Alberto Cairo
@albertocairo.com
Designer, journalist, and professor.
Author of 'The Art of Insight' (2023) 'How Charts Lie' (2019), 'The Truthful Art' (2016), and 'The Functional Art' (2012). NEW PROJECT: https://openvisualizationacademy.org/
Author of 'The Art of Insight' (2023) 'How Charts Lie' (2019), 'The Truthful Art' (2016), and 'The Functional Art' (2012). NEW PROJECT: https://openvisualizationacademy.org/
Pinned
The full agenda of the Computation+Journalism Symposium is online! Join us in Miami for two days (December 11-12) of great talks, workshops, panels, and paper presentations: cplusj2025.com/agenda Register here: events.miami.edu/event/cplusj...
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
you could fact check this — there aren’t 30 million illegal immigrants and there is no evidence that the presence of an immigrant in say houston has any impact on housing in madison, wisconsin — or you could note straightforwardly that this is just nazi rhetoric
JD Vance: "A lot of young people are saying housing is way too expensive. Why is that? Because we flooded the country with 30 million illegal immigrants who were taking houses that ought by right go to American citizens."
November 13, 2025 at 10:12 PM
you could fact check this — there aren’t 30 million illegal immigrants and there is no evidence that the presence of an immigrant in say houston has any impact on housing in madison, wisconsin — or you could note straightforwardly that this is just nazi rhetoric
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
NEW — I spoke to DoorDash about the White House claiming the company's report shows "inflation has been tamed" and whether that's an interpretation one should make. An economist also weighed in, pointing out dictatorships use data obfuscation as a tool, and right now they're "grasping at straws."
WH claims 'inflation tamed,' per DoorDash stats. Company says that's not in its report.
It comes the same week we learned the WH would likely not release key economic reports for October.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 13, 2025 at 9:52 PM
NEW — I spoke to DoorDash about the White House claiming the company's report shows "inflation has been tamed" and whether that's an interpretation one should make. An economist also weighed in, pointing out dictatorships use data obfuscation as a tool, and right now they're "grasping at straws."
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
and that can be true! but then you open the actual newspaper and it's soft-focus profiles of Chris Rufo, a frenzied transphobic crusade, an all-out effort to get the first Black woman president of Harvard canned over bullshit, Get Zohran, etc etc
November 13, 2025 at 7:47 PM
and that can be true! but then you open the actual newspaper and it's soft-focus profiles of Chris Rufo, a frenzied transphobic crusade, an all-out effort to get the first Black woman president of Harvard canned over bullshit, Get Zohran, etc etc
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
I always get a kick out of the NYT Defense Squad trotting out harrumphing takes about how serious journalists don't report on mere speculation, blow things out of proportion, dig into their colleagues' email, etc etc
November 13, 2025 at 7:44 PM
I always get a kick out of the NYT Defense Squad trotting out harrumphing takes about how serious journalists don't report on mere speculation, blow things out of proportion, dig into their colleagues' email, etc etc
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
What makes people furious is of course how the NYT uses its own wide discretion about what to pursue, what to beat the drum on, when to have qualms about running with something, and when to just put it out there. There’s the rules, and then there’s the rules about when you apply the rules.
here at the Paper of Record, when an open white supremacist leaks someone's college application in an attempt to imply he got unfair race-based special treatment, even though he was rejected, we know what to do: publish it immediately prospect.org/2025/07/09/2...
November 13, 2025 at 8:06 PM
What makes people furious is of course how the NYT uses its own wide discretion about what to pursue, what to beat the drum on, when to have qualms about running with something, and when to just put it out there. There’s the rules, and then there’s the rules about when you apply the rules.
Approaching perfect reflection of reality:
The Republican president is a pedophile who has doubled my healthcare costs and let scores of violent criminals out of jail. But a Democratic mayor-elect wants to make busses free in a city I don't live in. I have never felt more politically homeless.
November 13, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Approaching perfect reflection of reality:
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
Lol, the replies to this post show there is in fact quite a hefty presence of graphic designers, if not typographers, on bsky :-)
November 13, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Lol, the replies to this post show there is in fact quite a hefty presence of graphic designers, if not typographers, on bsky :-)
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
Someday, someone will do a story about why the Pulitzer jurors never nominated, and the Pulitzer board never awarded, a prize to @jkbjournalist.bsky.social, the @miamiherald.com reporter who broke the bulk of the Epstein story.
www.miamiherald.com/topics/jeffr...
www.miamiherald.com/topics/jeffr...
Perversion of Justice: Jeffrey Epstein
In her year-long investigation of Palm Beach multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, Miami Herald reporter Julie Brown tracked down more than 60 women who said they were victims of abuse and revealed the fu...
www.miamiherald.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Someday, someone will do a story about why the Pulitzer jurors never nominated, and the Pulitzer board never awarded, a prize to @jkbjournalist.bsky.social, the @miamiherald.com reporter who broke the bulk of the Epstein story.
www.miamiherald.com/topics/jeffr...
www.miamiherald.com/topics/jeffr...
I love this:
Why do I include poetry in a presentation about data visualization? Because cartography IS poetry.
The ocean is not literally blue. The land is not literally green.
Symbolism, metaphor, language, cultural context and history all inform map making.
Both exercise the same brain-parts.
The ocean is not literally blue. The land is not literally green.
Symbolism, metaphor, language, cultural context and history all inform map making.
Both exercise the same brain-parts.
Guess I'm a freelance corporate consultant now because I just led a really fun session walking a group of software developers through some mind bending relationship visualization problems.
Bibliography: Tufte, Margaret Atwood, Borges, Tobler, Cynthia Brewer, RJ Andrews and Madeline L'Engle
Bibliography: Tufte, Margaret Atwood, Borges, Tobler, Cynthia Brewer, RJ Andrews and Madeline L'Engle
November 12, 2025 at 11:03 PM
I love this:
The rotten ideology of 'objectivity' is the cancer that has destroyed real journalism.
Got turned down on a piece about ICE in Chicago for an international news org because they believed I couldn’t be objective about my neighbors getting kidnapped. And well, guilty as charged I guess.
November 12, 2025 at 11:02 PM
The rotten ideology of 'objectivity' is the cancer that has destroyed real journalism.
My 14-year-old and I are preparing to watch @realgdt.bsky.social's 'Frankenstein', but I proposed to him that we first watch some previous movies of his. Tonight, 'The Shape of Water'; he was mesmerized. 'Pan's Labyrinth' comes tomorrow; I'm certain he'll love it even more. Thanks, Guillermo.
November 12, 2025 at 1:27 AM
My 14-year-old and I are preparing to watch @realgdt.bsky.social's 'Frankenstein', but I proposed to him that we first watch some previous movies of his. Tonight, 'The Shape of Water'; he was mesmerized. 'Pan's Labyrinth' comes tomorrow; I'm certain he'll love it even more. Thanks, Guillermo.
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
Unlike you, I can read and that’s why I know what the constitution says.
Trump on Ilhan Omar: "I look at somebody who comes from Somalia...and she comes in and tells us how to run our country. 'The Constitution says this, the Constitution says that.' The whole thing is crazy."
November 11, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Unlike you, I can read and that’s why I know what the constitution says.
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
I wrote this a year ago. I wrote about Trump’s campaign of raci anxiety when he won the first time as did others. Look to see who is being platformed in this America that many of us predicted, and who has been disappeared. That will reveal a lot about this moment and what power wants us to believe.
November 9, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I wrote this a year ago. I wrote about Trump’s campaign of raci anxiety when he won the first time as did others. Look to see who is being platformed in this America that many of us predicted, and who has been disappeared. That will reveal a lot about this moment and what power wants us to believe.
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
My old pal Pete Coviello — one of the best writers and thinkers I've ever known — wrote the piece of the moment
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:17 AM
My old pal Pete Coviello — one of the best writers and thinkers I've ever known — wrote the piece of the moment
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
As I suggested to a colleague during a recent discussion about these matters, "if all evidence shows that something is true and something else is not, you mustn't present them as equals, no matter what "critics" say. That might align with some false principle of "balance", but it's also dishonest."
This piece is as good as people say it is. Read it to appreciate that writing isn't just about content, but style. AI can't do this.
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:23 AM
As I suggested to a colleague during a recent discussion about these matters, "if all evidence shows that something is true and something else is not, you mustn't present them as equals, no matter what "critics" say. That might align with some false principle of "balance", but it's also dishonest."
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
The writer for the New York Times hack piece that this article describes is Jeremy Peters , who organized writers against criticisms by colleagues who were trans and gender non conforming by lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:42 PM
The writer for the New York Times hack piece that this article describes is Jeremy Peters , who organized writers against criticisms by colleagues who were trans and gender non conforming by lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
incredible that these guys have a massive hard on for a country that, if it were a state, would rank behind kansas in terms of wealth and which would be a total backwater if it weren’t economically integrated with more functional countries
November 8, 2025 at 5:48 PM
incredible that these guys have a massive hard on for a country that, if it were a state, would rank behind kansas in terms of wealth and which would be a total backwater if it weren’t economically integrated with more functional countries
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
What happened, @nytimes.com? Why not stand by your original headline? Because it’s absolutely an accurate representation of this trash conversation.
To publish this at all should be a fireable offense - but to publish it as women’s rights are being decimated is deeply immoral, bordering on evil
To publish this at all should be a fireable offense - but to publish it as women’s rights are being decimated is deeply immoral, bordering on evil
November 7, 2025 at 8:10 PM
What happened, @nytimes.com? Why not stand by your original headline? Because it’s absolutely an accurate representation of this trash conversation.
To publish this at all should be a fireable offense - but to publish it as women’s rights are being decimated is deeply immoral, bordering on evil
To publish this at all should be a fireable offense - but to publish it as women’s rights are being decimated is deeply immoral, bordering on evil
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
Hans Rosling style
November 7, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Hans Rosling style
Data visualization by the people, for the people
November 7, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Data visualization by the people, for the people
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
Computation+Journalism 2025 is a month away (December 11-12); we're finishing the last details of the symposium: cplusj2025.com Here's the full agenda: cplusj2025.com/agenda/ Join us! You can register here ($150 for professionals, $30 for students): events.miami.edu/event/cplusj...
November 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Computation+Journalism 2025 is a month away (December 11-12); we're finishing the last details of the symposium: cplusj2025.com Here's the full agenda: cplusj2025.com/agenda/ Join us! You can register here ($150 for professionals, $30 for students): events.miami.edu/event/cplusj...
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
The Open Visualization Academy's newsletter is expanding! New contributor: Melissa Strong, who is also co-designing the OVA's website. Her first article in a series of 6: 'How Open Source Fuels the Future of Data Visualization (Part 1)
' openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/how-open-s...
' openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/how-open-s...
How Open Source Fuels the Future of Data Visualization (Part 1)
Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. Think of “free” as in “free speech,” not “free beer.” — Richard Stallman
openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:44 PM
The Open Visualization Academy's newsletter is expanding! New contributor: Melissa Strong, who is also co-designing the OVA's website. Her first article in a series of 6: 'How Open Source Fuels the Future of Data Visualization (Part 1)
' openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/how-open-s...
' openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/how-open-s...
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
New in the Open Visualization Academy newsletter: Keeping Visualization Human in an AI-Driven World, by Michela Tjan: openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/keeping-vi... #dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism
Keeping Visualization Human in an AI-Driven World
Why the future of data visualization isn’t just about better charts, but about preserving human agency, accessibility, and creativity
openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:15 PM
New in the Open Visualization Academy newsletter: Keeping Visualization Human in an AI-Driven World, by Michela Tjan: openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/keeping-vi... #dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism
Reposted by Alberto Cairo
This is a really nice blog post about the value of open source in #DataViz 📊
"Trust matters in data visualization. People need to believe what they see. Open source makes that possible because you can look under the hood and see how things work." - couldn't agree more!
"Trust matters in data visualization. People need to believe what they see. Open source makes that possible because you can look under the hood and see how things work." - couldn't agree more!
The Open Visualization Academy's newsletter is expanding! New contributor: Melissa Strong, who is also co-designing the OVA's website. Her first article in a series of 6: 'How Open Source Fuels the Future of Data Visualization (Part 1)
' openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/how-open-s...
' openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/how-open-s...
How Open Source Fuels the Future of Data Visualization (Part 1)
Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. Think of “free” as in “free speech,” not “free beer.” — Richard Stallman
openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:47 PM
This is a really nice blog post about the value of open source in #DataViz 📊
"Trust matters in data visualization. People need to believe what they see. Open source makes that possible because you can look under the hood and see how things work." - couldn't agree more!
"Trust matters in data visualization. People need to believe what they see. Open source makes that possible because you can look under the hood and see how things work." - couldn't agree more!