{"id":1787744,"date":"2019-09-18T08:56:40","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T12:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1787744"},"modified":"2019-09-18T08:56:40","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T12:56:40","slug":"a-defilement-of-a-sacred-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/09\/a-defilement-of-a-sacred-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A Defilement of a Sacred Trust’"},"content":{"rendered":"

I hadn\u2019t planned on posting anything about Trump\u2019s Sharpie-adjusted hurricane forecast map: there was nothing useful for me to add to the discussion, and presumably you\u2019d all heard about it already and didn\u2019t need me to tell you. But it turns out something map-related can, and has, been said about the issue.<\/p>\n

Charles Blow was once in charge of the New York Times<\/em> graphics department, and an art director at National Geographic<\/em>. His response to Trump’s marked-up map was \u201cvisceral\u201d<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Because of this unyielding commitment to accuracy, I believe cartography enjoys an enviable position of credibility and confidence among the people who see it. If you see it mapped, you believe.<\/p>\n

That is precisely what you want the case to be, particularly in natural disasters. This cartography should be devoid of any attempt to deceive. Its only agenda should be to inform and enlighten.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what made Trump\u2019s marked-on map such a blasphemy: It attacked, on a fundamental level, truth, science and public trust. It wasn\u2019t just a defacement of a public document, it was a defilement of a sacred trust.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Blow\u2019s reaction is predicated in the notion that maps can\u2019t lie, or at least don\u2019t, or at least shouldn\u2019t. Enter Mark Monmonier, the author of How to Lie with Maps<\/em><\/a> (reviewed here<\/a>), who was interviewed by CityLab<\/em><\/a> about this kerfuffle. Even Monmonier, who has no illusions about maps\u2019 claims to accuracy and objectivity, and who literally wrote the book on how hazard mapping can be misleading<\/a>, seems to be sputtering:<\/p>\n

Usually, attempts to falsify tend to happen before maps are published, and don\u2019t try to contradict established scientific facts. You can put a spin on something by influencing the appearance of a map before it\u2019s published. You can put a spin on things by determining what is and is not going to be mapped. Something that might put your administration in an unfavorable view, for example: Those maps won\u2019t be part of the plan. […]<\/p>\n

But the Trump map is unusual. I cannot find anything truly comparable. We had a map that was already out there that he actually mutilated, and in a very obvious way. This guy shows absolutely no subtlety at all. And then people try to make excuses for him. I have never seen anything like this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Trump\u2019s little stunt has revealed something very interesting about how we see maps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I hadn\u2019t planned on posting anything about Trump\u2019s Sharpie-adjusted hurricane forecast map: there was nothing useful for me to add to the discussion, and presumably you\u2019d all heard about it already and didn\u2019t need me… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[662,201,159,448],"class_list":["post-1787744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-weather-and-climate","tag-hurricanes","tag-monmonier","tag-noaa","tag-trump","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1787849,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/10\/cartography-the-ideal-and-its-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787744,"position":0},"title":"Cartography: The Ideal and Its History","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"1 October 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Matthew H. Edney\u2019s Cartography: The Ideal and Its History (University of Chicago Press, April) is a full-throated jeremiad against the concept of cartography itself\u2014the ideal of cartography, which after 237 densely argued pages Edney says \u201cis quite simply indefensible.\u201d Or as the subtitle to the first chapter states: \u201cThere is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cartography (cover)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/edney-cartography-ideal-history-210x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1788776,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/04\/an-explorers-cartography-of-already-settled-lands\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787744,"position":1},"title":"An Explorer’s Cartography of Already Settled Lands","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 April 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"As you probably know, I\u2019m keenly interested in fiction where maps are part of the story. The latest example of this comes from my friend Fran Wilde, whose story, \u201cAn Explorer\u2019s Cartography of Already Settled Lands,\u201d went live on Tor.com this morning. This is a story that challenges our ideas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Explorer\u2019s Cartography of Already Settled Lands (cover)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/an-explorers-cartography-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":513340,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/12\/a-book-roundup-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787744,"position":2},"title":"A Book Roundup","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"19 December 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"The Routledge Handbook Out last month, the expensive, 600-page\u00a0Routledge Handbook of Mapping and Cartography\u00a0(Routledge). Edited by Alexander J. Kent (who co-wrote\u00a0The Red Atlas) and Peter Vujakovic, the book \"draws on the wealth of new scholarship and practice in this emerging field, from the latest conceptual developments in mapping and advances\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1788711,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/04\/star-maps-history-artistry-and-cartography\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787744,"position":3},"title":"Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"14 April 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"The March 2020 issue (PDF) of Calafia, the journal of the California Map Society, has as its theme the mapping of space. It also has something from me in it: my review of the third edition of Nick Kanas\u2019s Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography. An excerpt: It\u2019s important to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_8122.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787640,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/08\/reviews-of-edneys-cartography\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787744,"position":4},"title":"Reviews of Edney’s Cartography","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 August 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Matthew Edney\u2019s Cartography: The Ideal and Its History was published by the University of Chicago Press last April. I have a review copy and a review is in the works. While you\u2019re waiting for me to get said review written, here are a couple of reviews to tide you over:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cartography"","block_context":{"text":"Cartography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/cartography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/edney-cartography-ideal-history-210x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1790751,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/05\/the-unicorn-of-map-projections\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787744,"position":5},"title":"The Unicorn of Map Projections","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"4 May 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"It\u2019s a shame that Sarah Battersby\u2019s essay in The International Journal of Cartography, \u201cThe Unicorn of Map Projections,\u201d is behind a paywall: it looks at the recent rash of map projections that purport to solve \u201call our mapping problems.\u201d There have been more than a few that have claimed the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cartography"","block_context":{"text":"Cartography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/cartography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1787744"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1787746,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787744\/revisions\/1787746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1787744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1787744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1787744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}