Data journalism: are you a unicorn or a racehorse?
1. Are you a unicorn or
a racehorse?
@PaulBradshaw, Online Journalism Blog, HelpMeInvestigate
Birmingham City University and City University London
School of Data, Thessaloniki, June 2015
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30804458@N08/3316400889/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/6990109980/
2. 3 things…
• What are unicorns and racehorses?
• Why are we seeing a split?
• How the work gets done
23. ‘Data journalism’ is becoming meaningless
• Who says ‘computer assisted reporting’ any
more?
• You will never know all the tools
• News organisations choosing their direction:
do we build tools, or do we find stories?
• Enlightenment polymaths (university) vs
industrial specialists
24. “A courtier should have a
detached, cool, nonchalant
attitude, and speak well,
sing, recite poetry, have
proper bearing, be athletic,
know the humanities and
classics, paint and draw and
possess many other skills.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath
25. “A data journalist should
have experience with
cleaning, manipulating,
analyzing and displaying
data, familiarity with
financial documents,
familiarity with JavaScript,
experience with R…”
46. 3 things…
• Identify the objectives - and
whether you need unicorns or
racehorses
• Solve problems, don’t learn
languages - I don’t care if you know
PHP
• Collaborate and share - everyone
else thinks they’re catching up too