Data Journalism

The difference between data journalism and regular journalism is that data journalism uses data to visually explain events in an appealing way to the public. When something happens there are automatic reports on the event. Regular journalists fight to be the first to publish a story on the event. By doing so, it gives them the upper hand, and a high audience number.

Journalists would have to go through training to be able to learn the right ways to use data and eventually become a data journalist. A lot of questions would come up and data journalists need to be prepared to answer any question that would be thrown their way.

Data is more than just numbers and statistics. Over time it evolved from being a set of numbers on a spreadsheet to something more tangible for people to understand. The digital age has made it possible to create various infographics and other visual forms for people to understand information. Data could also be considered a puzzle – especially when looked at by aspiring data journalists. Data journalists need to figure out how to put the data they are given together before publishing it to the readers.

Today there is a high rise in personal blogs, people reporting through twitter and their other personal accounts, and other forms of “citizen journalism”. Before this was seen as a threat to the world of journalism, but it is an opportunity for data journalists.

What data journalists do is they compile all of the information and combine it in a visual that shows the event through all angles. There are eyewitness events, facts, and opinions from various sides that enrich the story.

Data journalists are also able to tell a story in a way that offers valuable information to the public in a short compressed form. It is also easy to understand.

The way that journalists compile data is by using different programs to gather and combine information from various sources. There are sources that go unnoticed from the amount of options that there are on the internet. Through data journalism, even the ignored sources are used as a base to writing stories. Data journalism also forms connections between different perspectives or stories on the same event.

After gathering all of the information and combining them, data journalists then create infographics. These infographcis are an easy display of the information to the public. They also explain how a story is relatable to the people. The people can also make their own connections via the information given.

Of course, data journalists need to keep in mind that their reports, like any other, will attract skeptical readers with their own opinions and criticism on the information given. But the advantage that data journalists have over regular journalists is that they have more power over shaping the general story. Data journalists are able to form the mindset that people could take based on their information.

The reason behind why data journalists are able to shape stories that that they offer a promise along with the infographics and visuals that they use. Regular journalist reports will state the information of the event and very limited information on anything else that could be related. Data journalism adds another element. What they do is offer a sneak peak into the future. You can see a general idea of how thing will continue in the future regarding various statistics.

The ability to give an idea of the future is extremely helpful in regards to translating hard information in a visual form. Data journalists can take an event, like a riot, and create an infographic giving all kinds of information. If the information were to be written out it would take lines upon lines to explain each detail. Data journalists are able to report the total number of people involved, casualties, fatalities, any property damage and more in one image.

Apart from the ability to show information in an easy way, it also translates information in a visual form that makes sense to the readers. There are many situations that are hard to understand just by reading about them.