Comments on: Data and its impact on journalism

By: Sage Lichtenwalner

Sage Lichtenwalner — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:42:26 +0000

I love Holovaty’s quote. If you consider the average citizen 200 years ago, you didn’t have to be well educated to understand the important issues of the day. Relating to the need to build a bridge between one town and the next to improve commerce, is petty easy. Journalists, of course, were tasked to relay and make sense of these issues for the public.

But the issues we face today (climate change, health policy, national security, etc.) are fare more intricate and complex. And as we all know, finding understanding and solutions to these issues often involves sifting through and interpreting gobs of data.

Therefore, the journalist’s job has changed from synthesizing and conveying information (which thanks to the power of the internet, everyone can now do for themselves) to repurposing and curating government datasets for public consumption.

But while the role of journalism may be changing, I’m still wonder about the public’s aptitude for this new data-heavy world….

We may need more data scientists, but we still need storytellers.

By: Lee De Cola

Lee De Cola — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:37:32 +0000

I am a retiring scientist from the US Geological Survey who is starting a business training people (high school to researcher!) on DATA TO INSIGHT. There are a few fundamental principles that everyone should – and can – master.

By: Jacqui Taylor

Jacqui Taylor — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:10:53 +0000

Great article about a key initiative.

We were at the Guardian offices recently producing Vizs with Tableau on Culture data. The Guardian is a key player in the Open data initiative in the UK. It is great to see journalists embracing and encouraging this change in policy regarding data.

By: Nathan Yau

Nathan Yau — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:08:08 +0000

i hope so. that could be fun.

By: William J McKibbin

William J McKibbin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:39:59 +0000

So, I suppose that the future will behold “quantitative methods for journalism” courses in university programs — sounds good to me…

By: Resto Zero » Lifestream: 07.06.2010

Resto Zero » Lifestream: 07.06.2010 — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:36:11 +0000

[...] Shared Data and its impact on journalism. [...]

By: Datos abiertos, política y ciudadanía activa: un cóctel imposible | Apuntes Rull

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:50:56 +0000

[...] al que se le ha ocurrido la relación entre la apertura de datos y el periodismo. Los hay que preconizan un nuevo tipo de periodista. [...]

By: Laura Oliver

Laura Oliver — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:10:32 +0000

Hello,

We spoke with Simon and some other leading journalists in this area about what the new data means for journalists and what new skills might be needed – thought might be of interest: http://www.journalism.co.uk/2/articles/538929.php

Cheers,

Laura