data-journalism

Was Oakland the nation’s most dangerous city in 2013? Or was it Oakland and Flint? What is a valid distinction, statistically speaking? We show the uses of a “confidence interval.”

A wealth of data is released every week in the United States by organizations of all kinds, from federal, state and local agencies to companies, educational institutions and other nonprofits.

Many large federal datasets contain highly granular statistics that can serve as a launching point for local stories — for example, the location of alternative-fuel stations (graphic at left), campus crimes or payments to doctors by pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

The notion that journalists are math phobic and prone to error when working with numbers is an age-old cliché, embodied in the quip that, for many in the media, the plural of anecdote is data.

The notion that journalism should become more data-driven — and get a little closer to social science — is not a completely new idea. The journalistic sub-field of computer-assisted reporting, embodied in the work of the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ NICAR program, has a long history.

When assessing academic studies, media members are often confronted by pages not only full of numbers, but also loaded with concepts such as “selection bias,” “p-value” and “statistical inference.”

While data journalism can take many forms, mapping is perhaps the most basic and accessible way to create meaning graphically to help audiences understand stories and issues in new ways. It is, of course, one of the oldest forms of data visualization, with a history that stretches back centuries, even millennia.

From modifying website interfaces to ensuring that metadata and contact information are clear and uniform, federal statistical agencies can better help news media and the public. A report for the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology, 2014.

By John Wihbey, Assistant Director for Journalist’s Resource

Summary

The world of open, Web-based tools and applications for reporting and communications seems to expand by the day, but it can be hard to keep track of what’s what, and which tools might be the most accessible for non-techies.

The good news is that developers are increasingly designing applications for the average user, someone with no programming skills.