Lobbyists and Visualizing Relationships
Relationships are tough to convey. Text doesn’t really get at it–pictures of connectedness often show interlinks more concretely than descriptions can. But relationship networks get very complex very rapidly. The dense web of interconnectedness of people is muddling if shown in too much detail. The tough thing in showing relationships is to get to the level of detail that makes your case, but doesn’t overwhelm, or dilute the story you are trying to tell.
Media Matters has a simple relationship diagram showing John McCain’s close advisors and their connections to lobbying and corporations. Their goal is straightforward, and I think they do a pretty good job of presenting the information. In looking at this diagram, I wanted to see the next level of connectedness–I noticed lots of folks were connected to Airbus, for example, so I wanted to see the relationship from the other direction. But I get why they didn’t create a drill down to that next level. In this case, I think simplicity wins out in this case.
