This is part 1 of a larger blog post, you can read the introduction here.
Let’s get this out of the way straight away I think I hate the idea of story maps, for someone who has made a career out of using and creating maps I have to say I’m uncomfortable about this. Stories are what I read to my children, maps should be (in my head at any rate) representations of a fact, either observational or analytical. Now, I know there is some overlap, I like some of the fictional maps associated with Lord of the Rings. But when we talk about using maps to tell stories it makes me squirm because I fear that we are in danger of trivialising and dumbing down often very important information. If it’s just a story how do we take it seriously?
Putting aside my fear of stories and maps and the jealously guarding of my skill set , perhaps, on reflection there is mileage in this idea of telling stories rather than presenting information as cold analytical facts. If we are to get action on a global level to global issues, messages from the planet (climate change, pollution etc..) must be communicated to as wider range of people with as diverse a background as possible. Without the backing and understanding of a majority how are our politicians meant to act? This of course puts the map/story maker in a very difficult position, a convincing story on unconvincing data can be problematic at best. But it was forever thus.