BUSINESS GRAPHS

The Great Recession, the Economic Recession or the global recession of 2009, was a noticeable global economic decline that began in December 2007 and took a quick downward turn in September 2008. As more and more countries got affected by the recession, one significant aspect that emerged in the media scene was that more and more people started showing interest in business news. An increasing number of people grew concerned about the stock exchange rise and fall, markets, companies, profit and loss and so on. However, an interesting development at least the Indian print media started showing was the use of more graphical representations which it continues to do even to this day. Earlier, only articles were published with no graphs. The statistics were all given and said in the article itself, for example, the Indian markets made 6 crore rupees in 2005, 8 crore in 2006 and so on. This obviously lead to the news and of course the page to look absolutely dull, drab and even colorless. Not many people, except maybe some businessmen, really showed interest in business affairs until the great recession hit them. So the print media came up with a welcome change in all financial newspapers and business pages, that is, the use of graphs such as pie charts, bar graphs, XY charts, rubber-band scales, bullet graphs, and so on which are just the many ways of giving statistical information. One advantage of these graphs is that they are easier to understand and add a better look to a dull black and white page. They can convey more by just looking at them, enhance the presentation of results, and provide a better visual dimension. Also, technology has enabled the use of such graphs with ease. Like how photographs are to other news and feature items, graphs are equally important to business and statistical information. After all, many people feel business is the best place to depict such graphs. “When mathematicians and statisticians have developed such graphs for ease of understanding information, and when the electronic media all takes help of such graphs, then why should the print media not do it?” feels Ajay Modi, a businessman, who regularly keeps himself updated with the latest business trends.

However, graphs do not always get the credit they deserve in the business world. Often, they are seen as silly visual aids and unimportant. But, the value of the use of graphs in business can truly be seen when one has to gather a little piece of information by studying several pages of company reports. The ease with which a single graph can tell the whole story is undeniable. However, a challenge for a business news editor is to represent the appropriate graph based on the story and of course publish it correctly, as there have been several cases where print media has gone terribly wrong with giving information through graphs. Therefore, the right graphical representation can definitely mean a lot to any graphic designer, reporter, editor, the publication and of course, the readers.

Written by Yusra 

Edited by Prerna