I thought this interactive graphic in today's Wall Street Journal is a really interesting example of how graphs/charts fail to be free standing information transmitters without their accompanying articles.
For example, the first tab shows overall labor force participation rates for the elderly over time, but what it doesn't include is the overall proportion of the elderly as a part of the population - I think it makes sense that as our population as a whole ages, that the proportion of older workers should also increase.
The second tab focuses on retirement plan trends (wanting to argue that people are pushing more towards more defined-contribution 401k versus defined-benefit pension plans). This graph really doesn't seem to have a lot of value as a free-standing piece since there is no label for the y-axis (% of what? the population?). Also, it doesn't indicate what sector of the population it is look at. Is it all Americans or just ones who have planned for their retirement?
I wish the third graph had a better caption that says more about what types of benefits they're looking at, not just a general decrease in benefits and lastly, the fourth graph is visually displeasing with the caption cutting through the two graphs just underneath the titles.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-launch.html?project=RETIREMENT0803&w=980&h=530
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