. However, several types of shortcomings and mistakes in the process of selecting, drafting, editing and eventually publishing news maps hint at deficiencies within the editorial set up and also limit the maps’ information content and validity for interested map readers.
The editing process of news maps obviously needs other mechanisms and criteria, as compared to the established ones for written articles or photographs. So far, the majority of editors obviously do not fully recognize maps as a distinct category for presenting spatial and topical information. The editors also might not be fully aware of the huge potentials of maps as well as of the graphical and topical limits of cartography. The potential advantages of maps, such as the presentation of absolute and relative location or distribution of issues, can only be fully utilized as long as geographical data bases are up-to-date and as long as experienced cartographers and experts are consulted to minimize – unintentional – misinformation by news maps.
With regard to Afghanistan there might have been no period before with such an intensive coverage of “geographical” information. However, readers with more detailed interests are often lost by either incomplete or wrong representations or conflicting ones between different sources. From a scientific perspective there is a strong argument to consult regional and topical specialists – not only for Afghanistan – more frequently and get them also involved in the selection of appropriate graphics and maps, especially for background information, even in periods of lower political interests than the one under review.
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Maps used:
- Iran und Afghanistan. Relief, Gewässer und Siedlungen. Scale 1: 4 Mio., edited by "Sonderforschungsbereich 19 Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orient" (TAVO), Sheet A I 3. Wiesbaden, 1991
- Physical and Political Map of Afghanistan. Scale 1: 1.5 Mio., edited by "Afghan Cartographic Institute". No place [Kabul], 1968
- Political Map of Afghanistan. Scale 1: 2 Mio., edited by "Afghan Cartographic & Cadastral Survey Institute". Kabul, 1976.