A CHART THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE
During a series at The Inquirer, I lobbied the project editor to run a bar chart the depth of a newspaper page about the small number of additional people to get AIDS meds in Senegal, Rwanda and Uganda under a drug-company program. The wide gap depicted by the graphic was the final straw that pushed Merck to announce discounts of more than 50 percent. An effective visual results in more people receiving the medical treatment they needed across the continent.
I lobbied the project editor, Charles Knittle, to run a chart the full depth of a page during a series by reporter Huntly Collins. She sent us all an email ...
"Y'all will appreciate this...
It seems that our Monday graphic showing the piddling number of additional people to get AIDS meds in Senegal, Rwanda and Uganda under the drug company program was the final straw that pushed Merck to announce discounts of more than 50 percent today. At least that's the word from a Merck spokesman.
So, bravo, Cynthia! And Charles, you were right. It was very effective, perhaps more so than all the words we wrote. Huntly"
