Slides from a class given at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication on 16th November 2015, covering examples of different stories, sources, tools and tips.

1. Intro
to
Data
Journalism
Damian
Radcliffe
16th November
2015
Damian
Radcliffe
/
Reporting
II
/
11th November
2015

2. Greater
consciousness
of
the
power
of
data

3. In
journalism,
it’s
nothing
new
How
often
does
a
map
change
the
world?
In
1854,
one
produced
by
Doctor
John
Snow,
altered
it
forever.
In
the
world
of
the
1850s,
cholera
was
believed
to
be
spread
by miasma
in
the
air,
germs
were
not
yet
understood
and
the
sudden
and
serious
outbreak
of
cholera
in
London's
Soho was
a
mystery.
So
Snow
did
something
data
journalists
often
do
now:
he
mapped
the
cases.
The
map
essentially
represented
each
death
as
a
bar,
and
you
can
see
them
in
the
smaller
image
above.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog
/2013/mar/15/john-­‐snow-­‐cholera-­‐map

4. Data
journalism
at
the
Guardian:
what
is
it
and
how
do
we
do
it?
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/jul/28/data-­‐journalism

5. 5
x
Examples

6. Battling
Infectious
Diseases
in
the
20th
Century:
The
Impact
of
Vaccines
The
Wall
Street
Journal:
http://graphics.wsj.com/infectious-­‐diseases-­‐and-­‐vaccines/

8. Rents
in
Berlin
Source:
https://twitter.com/juliustroeger/sta
tus/562639674322464769/photo/1
Story:
http://www.morgenpost.de/interakti
v/mieten/article136875377/So-­‐stark-­‐
steigen-­‐die-­‐Mieten-­‐in-­‐Berlins-­‐
Kiezen.html?config=interactive
Use
Google
Translate
to
look
at
this
story
if
you
don’t
read
German!

9. How
to
Choose
Where
to
Get
Treatment?
The
Ranking
of
Swiss
Hospitals
Story:
(in
French)
http://www.rts.ch/i
nfo/suisse/7083876
-­‐comment-­‐choisir-­‐
ou-­‐se-­‐faire-­‐soigner-­‐
le-­‐classement-­‐des-­‐
hopitaux-­‐
suisses.html

10. Graphic:
Key
data
behind
Sir
Alex
Ferguson’s
25
years
at
Old
Trafford
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/interactive-­‐graphics/graphic-­‐of-­‐the-­‐day/8865692/Graphic-­‐Key-­‐
data-­‐behind-­‐Sir-­‐Alex-­‐Fergusons-­‐25-­‐years-­‐at-­‐Old-­‐Trafford.html

11. World’s
Fastest
Lifts
Race
to
the
Top
of
the
Tallest
Buildings
Financial
Times:
http://on.ft.com/1LXn2Pv #ddj
pic.twitter.com/80Az8FGOO6
Via:
https://twitter.com/martinstab
e/status/641626619157815298
/photo/1

12. Sources,
Inspirations
and
Tools

13. 4 x
great
info
sources
Open
Prism:
search
data
portals
from
around
the
world
by
typing
in
one
keyword:
http://openprism.thomaslevine.com/
US
Local
Data
Portals:
lists
dozens
of
data
portals:
https://github.com/sunlightpolicy/opendata/blob/master/USlocalopendataportals.csv
DataPortals.org lists
400+
data
portals
from
around
the
world.
US
Census
data: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html

14. See
how
the
pros
do
it
Los
Angeles
Times: http://www.latimes.com/local/datadesk/
Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/data
ProPublica:
https://www.propublica.org/data/
Quartz:
https://atlas.qz.com/

15. https://www.pinterest.com/journalismtools/data-­‐analysis-­‐scraping-­‐resources/

16. https://www.pinterest.com/journalismtools/infographics-­‐dataviz/

17. Top
Tips
re
potential
approach
http://mediashift.org/2015/06/exploring-­‐the-­‐7-­‐different-­‐types-­‐of-­‐data-­‐stories/
1. NARRATE
CHANGE
OVER
TIME
2. START
BIG
AND
DRILL
DOWN
3. START
SMALL
AND
ZOOM
OUT
4. HIGHLIGHT
CONTRASTS
5. PROFILE
THE
OUTLIERS

18. Find
out
more

19. Assignment
Either:
Write
a
crime
story
(10%)
+
a data
story
(10%)
Or:
Write
a
data
driven
crime
story
(20%)
Either
should
include
a
minimum
of
2-­‐3
interviews.

20. Timeline
• 1
minute
pitch
to
class
on
Weds (What,
why,
how)
• 2
minutes
if
you’re
doing
2
assignments
• Police
assignment:
Due
23:59
23rd Nov.
• Data
feature: Due
23:59
30th Nov.
• Crime
data
story:
Due
23:59
30th Nov.

21. Need
more
inspiration?
This
exercise
will
help
• Watch
this
recent
clip
from
Last
Week
Tonight
with
John
Oliver
on
Prisoner
Re-­‐entry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJtYRxH5G2k
• It
will
make
you
laugh.
• It
should make
you
angry.
• How
many
story
ideas
do
you
get
from
it?