Data Journalism Critique

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Why did I pick this particular data story?

• I chose this data story to use for this assignment because it seemed like an easy to decipher graphic representation of data.  There wasn't any specific medium that we had to use for this assignment, so I chose data that was displayed through sports because it was easy for me to interpret, and it's easier for everyone rather than something else. 

What did you like/dislike about the project?

• Liked: I liked the fact that each and every category was displayed thoroughly and in plain sight, so that I as the reader didn't have to search to hard for it.  I also liked the layout of the data, both sides of the data were in their own spots, meaning that they weren't overlapping, or mixed up in any way.  One final thing that I found nice, was the overall topic.  Matt Barkley, the person pictured in the graphic was arguably the best quarterback in the nation in 2012, and was projected as a top pick in the 2012 NFL draft, scheduled to make millions.  However he chose to stay in school in order to "get better", however his numbers significantly dropped off his senior year, and the millions fell through.  This graphic accurately displays the amount in which his numbers fell the following season.  
• Disliked: There wasn't too much that I disliked about this data visual.  If I had to pick something that I wasn't fond of, I would have to say that it could have been a little bit larger, and could have thrown in a few more statistics.  

Did the visualization tell the story better than another medium would have, such as video or photos or text?

• I think this visualization did an excellent job telling the story that it was trying to get across.  Its purpose was to show the decline in play and production, and how those stats affected the amount of money that Barkley lost.  Personally I don't see where a video would have done any better telling this story.  Perhaps text accompanying the visualization giving a little more background into Matt Barkley would have been nice, only to help the uninformed reader discover the story behind why these numbers are important.  Overall I felt that this data visualization did an excellent job.