In promoting its new show on marijuana legalization, CNN on Sunday posted what is arguably the worst chart ever made:
What's your stance on legalizing marijuana? Explore the legal pot industry on #HighProfits. http://t.co/wxUg030Xaj pic.twitter.com/R3I6QL5u2X
— CNN (@CNN) June 1, 2015
What the hell does it mean? The numbers, which are based on Gallup data from 2013, are the percentage of each age group that's tried marijuana. So 36 percent of Americans 18 to 29 years old have tried pot, compared with 49 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds, 44 percent of 50- to 64-year-olds, and 17 percent of people 65 and older.
Why this had to be done in a bizarre pie chart — already one of the most despised methods of visualizing data — is unclear, especially since the percentages add up to more than 100. It's even less clear why the pie chart took the form of a marijuana plant, which is much more difficult to read for percentages than a circle would be.
For what it's worth, High Profits — the show CNN was promoting — is pretty good. But that doesn't excuse the bad chart.
(h/t Chris Ingraham)
