Maps and the Media

With daily news growing more important to people everyday, the importance of using maps to help illustrate this news grows as well. Using maps gives the media power to help disseminate information to the general public. Maps started appearing in the media with the development of newspapers. In many countries during the 1800’s, maps were included in the newspaper to show plans for new buildings and city areas. At the time, schematic maps in newspapers could detail natural disasters etc. that would help illustrate such events. With the beginning of the First World War, the use of maps jumped greatly in newspapers. These maps helped present information about what was happening on the war’s front. Some of the newspapers published full page maps of war theatres encouraging people to cut these maps out to help them keep track of the war. These maps would also help to educate people who could not afford to purchase maps or atlases. After world war one the use of maps jumped greatly in newspapers until the arrival of television in the second half of the century. With the development of television in the middle of the 20th century, the power of maps greatly expanded. Allowing people to get the news much faster, television has also helped increase the use of maps. Maps are used in a wide variety of ways on television. In their simplest form, a map is usually used during the traffic segment of a local newscast. Using a reference map of a specific area, the news station can not only tell you, but also show you exactly where there is an accident or a slow down on a road or highway. For some people who can’t understand by listening, looking at a map is an easy way to visualize where the events are taking place. Another good example of news stations on television using maps is during the weather segment. During the weather report, many maps are used to show the viewer exactly what is going on with the weather at a given time. Some of these maps may be aerial photos from space showing cloud cover or they might just be radar maps showing precipitation in the area. Maps of an area showing the temperature of each city is also map that news stations like to show during the weather segment. Lets face it, maps are an essential part of helping viewers understand the news. Without maps, most people would be lost.
Maps are very important in the news today. With newspapers and news stations disseminating news 24/7, the power and importance of maps continues to grow and will continue to grow. The map in the top left corner shows what a typical weather map might look like during a news cast.