1. Data Journalism
in the Second Machine Age
On Networked Transparency, Algorithms and
Accountability
Alexander B. Howard
Tow Fellow, Columbia University
March 17, 2014

2. What is the role of the Fourth
Estate in holding the use of
algorithms and data accountable?

3. First, some history.

4. Newspapers have
used data for centuries
Source: The Guardian

5. 1960s: computer-assisted reporting (CAR)
Bob Woodward, via Cliff1066

6. Traditional tools applying tech to
journalism…
• Calculators and Graphs
• Mainframe and PCs
• Spreadsheets
• Databases
• Text and code editors
• Statistics
• Programming

7. 2010: “Data-driven journalism is the
future”
Source: Tim Berners-Lee in the Guardian

8. …combined with new tools & context…
• Online spreadsheets and wikis
• Data visualization tools
• Open source frameworks
• Code sharing
• Agile development
• Cloud storage and processing (EC2 &Heroku)
• More data and more access
• Privacy and security riskss

9. 2014: data journalism is the present
Gathering, cleaning, organizing, analyzing,
visualizing and publishing data to support
the creation of acts of journalism

11. Trendy but not new
• The collection, protection and
interrogation of data as a source,
complementing traditional “shoe
leather” investigative reporting relying
on witnesses, experts and authorities

12. Dollars for Docs

13. A tangled web

15. Los Angeles Times

16. More than 36 interactive databases published
Data sets account for 75% of overall traffic
[Source: CJR]

17. La Nacion

18. Reuters: Connected China

19. Center for Public Integrity

20. Emerging trends

21. Networked reporting of corruption
ICIJ: Offshore Leaks

22. “If Stage 1 of data journalism was “find and
scrape data,” then…
Stage 2 was “ask government agencies to
release data” in easy to use formats.
Stage 3 is going to be “make your own data”,
and those sources of data are going to be
automated and updated in real-time.”
-JavaunMoradi, NPR

23. Sensor Journalism

24. Safecast
open source
Geiger counter

25. Networked accountability

26. Drones + data collection

27. Privacy
challenges

28. Security challenges
• Protect your sources? Protect your data!

29. Ethics & politics over media use of data
• Gun map graphic

32. Accountability for “personalized redlining”
• Gun map graphic

33. Transparency for geographic profiling
• Gun map graphic
WSJ: Websites vary prices, based upon user information

34. Monitoring predictive policing
• Gun map graphic
Verge: Chicago crime and profiling Geekwire: Predictive Policing

35. Investigating human tissue trafficking
• Gun map graphic
ICIJ: The data behind skin and bone

36. Data + journalism + activism +
responsive institutions = social change

37. Government of the
people, for the
people, by the
people, with the
people.