The document discusses the changing nature of journalism in the digital age. It argues that journalism is no longer just about storytelling, but also facilitating transactions between people seeking information and sources of data. It advocates for journalists to adopt new skills like data analysis, visualization, and working with databases. The challenges include adapting education, embracing new technologies, and establishing new business models to monetize multiple revenue streams and compensate staff.

1. No, it is not “All about story.” Prof. Tom Johnson Institute for Analytic Journalism Santa Fe, New Mexico USA t o m @ j t j o h n s o n . c o m Natal Witness Durban, South Africa 5 September 2006

2. And or & or + Prof. Tom Johnson Institute for Analytic Journalism Santa Fe, New Mexico USA t o m @ j t j o h n s o n . c o m Natal Witness Durban, South Africa 5 September 2006

3. Journalism is… “ The central purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with accurate and reliable information they need to function in a free society.'‘ — Bill Kovach Committee of Concerned Journalists

4. What journalists do The job of journalists is "to monitor the centres of power." Israeli journalist Amira Hass

5. Today’s objectives Discuss journalism (and journalists) as a species existing in the Datasphere Review the changes in the information environment Suggest steps journalism can (Should? Must?) take to adapt to those changes if we are to survive Suggest the possible disappearance of the species journalist serioso

6. The New Datasphere extends the Old Most canons of journalism stand fast (Though there are some new issues for ethics and law) The challenge today is not the old, but the addition of the new

7. Journalists, et al., in Datasphere Changing Datasphere: Metabolism Latent Energy In Energy Out Species in Biosphere:

8. Basic Information Theory = Process of Journalism Data In Info Out Interviews Text docs Clips Pictures Infographics Analysis This is a headline DATELINE -- And the traditional text story starts here and goes on and on and on.

9. Communications Revolution? 2nd Era = Symbols Print Paper Ink Writing 1st Era =

10. “ 100% de la Población Sufre Problemas de Salud Mental”

11. Challenge of Digital Revolution 100% de la Poblacion Sufre Problemas de Salud Mental 010100100100100110101101 101011101010101010101010 010101010101010100111010

12. Communications Revolution? 2nd Era = Symbols Print Paper Ink Writing 3rd Era = 101010101101010101000100101 1st Era =

13. Changing Datasphere Data and “data appliances:” Smaller, lighter, faster, cheaper and greater capacity 1956: First hard drive. 5mgb. 50 24-inch platters. 2,150 pounds the size of a refrigerator. Cost: US$10,000 per megabyte or $10m per gigabyte. Today: one 3.5” HD has a gigabyte for <50 cents.

14. Changing Datasphere In 50 years, areal density of HDs increased by 50 MILLION times Expect to see 1-inch terabyte drives in 10 years 1991 - First 2.5-inch HD for laptops held 63mgb. Today – 2.5-inch HD holds 160gbyte and is 60 times as shock-resistant Moore’s Law. Yes, but….

15. Major Changes for Society/Economy Power/information shift away from government, mfgrs, marketers, politicians media TO citizens Era of increasing -- not diminishing -- resources Era of increasing -- not decreasing -- returns

16. Major Changes for Industry/Journalism educ. Data/information in digital form: requires new tools, analytic skills, delivery methods Network TV news dead; Newspapers (in much of Europe and U.S.) are comatose

17. Major Changes for Industry Become data/information driven in decision-making Get out of the news PAPER or broadcasting business; get into NEWS and DATA/Info rmation biz Deliver content however consumers want it whenever and wherever they want it Leverage journalism’s data and skills to customize data/info. for users

18. Role of news institutions Must become the HUB for “transactions” between individuals and the data they need, want, seek: Intellectual transactions Cultural transactions Economic transactions Political transactions

19. “Hub” model of journalism Journalism Institution: 3 unique values Data Resources needing users Economic Culural Occupational Entertainment Users with data needs Economic Cultural Occupational Entertainment

20. “Hub” model of journalism Journalism institution Users with needs Economic Cultural Occupational Entertainment Resources needing users Economic Cultural Occupational Entertainment How to do this? See “data” as a renewable/reusable resource To survive means to learn. Constantly It’s about “ teams ,” knowledge management, coordination Fred Kockott, 2006 Journalist of the Year: “ It’s not a one-man business …This work of the sub-editors, photographers, graphic designers and others is often not recognized.” ( Librarians?)

21. Database Publishing - Data In Data Warehouse Reporter’s DAT “ Amateur” News Agencies Data Warehouse Dynamic db Dynamic maps Streaming A/V Audio Reporter’s DAT “ Amateur” News Agencies Online Video Print Text Images Infographics

22. Database Publishing-Info Out Data Warehouse Audio PDA/Cellphone Video Data Warehouse Print TBA

23. Classic Journalism Information Environment I-o-P storage, analysis and communication Linear intake of data as TEXT Primitive analytic tools Only literary skills needed and highly regarded 100% of our work was qualitative : text or static images Journalism: The first refuge of the mathematically phobic!

24. Classic Journalism Information Environment I-o-P storage, analysis and communication Linear intake of data as TEXT Primitive analytic tools Only literary skills needed and highly regarded 100% of our work qualitative -- text or static images Throw away total work product every 24 hours

25. Changing Datasphere As storage medium changes from I-o-P to 1's and 0's… ...we need functional technology between the data/info and our brain. Requires new awareness/skills for RRAW-P ( R esearch, R eporting, A nalysis, W riting- P ackaging model) Adopt new literacy to survive, NOT as old-style hunters-and-gathers but new era interpreters and explainers . Some of us move from data fishermen to data farmers to support the community

26. RRAW-P Process of Journalism R esearch DEADLINE! R eporting A nalysis W riting P ublishing- P roducing- P ackaging

27. Process, and Emphasis, of Classic Journalism: RRAW-P Reporting Analysis The focus of… Journalism education On-the-job training Mid-career training Most graduate studies Writing- Publishing, Producing, Packaging Research

28. Process - and Emphasis - of Digital-Age Journalism Reporting Analysis Must be – somewhere, some how – the focus of… Journalism education On-the-job training Mid-career training Most graduate studies Research Reporting Analysis Research

29. Classic Journalism Information Environment I-o-P storage, analysis and communication Linear intake of data as TEXT Primitive analytic tools Only literary skills needed and highly regarded 100% of our work qualitative -- text or static images

30. I-o-P vs.. Digital Environment Traditional Data In Interviews Text docs Clips Pictures Infographics 100% of story

31. I-o-P vs. Digital Environment Digital DATA IN Interviews Text docs Scholarly articles Archival content Pictures Infographics Sound/Video Dynamic maps Database publshg Ink-on-paper = <50% of story Digital data = >50% of story

32. Major Changes for Media Production “ Data In” is qualitative AND quantitative “ Info Out” must be qualitative and quantitative

33. Major Changes for Datasphere Newsroom Journalists must be able to work like good social scientists and good poets Literally put information specialists (aka: librarians ) in center of space and process Implement team -- conceptual or skills -- approach

34. Survival in the Datasphere All analysis and eventual stories have three conceptual aspects: Content? Analytic Tools? Methods/ Process?

35. Intellectual Navigation Quantitative Locate Data Acquire Analyze Qualitative Locate Data Acquire Analyze STORY!

36. New skills for journalists Just as an opening hand…. Sophisticated online research Analytic and visual statistics Spreadsheets Database creation and analysis Geographic Information Systems Social Network Analysis Forensic Accounting/Performance Measurement

37. Significance for Journalism Learn to think in multiple dimensions: non-local & non-traditional sources; depth of sourcing; raw data; dynamic online &quot;data“ (i.e non-documents) Need greater analytic skills, e.g. quantification, mapping Greater degrees of specialization in newsroom (GA reporter may be a dying intellectual breed in 5-10 years. Declining status?)

38. No, it is not “All about story.” It’s about AND , & and + Prof. Tom Johnson Institute for Analytic Journalism Santa Fe, New Mexico USA t o m @ j t j o h n s o n . c o m Natal Witness Durban, South Africa 5 September 2006

39. R RAW-P = RESEARCH What has been published in I-o-P or online related to our topic of investigation? Keywords? (Broad or narrow) Likely sources? (Gov’t./NGOs/unions/scholars,etc.) Forms of data? (I-o-P (( T-e-P ); PDF; Tables; spreadsheets) How will I retrieve and store/manage data found?

40. Examples of Research Military expenditures in Venezuela? Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Search Military Expenditure and Arms Production Publications Find “ CBMS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE EFFECT OF ARMS ACQUISITIONS BY VENEZUELA (WP)” SIPRI Military Expenditure Database http://first. sipri .org/non_first/ milex _06.php How do we save URL? Save data in searchable form? What if the article is T-e-P (I-o-P)? Are we teaching OCR? PDF text and table data extraction?

41. R R AW-P = REPORTING Talk to sources to fill in developments, data between what was last published and today. (What tools to use to keep track of source contact information?) Any major theoretical or institutional changes in policies? Any sources that I should know but do not yet know?

42. RR A W-P = Analysis What are the questions? What form is your data? (Text? Spreadsheets? Data bases? GIS? Social Network Analysis? Etc.? For major investigations, create a process “flow chart” (See SmartDraw )

43. RRA W-P = Writing & Publishing Important and significant only if the R-R-A aspects have been successful. Writing & Publishing requires only about 10-20 percent of entire story-making process. Traditional journalism education programs concentrate on this 20 percent and, many, ignore the more important 80 percent. We know how to teach people to write, but good journalism requires that first they must have something important to say. That requires Analytic Journalism

44. Inst. for Analytic Journalism General Systems Theory Statistics Visual Statistics and Infographics Simulation modeling Our “Cornerstones”

45. Introduction to Analytic Journalism: Cornerstone 1: Ways of seeing/understanding: General Systems Theory

46. Think of a phenomenon as . . . . . . an onion (with a peel and layers) . . . an organism (with stages of life, blood, head, and heart) . . . a factory (with raw material, source of power, bosses, and workers) . . . a building (with foundation, windows, and façade) . . . an ecology (with niches, climates, and food chains) Source: Weinberg, Gerald M. “ An Introduction to General Systems Thinking” http://www.dorsethouse.com/books/gst.html See also http://www.geraldmweinberg.com/Bookstuff/Each_Book/GST.html

47. Think of a phenomenon as . . . . . . a language (with grammar, dialects, and speakers) . . . a code (with secrets, transmitters, and receivers) . . . a body (with personality, sexuality, upbringing, and occasional disease) . . . a system (with inputs, feedback, and outputs) . . . a structure (with hierarchy, needs, and objectives) Source: Horwitz, Richard P. http://twist.lib.uiowa.edu/rhorwitz/rootsas.htm ©2000

48. Think of a phenomenon as . . . . . . a game (with plays, rules, and referees) . . . a drama (with roles, script, and audience) . . . a city (with streets, sewer lines, and neighborhoods) . . . a text (with authors, genres, and readers) . . . an ideology (with premises and implications) . . . a regime (with a currency, rulers, and rebels). Source: Horwitz, Richard P. http://twist.lib.uiowa.edu/rhorwitz/rootsas.htm ©2000

49. Why General Systems Theory? If one learns the structures, when transferring from one discipline to another, much of the learning could be transferred. When studying a new discipline one would simply have to learn the labels on the structures in the new discipline.

50. Narrowing the Focus: GST Resource: http://www.systems-thinking.org/welcome.htm &quot; Studies the organization of phenomena.... Investigates both principles common to all complex entities and the 'models' (usually mathematical) which can be used to describe them.“ SYSTEMS: &quot;...things that collectively behave differently as opposed to their behavior when separated.“

51. Brief introduction to GST Attributes of a system …. Composed of variables , i.e. elements that can be defined, or described, separately. Sub-variables. Tree-to-branch-to-leaf-to-cell There are relationships between variables Horizontal relationships Vertical (i.e. hierarchical) relationships

52. Brief introduction to GST A system has boundaries Conceptual Legal: corporate, jurisdiction Geographic Cultural “ Scalability” A system has goals , self-defined or with a definition imposed by a server/researcher Make money Provide for group security, happiness, procreation

53. Brief introduction to GST A system exists in a context and in an environment These change with time, resources and personalities Changes in the context can drive changes in the system… A system learns from changes in its variables or environment This requires a feedback loop

54. A newspaper as a system Editorial Production Circulation Advertising “ Backoffice”

55. A newspaper as a system Local News Int’l News Business Sports Editorial

56. A newspaper variables and sub-systems Local News Int’l News Business Sports Editorial High School College Professional

57. System hierarchy and “scalability” Editorial Sports Newspaper Media Football H. S. Football Higher Concept Lower Concept Macro Scale Micro Scale

58. Online enterprise Dynamic system model

59. Value of GST Demands definition/focus on exactly what system are you talking about? Demands consideration of level of analysis, i.e. “zooming” levels of focus Demands definition of variables and then the relative importance of those variables Demands consideration of relationships between variables

60. GST as basis for simulation models Once system, goals, variables and relationships defined, can start to ask “How do we measure the strength of those relationships?” This is where dynamic simulation models become valuable.

61. These activities involve resources and power Resources: The symbolic and material components a system needs to carry out its tasks. Power: The use of resources by one system in order to gain compliance by another system.

62. Power role Power roles Resource-controlling relationships Taken on mostly by systems Producer Power Role Creates material for release to public Competition over niches

63. Why General Systems Theory? If one learns the structures, when transferring from one discipline to another, much of the learning could be transferred. When studying a new discipline one would simply have to learn the labels on the structures in the new discipline.

64. How many ways to “knowing”?

65. Journalism’s Future Journalism is NOT just about telling stories. It is about facilitating the “transaction” between people who want data (to make their own information), and the sources with the data. (Analysis of the data helps, but only if it is valid and meaningful.) Tools like ASP.Net This transaction includes commerce. (How can we link the products to the interested people? Use PDF page files and XML tags)

66. Journalism’s Future Journalism educators should be researching the whole of journalism, not just teaching how to write. The Three Unique Aspects of news organizations The “Brand” The Archives The “Wetware” in the newsroom

67. Journalism’s Future What is the role of “knowledge management” in news organizations? How do we structure and manage team reporting? How do we do on-the-job training (and how much and what?) How do we increase multiple revenue streams and compensate the staff?

68. Analytic thinking/journalism What is it? Where did it come from? How does it work? What are the necessary variables? Frame the appropriate question Find and retrieve appropriate data Use appropriate analytic tools Show what you know with story-appropriate media

69. What journalists do: Not an orderly, serial [i.e. step-by-step] progression. RRAW-P process Research Reporting Analysis Writing Publishing-Producing-Packaging

70. Intellectual multi-tasking Applications Mail handlers Sophisticated use of browsers MS Word Excel Possible GIS applications Sites to “learn” applications http://www.sfsu.edu/infotech.htm http://www.PCShowAndTell.com http://www. elementk .com/

71. Digital Skills Managing YOUR information Handling e-mail Outlook, Eudora or Netscape Mail No AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo! E-mail accounts Use BU or other “professional” ISP – AT&T, RCN, Register your own domain www.namesecure.com Correct SUBJECT: line vital (see syllabus) Organize in folders Calendars To-do lists Ticklers Varied assignment deadlines

72. Major Changes for Media Industry Become data/information driven in decision-making Get out of the news PAPER or broadcasting business; get into NEWS biz Deliver content however consumers want it Develop team approach in newsroom and across company

73. Major Changes for Media Industry Move away from assembly line cost analysis to “frontloading” of production process Embrace “all the time” education “ In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future.&quot; — Eric Hoffer Longshoreman, philosopher

74. Major Changes for Media Industry Understand/leverage quadra-helix of news , transactions , community and individual Stop throwing away work product. Reuse/repackage/reposition content

75. Changes for communication scholarship Perception, observation and manipulation of 1s and 0s equivalent to atomic theory or quantum mechanics Meaning , usage and context open to new forms of analysis Theories of communications can become experiments can become “ technology ”

76. Atoms to bits and bytes ...1s and 0s, we can track them through infor-mation systems like minerals in a watershed As symbols flow from I-o-P characters to... 11001010 10100101 01010010 01001101 01001010 10100101 00100011 01010110

77. Dynamic Datasphere models: hydrology

78. Dynamic Datasphere models: Chemical Eng.

79. Dynamic Datasphere Models: Epidemiology Figure 4. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome cases in the Four Corners region, by probable exposure site location, 1993–1995 (n = 53 cases and 52 exposure sites).

80. Dynamic Datasphere Models: Crime Analysis

81. Analytic Journalism Ways of seeing/understanding First Cornerstone: General Systems Theory