Investigative Reporters and Editors launches on-demand data journalism training site
From the post:
Want to become a data journalist? You’re going to need a lot of perseverance — as well as the right training.
To help make data journalism more accessible to all, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) recently launched NICAR-Learn, an online platform of training videos that can be accessed from anywhere, at any time.
“NICAR-Learn is a place for journalists to demonstrate their best tricks and strategies for working with data and for others to learn from some of the best data journalists in the business,” IRE wrote in a statement.
Unlike many online training platforms, NICAR-Learn’s content won’t consist of hour-long webinars. Instead, NICAR-Learn will produce a library of short videos, often less than 10 minutes long, to train journalists on specific topics or techniques relating to data journalism.
The first NICAR-Learn videos come from data journalist MaryJo Webster, who has produced four tutorials that draw from her popular “Excel Magic” course. Users can request specific tutorials by submitting their ideas to IRE.
These videos will be available at no charge to non-IRE members through the end of November. Beginning in December, IRE will add more videos to NICAR-Learn and place them behind a paywall.
To learn more, visit NICAR-Learn’s “Getting Started” page.
I can’t say that I like “paywalls,” which I prefer to call “privilegewalls.”
Privilegewalls because that is exactly what paywalls are meant to be. To create a feeling of privilege among those who have access, to separate them from those who don’t.
And beyond a feeling of privilege, privilegewalls are meant to advantage insiders over those unfortunate enough to be outsiders. Whether those advantages are real or in the imagination of members I leave for you to debate.
Personally I think helping anyone interested to become a better journalist or data journalist will benefit everyone. Journalists, member of the public who read their publications, perhaps even the profession itself.
Here’s an example of where being a better “data journalist” would make a significant difference:
So far as I know no journalist, despite several Republican and Democratic presidential candidate debates has every asked how they propose stop bank robberies in the United States?
In 2014 there were almost 4,000 of them at known locations, that is to say banks. If the government can’t stop robberies/attacks at known locations, how do they propose to stop terrorist attacks which can occur anywhere?
Just one fact, US bank robberies and a little creative thinking, would enable your journalists to pierce the foggy posturing on Paris and any future or past terror attacks.
The true answer is that you can’t. Not without monitoring everyone 24/7 as far as location, conversations, purchases, etc. But so far, no reporter has forced that admission from anyone. Curious don’t you think?