The Rise of Data Journalism
Data about our world is increasing, increasingly important, and increasingly public. A group of journalists are exploiting this new resource, and combining it with design skills and an investigative spirit to redefine the way we interact with the news.
Last year, Nesta predicted that data journalism would move from the sidelines into mainstream media. On our panel today to debate the future of data journalism were Ian Hargreaves (Professor of Digital Economy), Antoine Laurent (Global Editors Network), Alastair Dant (Guardian), and Tristan Ferne (BBC R&D).
I'm at @nesta_uk for their Rise of Data Journalism panel debate. Follow #nestadata for all the comments- #nestadata Prof Hargreaves starting us off on Data Journalism twitpic.com/95ghg7
Ian Hargreaves' challenge for today is to take a two word definition of data journalism back to Cardiff. Suggestions for him? #nestadata
- James: one of key interests for @nesta_uk is the need for design & tech for data journalism #nestadata
- Our first speaker was Antoine Laurent from the Paris based Global Editors Network. With newsroom budgets constrained, the Network partners with global media outlets such as CNN, the Guardian, and the New York Times, to explore innovative approaches to data journalism.
- Antoine Laurent highlighted examples of data-driven journalism, such as recent reporting from the investigative unit of newspaper La Nación during the 2010 elections in Costa Rica. Here, the paper mined criminal records data and cross referenced this to names on ballot papers, building an interactive map for the electorate to explore. He also highlighted barriers to data-driven journalism.
Data driven investigation at la nacion #costarica mashing election & crime data #nestadata
Journalism schools are not training jnr journalists in coding and data and production - says @anto_l at #nestadata event
Examples of data-driven journalism including Where Does My Money Go? @openspending @anto_l #nestadata @okfnecon @pudo @lucyfedia- @anto_l newsroom management challenge: big outlets don’t always have skills required to produce innovation #nestadata
- .@anto_l talking about datajournalismawards.com - open for submissions until 10 Apr #nestadata
- Next up, the Guardian's lead interactive technologist Alastair Dant explained how the group's approach to journalism is ever-evolving. He discussed the Guardian's 'Open Journalism' approach and how data journalism fits in within this narrative. As news stories continually evolve, he explained the need for interactive interfaces for readers to 'explore their own path'.
.@ajdant of Guardian explains how interactive interfaces to view data are so important for people to find their own path in news #nestadata- Stories continue to evolve as people discuss it. The Guardian doing even more of this in 2012 says @ajdant #nestadata
Wide scale connectivity - story continues to evolve as people discuss it. Ie Storify being embedded in news stories etc #nestadata- Alastair Dant highlighted the importance of building new interfaces for data visualisation. Giving examples such as the Afghan War Logs - based on the US military's internal logs of the conflict - he stressed the extreme time constraints under which such interfaces are designed.
Afghanistan war logs: IED attacks on civilians, coalition and Afghan troops16,000 improvised explosive devices are recorded in the Afghanistan war logs, rising from 308 in 2004 to 7,155 in 2009.
. @Wikileaks Afghan War Logs. @Guardian had a week to build this interface!Allows filtering, interactivity #nestadata http://pic.twitter.com/4QLQ80Rm
.@ajdant at #nestadata on the wikileaks warlogs: These datasets were actually cleaner as most government data- Brilliant budget data model at the Guardian @ajdant. Democracy in action. Nice #nestadata
