{"id":31,"date":"2026-02-09T14:11:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.mis.temple.edu\/kwilliams\/blog\/points\/read-between-the-lines-decoding-charts-and-graphs-in-the-news\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T14:11:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:11:58","slug":"read-between-the-lines-decoding-charts-and-graphs-in-the-news","status":"publish","type":"points","link":"https:\/\/community.mis.temple.edu\/kwilliams\/points\/read-between-the-lines-decoding-charts-and-graphs-in-the-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Read Between the Lines: Decoding Charts and Graphs in the News"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex flex-col text-sm pb-25\">\n<article class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&amp;:has([data-writing-block])&gt;*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" tabindex=\"-1\" data-turn-id=\"3f15270c-e861-484d-b5ea-c753376e3ec7\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-4\" data-scroll-anchor=\"true\" data-turn=\"assistant\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"c21f66a1-052f-41b8-a614-ecf37f62cbe5\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-2-thinking\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[1px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full wrap-break-word dark markdown-new-styling\">\n<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"582\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">I learned how to read charts, graphs, and statistics in news stories more critically by looking past the headline and checking what the data actually supports. The workshop helped me spot common ways visuals can be misleading (like cut-off axes, confusing scales, missing context, or cherry-picked time frames) and taught me to ask better questions about sources, sample sizes, and what information might be left out. Overall, I left with a clearer process for judging whether a chart is being used fairly and for making more informed decisions about data-driven claims in the news.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"z-0 flex min-h-[46px] justify-start\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 w-full empty:hidden\">\n<div class=\"text-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pointer-events-none h-px w-px absolute bottom-0\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-edge=\"true\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":28363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-31","points","type-points","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.mis.temple.edu\/kwilliams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/points\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.mis.temple.edu\/kwilliams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/points"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.mis.temple.edu\/kwilliams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/points"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.mis.temple.edu\/kwilliams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.mis.temple.edu\/kwilliams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/community.mis.temple.edu\/kwilliams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/points\/31\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.mis.temple.edu\/kwilliams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}