With the new health reform bill, everyone seems to have an opinion but no one seems to be able to say how exactly we'll all be affected. Information from the government or 'experts' is buried under piles of technical jargon, and the information from other sources all sees to contradict each other. This is the cue to the media to attempt to explain it for the Americans, which means it's time for them to insert graphs, pictures, and comics.
We all know where we fall right now - uninsured, insured through school, employers, parents, or medicare. But when the bill passes, where will that leave us? The Washington Post does its best to explain it in layman's terms for all of us, and to clearly lay it out in a few graphs so we can all figure out where we'll be once it passes.
The three part graph does help explain it, although it has a few downfalls.
- The information about what it means to the people seems incomplete. They put in the two examples, but the details seem very vague and not very helpful
- What's an exchange? How does it work? They reference exchanges several times and have a small explanation, but the information is incomplete and doesn't make it any clearer
The graph does have some great points and helpful information about some aspects of the health reform
- The coverage for the number of Americans in millions under the new bill does a great job of laying out the difference between the current system and the new bill
- The "What it means to Employers" section covers both small and large businesses, and lays out the information very clearly, so that it relates to the majority of American businesses.
The one major problem that I can see with the graph is the very bottom. The two top ones clearly reference how the bill affects all of us as Americans, then suddenly they switch over to the vote. It shows the general vote fairly clearly, but the details get lost in the confusing images. As much as they simplified the two top images, it seems to be a large complex jump the understanding the bottom.
The Post was so close to finding that fine line between fully explaining the bill and simplifying it enough for Americans, but definitely missed the mark on a few points. They need to explain more, tell us what's really going to happen, but keep it simple like they did in the first example of how we'll be covered.
At least it's a step in the right direction for all of us finally understanding the details of the Health Reform Bill.
Sami, when first getting into your post I was really excited to learn about the comic you used as the graphic for your post.However,was very disappointed as I continued to read and find out that you were actually talking about a chart that broke down the Heath Care Reform bill. Instead of using the comic,which actually didn't relate to your article, but instead using the chart as your graphic. It would have really made it clear as to what your post was about. This is because even after reading your first paragraph, I was still under the assumption that your post was about the comic. Since the last sentence said, "this is the cue to the media to attempt to explain it for the Americans, which means it's time for them to insert graphs, pictures, and comics."
ReplyDeleteThe use of the comic along with your link to your article are the only things I found not to work well with your post. The link you used or the link that says The Washington Post, I assumed was suppose to be your link to your article.It was just The Washington Post website. Being able to read your article as well as look at your chart, would have helped me as the reader better understand the context in which the chart was used.
After looking at the chart provided, and reading your post. The information you provided and points you made about the positives and negatives of the chart,I totally agree with. When you said that the bottom Vote portion of the chart was complex and a bit more complicated than the top portion. I completely understand what you are saying. The uninsured graph, and "what it means" portion are for the most part clear, concise, and comprehensible to any reader.
The Vote portion, and "undecided" it gets very complicated. The breakdown of the "undecideds" does not make any sense with the three different types of "undecideds" used to represent the breakdown. If each of the types of "undecides" were to be explained in more detail, the chart could help to clear up more confusion. Otherwise, the chart is an alright example of breaking down the Health Care Reform in a way that makes sense to an average reader.
Overall, the use of your hyperlinks were good with the exception of your actual article, and I just didnt know what you were trying to do when you used a blogger as an "expert". Your ideas came across well, the use of white space was good, and it was visually appealing to read and flowed very well. I still kind of wish I could know more about the comic and where it came from.