NYTimes lame Swine Flu map

Check out the map the NYTimes put out showing where the swine flu has struck.

Typically, the GIS Team at the Times does great work with maps, using timeline sliders, and appropriate levels of granularity to best tell their story. This time, however, I think they've fallen short. First off, rather than using circles, which we all know are almost impossible to compare to one another, why not just fill in the states and countries with the appropriate color shades showing the number of cases? Or, better yet, go granular and show the data at county/province level.

Here's an old map from NYTimes showing state and county level voting results over time. You can select which view you want from the menus on the left side of the map. I think this approach would be better for the flu map, as there's a time component they could use to show the spread of the flu. In addition, the county/province level would provide a clearer picture of the exact places impacted by the flu. For example, in Mexico, are most of the cases in Mexico City, or some other part of the country?

Recession Geography story in NYTimes dated March 3rd

All of often we are fed statistics at too high a level. For example, unemployement in December 2008 stood at 7.1%. That's one statistic, but put the unemployment data on a county-level map, and you'll quickly see patterns across hundreds of counties in the US. Hardest-hit areas like California, the rustbelt, and parts of the South are highlighted in deep reds, whereas areas that are doing pretty well, like the North East and Mid section of the country are light orange.

The Times' story points out that areas that saw a boom in housing are seeing a bust in unemployement. The story is here and the county level map is here.