[ddj] Defining datajournalism

Tue Oct 11 19:45:48 UTC 2011

Unstructured data are actually where I think journalists are able to
really excel. Leaks are their traditional fodder.

On 12 October 2011 05:12, marco Laucelli <mlaucelli at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all, sorry for the delay of my answer.
>
> Nicolas, I completely agree that getting close to real-time is a
> pan-journalisma topic. However my point was that the instrumentation of the
> world - producing mostly structured data - and the massive adoption of
> social/mobile networks by people - unstructured data - points out a good
> opportunity to get close to real-time. And, in my opinion, this is a very
> good opportunity to approach that pan-journalism challenge from d-driven
> journalism.
>
> I will try to write a proposal to include an unstructured data paragraph in
> the entry, and I'll share with all of you for feedback. Ok?
> Thanks a lot for your views and comments.
> Best regards,
> Marco.
>
>
> 2011/10/6 Nicolas Kayser-Bril <n.kayserbril at gmail.com>
>>
>> Marco,
>> Many thanks for your input.
>> There's no wonder we don't have the same definition: Scholars haven't been
>> able to agree on a universal definition for journalism for the past 50
>> years! (which is perfectly normal as Adrian Holovaty, Bob Woodward and the
>> anchor on Rossiya1 don't have anything but this name in common). That's why
>> I prefer using "information management".
>> Concerning the quest for real-time information, I believe it is a
>> pan-journalism issue. After I realized that the entry about journalism
>> didn't mention timeliness at all, I've added "in a timely fashion" at the
>> end of the definition ("Journalism is the practice
>> of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad
>> audience in a timely fashion.")
>> As for unstructured data, you're absolutely right that structuring
>> heterogeneous bits of data is part of data-driven journalism (say, when you
>> OCRize a scanned paper to obtain an XLS file). Do you want to add a
>> paragraph about it in the DDJ entry?
>> best
>> nkb.
>> --
>> Datajournalist since 2007
>> nkb.fr
>> +336 50 57 53 80
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 5:41 PM, marco Laucelli <mlaucelli at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>> this discussion is very exciting to me, and I would be happy to get your
>>> feedback on the following, that is just a summary of my thoughts of what
>>> DDJournalism means to me. In the usual definitions of Data Journalism I've
>>> found, as those cited in your previous mails, there are at least two
>>> important aspects I find lacking:
>>>
>>> 1) Getting closer to real-time: As the technology is evolving the world
>>> is becoming more and more instrumented and interconnected, as a consequence
>>> there would be a large amount of data created and transmitted in real-time,
>>> involving interactions and transactions among people, devices and physical &
>>> logical entities. The ability of developing capabilities to monitor that
>>> data traffic and detect noticeable events - based on data - seems to be one
>>> of the future scopes of Data Journalism. In the future it seems to me
>>> important considering News Media and journalist being able to detect,
>>> contextualize and rapidly analyze data-events and translate them into
>>> interesting news. Very simple example of this could be traffic events,
>>> emergencies, etc... Some would be noticed and published by public and
>>> private entities, but the technical ability and the skills to do so
>>> independently should be  in my opinion - one of the objectives of future
>>> journalism.
>>>
>>> 2) Use of unstructured data: there is a tremendous focus - in what refers
>>> most common DDJournalism references - on structured data, and in particular
>>> on structured data coming from public entities (Open Data). It seems to me
>>> very important for the future DDJournalism being able to capture relevant
>>> and noticeable information from unstructured data and in particular from
>>> digital conversations such those being held in social networks. The ability
>>> of structuring that information, and combining it with structured data is
>>> crucial - in my opinion, again - to get complete insight of what is
>>> happening behind data. I think that any definition of DDJournalism should
>>> take into account seriously unstructured data.
>>>
>>> I've put my views on the different flavors of DD Journalism in a chart
>>> explaining the conceptual links between time-scales and the data sources for
>>> DD Journalims. I'm currently working on a definition of the underlying
>>> conceptual architecture - tech capabilities, processes & skills - to support
>>> those different flavors. I would really appreciate any feedback on this, and
>>> I'm completely open to collaborations for this purpose.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for your interest.
>>> Kind regards,
>>> Marco.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2011/10/6 Nicolas Kayser-Bril <n.kayserbril at gmail.com>
>>>>
>>>> #done
>>>> Changelog:
>>>>
>>>> Creation of entry Datajournalism
>>>> Complete overhaul and change of meaning of Database journalism
>>>> Creation of Structured journalism, which redirects to Database
>>>> journalism
>>>> Re-creation of the page Computer-assisted_reporting, which, in my
>>>> opinion should be merged with data-driven journalism
>>>> Proposal of a merger of Computational Journalism with data-driven
>>>> journalism
>>>> I've also tried to clarify and wikify the Data driven journalism entry,
>>>> but that'll take time.
>>>>
>>>> All contribution/feedback/edit war welcome!
>>>> nkb.
>>>> --
>>>> Datajournalist since 2007
>>>> nkb.fr
>>>> +336 50 57 53 80
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Nicolas Kayser-Bril
>>>> <n.kayserbril at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Mirko, Tom,
>>>>> Many thanks for your feedback! It concurs to the idea of datajournalism
>>>>> as a byword for 'new stuff in information management', starting from data
>>>>> collection and how to envision a story to interactive apps.
>>>>> I'll include your points in the Wikipedia entry!
>>>>> Best
>>>>> nkb.
>>>>> --
>>>>> Datajournalist since 2007
>>>>> nkb.fr
>>>>> +336 50 57 53 80
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 11:29 AM, Tom Kronenburg
>>>>> <tom.kronenburg at zenc.nl> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Nicholas,
>>>>>> I will publish a report on open data and datajournalism on the
>>>>>> ePSIplatform.eu
>>>>>> In it, I recognize 4 types of activities that i consider
>>>>>> datajournalism. (naturally, with any definition you draw lines that are a
>>>>>> bit arbitrary)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> " There are four basic types of data journalistic activities. All four
>>>>>> types can use PSI, and we will provide examples of how journalists used Open
>>>>>> Data to write their stories. Data journalists use (open) data
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To discover newsworthy facts or stories [from data]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To discover trends hidden in [large] datasets
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To compile datasets for further dissemination to the public.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To create data visualisations."
>>>>>> 1: is what you might consider CAR (even though i understand that CAR
>>>>>> is as much an umbrella-word as data-journalism).
>>>>>> 2: is different from 1, because the timing is different. I'd say the
>>>>>> first category is about a single event, while 2 is about trends.
>>>>>> 3: is what you call "Database Journalism" or structured journalism.
>>>>>> 4: I have swept together all visualization/interaction stuff in one
>>>>>> category: "Infographics, dataviz, interactive viz (for me the same as
>>>>>> dataviz, although with different tools) - same goes for serious games".
>>>>>> So, basically, i think we agree on the main points that are in there.
>>>>>> I don't really know whether or not distinguishing category's 1 and 2
>>>>>> is important, but for me it feels like they are very different types of
>>>>>> activities. The first is 'searching' through datasets, combining single
>>>>>> lines, whereas trend discovery is much more about statistics, massive
>>>>>> computation and such.
>>>>>> When the report is published, i'll let you know.
>>>>>> Kind regards, Tom
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Tom Kronenburg
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Zenc | Focus op oplossingen
>>>>>> Alexanderstraat 18
>>>>>> 2514 JM Den Haag
>>>>>> KvK:  27190312
>>>>>> Tel:  +31 70 3626944 of +31 6 55778353
>>>>>> Fax:  +31 70 3921835
>>>>>> tom.kronenburg at zenc.nl
>>>>>> www.zenc.nl
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Op 6 okt 2011, om 10:30 heeft Nicolas Kayser-Bril het volgende
>>>>>> geschreven:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Datajournalism has been widely used to unite several concepts and link
>>>>>> them to journalism. Among these are:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Computer assisted reporting and data-driven journalism, where
>>>>>> journalists make use of large databases to produce stories,
>>>>>> Infographics,
>>>>>> Data visualization,
>>>>>> Interactive visualization,
>>>>>> Serious games, in the sense that they take interaction a step further,
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> Database journalism or structured journalism, an information
>>>>>> management system where pieces of information are organized in a database
>>>>>> (as opposed to a traditional story-centric organizational structure).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I also plan to rework several entries, notably:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> @mlaucelli
>>>
>>>
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>>
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>
>
>
> --
> @mlaucelli
>
>
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