The document discusses the evolution and significance of data journalism, highlighting its origins from database journalism and computer-assisted reporting since the 1950s. It outlines key developments, tools, and the collaborative nature of modern data journalism, emphasizing its importance in contemporary storytelling. Furthermore, it raises questions about the role of journalists in an increasingly data-driven landscape and the convergence of various skills necessary for effective reporting.

1. Data JournalismMAC373/MED312twitter/rob_jewittrobert.jewitt@sunderland.ac.uk1

2. OverviewIntroDatabase Journalism and Computer Assisted ReportingData Today : Visualisations and InteractivityHow To Be A Data JournalistEthics?2

3. Recent hypeData JournalismMeta JournalismVisualisationInfographicsMash Ups3

4. “Data-driven journalism is the future”“[Journalism’s] going to be about poring over data and equipping yourself with the tools to analyse it and picking out what's interesting. And keeping it in perspective, helping people out by really seeing where it all fits together, and what's going on in the country.”Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the Internet, 2010 4

5. Origins1950s Database JournalismComputer Assisted Reporting (CAR)Very expensive5

6. 6The Indianapolis StarCapital Journal circa 1961

7. New York Times News Room7

8. CBS: 1952, Walter CronkitePresidential election battleEisenhower vs StevensonRemington Rand UNIVACEarly vote returns analysisPredicted a landslide victoryContrary to popular opinion8

9. Philip Meyer, Precision Journalism1969: a journalist must make use of databases and surveys2002: “a journalist has to be a database manager”9

10. Other notable examplesClarence Jones, The Miami Herald, 1969Criminal Justice systemsDavid Burnham, The New York Times, 1972Police crime ratesElliot Jaspin, The Providence Journal, 1986School bus drivers and criminal recordsBill Dedman, The Atlanta Journal, 1988Pullitzer Prize for The Color of Money10

11. Not Database – Just Data?11

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14. 14Since 2004

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16. Adrian Holovaty (2005)Chicago Transport Authority map + Firefox plug-in + Google Maps = real time updatesChicago Police Department + Google Maps = real time police reports16

17. Adrian Holovaty (2006)Now working for the Washington PostA fundamental way newspaper sites need to changeMost material collected by journalists is:"structured information: the type of information that can be sliced-and-diced, in an automated fashion, by computers”17

18. Adrian Holovaty (2006)Traditional journalism Articles as the finished productData journalismContinually maintained and improved18Radical overhaul needed- Employing data- Making data available- Storing data- Coding data

19. Maps Everywhere!19

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22. Maps Everywhere!2007 – Holovaty won $1.1 million from the Knight Foundation for Everyblock2010 – SR2 Blog won Guardian.co.uk’s ‘most inspirational site’ accolade22

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27. Interactivity Transport For London APIIcelandic Ash Cloud and plane tracking AlJazeera’s coverage of War on Gaza using UshahidiGuardian’s Twitter map of Middle East BBC Interactive on the Spending Review27

28. Bella Hurrell, Specials Editor with BBC News Online(2011)Proximity of “journalists, designers and developers all working together, sitting alongside each other” 28

29. Bella Hurrell, Specials Editor with BBC News Online(2011)“We have found that proximity really important to the success of projects. Although we have done this for a while, increasingly other organisations are reorganising along these lines after coming to realise the benefits of breaking down silos and co-locating people with different skillsets can produce more innovative solutions at a faster pace.”29

30. Bella Hurrell, Specials Editor with BBC News Online(2011)“As data visualisation has come into the zeitgeist, and we have started using it more regularly in our story-telling, journalists and designers on the specials team have become much more proficient at using basic spreadsheet applications like Excel or Google Docs”30

31. Paul Bradshaw31

32. Paul Bradshaw32“It represents the convergence of a number of fields which are significant in their own right - from investigative research and statistics to design and programming. The idea of combining those skills to tell important stories is powerful - but also intimidating. Who can do all that?”

33. Paul Bradshaw33“It represents the convergence of a number of fields which are significant in their own right - from investigative research and statistics to design and programming. The idea of combining those skills to tell important stories is powerful - but also intimidating. Who can do all that?”“The reality is that almost no one is doing all of that, but there are enough different parts of the puzzle for people to easily get involved in, and go from there”

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35. Dealing with Data (Bradshaw, 2010)4 crucial aspectsFinding data Interrogating data Visualizing dataMashing data35

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40. New Tools of the Trade?ManyEyes – data visualisation toolYahoo! Pipes – composition tool to mash-up dataGoogle Fusion Tables – visualise data on maps, timelines, etcProcessing – tool for creating images & interactionsWordle – generate word clouds from bulky textScraperWiki – transforms info from webpages into dataGoogle Refine (Freebase)– makes messy data clean!40

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42. SummaryIs this journalism?Journalism educators doing students a disservice?Journalists replaced by programmers? Wikileaks: no journalist's required?42

43. Links and further readinghttp://www.delicious.com/rob_jewitt/med312+datajournalism43

44. 44ImagesKnight Foundation, 2008, Sir Tim Berners-Lee talking about the Web at the NewseumBill on Capitol Hill, 2007, The Rim and the SlotMarion Doss, 2008, Capital Journalism News Room 16 October 1961Igorschwarzmann, 2010, NYT News RoomMkandlez, 2009, The Billion Pound O GramBitBoy, 2006, The Elephant in the RoomRavages, 2008, Links