Objectivity in Storytelling, Spatial Narratives, and Data Journalism

A growing number of geographers, cartographers, and mapmakers are embracing visual storytelling, and integrating maps with diverse elements including text, images, graphs, and anecdotes to create rich and engaging spatial narratives (Caquard 2013; Caquard and Cartwright 2014; Denil 2016; Song et al. 2022). Roth (2021) summarized this movement and outlined four tenets of ethical visual storytelling: “show your work,” “show yourself,” “speak to power,” and “speak to each other.” These principles emphasize the importance of transparency about methodology and personal biases, while encouraging cartographers to engage critically with power structures and foster dialogue within their community. Buckley et al. (2022) observed a decline in public trust in news and other information sources, and in response authored “The Mapmaker’s Mantra” to emphasize the importance of ethical practices in mapmaking, part of a long history of such considerations in the discipline (e.g., McHaffie et al. 1990; Harley 1991; Kent 2017). The Mantra addresses maps broadly, with its guiding principles—”be honest and accurate,” “be transparent and accountable,” “minimize harm and seek to provide value,” and “be humble and courageous”—speaking to overarching ethical concerns in mapmaking. While both frameworks emphasize transparency and honesty, they diverge in their orientations, reflecting the distinct ethical priorities of mapmaking and storytelling. I’d like to further examine the ethical implications of an orientation toward story and narrative in the presentation of information, asking what this orientation entails, what it leaves behind, and what ethical dangers might be attached to a commitment to storytelling. Given the strong association between visual storytelling, spatial narratives, and data journalism, I will to a large extent connect my arguments to similar threads within journalism, where debates about narrative, objectivity, and ethical responsibility are central to the field.