Another Word For It Patrick Durusau on Topic Maps and Semantic Diversity

Data journalism: How to find stories in numbers by Sandra Crucianelli.

From the post:

Colleagues often ask me what data journalism is. They’re confused by why it needs its own name — don’t all journalists use data?

The term is shorthand for ‘database journalism’ or ‘data-driven journalism’, where journalists find stories, or angles for stories, within large volumes of data.

It overlaps with investigative journalism in requiring lots of research, sometimes against people’s wishes. It can also overlap with data visualisation, as it requires close collaboration between journalists and digital specialists to find the best ways of presenting data.

So why get involved with spreadsheets and visualisation tools? At its most basic, adding data can give a story a new, factual dimension. But delving into datasets can also reveal new stories, or new aspects to them, that may not have otherwise surfaced.

Data journalism can also sometimes tell complicated stories more easily or clearly than relying on words alone — so it’s particularly useful for science journalists.

It can seem daunting if you’re trained in print or broadcast media. But I’ll introduce you to some new skills, and show you some excellent digital tools, so you too can soon find your feet as a data journalist.
…

Sandra gives as good an introduction to data journalism as you are likely to find. Her post covers everything from finding story ideas, researching relevant data, data processing and of course, presenting your findings in a persuasive way.

A must read for starting journalists but also for anyone needing an introduction to looking at data that supports a story (or not).

DJA Newsletter: The best of Data Journalism every month

From the about page:

The Global Editors Network is a cross-platform community of editors-in-chief and media innovators committed to sustainable, high-quality journalism, empowering newsrooms through a variety of programmes designed to inspire, connect and share. Our online community allows media innovators from around the world to interact and collaborate on projects created through our programmes. The GEN Board Members support this mission and have signed the GEN Manifesto.

We are driven by a journalistic imperative and a common goal: Content and Engagement First. To that end, we support all kinds of organizations and media outlets, to define a vision for the future of journalism and enhance its quality through innovation and cooperation. Freedom of information and independence of the news media are, and will remain, the main credo of the Global Editors Network and we will back all efforts to enhance press freedom worldwide.

The links in this month’s newsletter:

1. Every active satellite orbiting earth
2. Islam in Europe – the gap between perceptions and reality
3. What news sources does China block?
4. What happens when you scrape AirBnB data?
5. RiseUp revolutions

Looking forward to seeing more issue of the DJA newsletter!

Alberto Cairo: Data journalism needs to up its own standards by Alberto Cairo.

From the post:

Did you know that wearing a helmet when riding a bike may be bad for you? Or that it’s possible to infer the rise of kidnappings in Nigeria from news reports? Or that we can predict the year when a majority of Americans will reject the death penalty (hint: 2044)? Or that it’s possible to see that healthcare prices in the U.S. are “insane” in 15 simple charts? Or that the 2015 El Niño event may increase the percentage of Americans who accept climate change as a reality?

…

But I have to confess my disappointment with the new wave of data journalism — at least for now. All the questions in the first paragraph are malarkey. Those stories may not be representative of everything that FiveThirtyEight, Vox, or The Upshot are publishing — I haven’t gathered a proper sample — but they suggest that, when you pay close attention at what they do, it’s possible to notice worrying cracks that may undermine their own core principles.

In my present interpretation of his examples, Alberto has good reason to complain.

But that doesn’t mean re-cast any of the stories would be closer to some “truth.” Rather they would be closer to my norms for such stories. Which isn’t the same thing.

Or as Nietzsche would say: There are no facts, only interpretations.

People from presidents on down lay claim to “facts.” Your opponents can be pilloried for ignoring “facts.” Current mis-adventures in domestic and foreign security of the United States are predicated on emotional insecurities packaged as “facts.”

Acknowledging Nietzsche puts all “facts” on an even footing.

Enough diverse “facts” and it is harder to agree to spend $Trillions pursuing a security that is pushed further away with every dollar spent.

BBC Opens Up Internal Visual Journalism Training Resources to the Public by Gannon Burgett.

From the post:

Last week, the BBC College of Journalism opened up their training website to the public. Full of educational resources created by and for the internal BBC team, these professional videos and guides run through a number of circumstances and suggestions for approaching visual journalism.

Set to be open for a 12 month trial run, the videos and podcasts cover topics that range from safety when harmed in the field, to iPhone photojournalism, to basic three-point lighting techniques and even videos that show you how to properly use satellite phones when capturing stories in unconventional areas.

A rather extraordinary set of resources!

Should give you a window into how the BBC views news reporting as well as the tools for news reporting on your own.

To see all the resources, see the BBC Academy page.

I first saw this in a tweet by Michael Peter Edson.

Overview (new release)

A new version of Overview was released last Monday. The GitHub page lists the following new features:

• Overview will reserve less memory on Windows with 32-bit Java. That means it won’t support larger document sets; it also means it won’t crash on startup for some users.
• Overview now starts in “single-user mode”. You won’t be prompted for a username or password.
• Overview will automatically open up a browser window to http://localhost:9000 when it’s ready to go.
• You can export huge document sets without running out of memory.

Installation and upgrade instructions: Installation and upgrade instructions: https://github.com/overview/overview-server/wiki/Installing-and-Running-Overview

For more details on how Overview supports “document-driven journalism,” see the Overview Project homepage.

The Data Journalism Handbook edited by Jonathan Gray, Liliana Bounegru and Lucy Chambers.

From the webpage:

The Data Journalism Handbook is a free, open source reference book for anyone interested in the emerging field of data journalism.

It was born at a 48 hour workshop at MozFest 2011 in London. It subsequently spilled over into an international, collaborative effort involving dozens of data journalism’s leading advocates and best practitioners – including from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC, the Chicago Tribune, Deutsche Welle, the Guardian, the Financial Times, Helsingin Sanomat, La Nacion, the New York Times, ProPublica, the Washington Post, the Texas Tribune, Verdens Gang, Wales Online, Zeit Online and many others.

A practical tome, it is available in English, Russian, French, German and Georgian.

A very useful and highly entertaining read.

Enjoy and recommend it to others!

“The Upshot” is the New York Times’ replacement for Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight by John McDuling.

From the post:

“The Upshot.” That’s the name the New York Times is giving to its new data-driven venture, focused on politics, policy and economic analysis and designed to fill the void left by Nate Silver, the one-man traffic machine whose statistical approach to political reporting was a massive success.

David Leonhardt, the Times’ former Washington bureau chief, who is in charge of The Upshot, told Quartz that the new venture will have a dedicated staff of 15, including three full-time graphic journalists, and is on track for a launch this spring. “The idea behind the name is, we are trying to help readers get to the essence of issues and understand them in a contextual and conversational way,” Leonhardt says. “Obviously, we will be using data a lot to do that, not because data is some secret code, but because it’s a particularly effective way, when used in moderate doses, of explaining reality to people.”

…

The New York Times’ own public editor admitted that Silver, a onetime baseball stats geek, never really fit into the paper’s culture, and that “a number of traditional and well-respected Times journalists disliked his work.” But Leonhardt says being part of the Times is an “enormous advantage” for The Upshot. “The Times is in an extremely strong position digitally. We are going to be very much a Times product. Having said that, we are not going to do stuff the same way the Times does.” The tone, he said, will be more like having “a journalist sitting next to you, or sending you an email.”

I really like the New York Times for its long tradition of excellence in news gathering. Couple that with technologies to connect its staff’s collective insights with the dots and it would be a formidable enterprise.