Cool Global Breast Cancer Graphic

By Marcie Barnes

(This post is part of an assignment for the class I am taking, Global Impact of New Communication Technologies at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I will be posting articles about things I read on my classmates' blogs, and talking about how they relate to health, if possible!)

Thanks to my classmate Amanda Toler for blogging about a really interesting interactive breast cancer map from Time Magazine. As important as the written word is, I really appreciate the time and effort gone into a visual like this, which lets the reader truly dive into the global picture of an issue (in this case breast cancer) in a wonderfully interactive way. This kind of information posed, say in a spreadsheet, is not as nearly as impactful for the reader. Instead, the reader can easily get a true global view of the places where breast cancer is most prevalent, quickly.

Also of note is the cover image, pictured to the right. I really love the image in its ability to convey the curiosity factor in order to lead the reader into the lead story (and, additionally, into buying the magazine.)

I can't help but to notice the apparent saturation of breast cancer in western civilization. My (brief) opinion on this matter is further discussed here, and for more on breast cancer see the Komen Foundation website or click here directly to make a contribution.