[ddj] Defining datajournalism

Thu Oct 13 13:58:12 UTC 2011

Hi,

I wrote about this discussion a blog entry in German:

http://www.datenjournalist.de/neues-von-der-definition-des-datenjournalismus/

What I would like to add: For a data-article (as a product of
datajournalism) - be it an interactive visualisation or whatever - I
find the used data has to have a role in the story itself. Doing CAR or
relying and researching in tables or numeric data is nothing new for
journalism. And most articles etc. are using bits of numerical data or
statistics - but that's not datajournalism.

For me datajournalism is a journalistic product where the data plays a
main role. Be it as the database for an app etc. or  the discussion or
story about the data itself plays a significant role. And best is, when
the underlying data is published as raw and open as possible alongside.

So one question is, where does datajournalims start? Is CAR datajournalism?

Lorenz

Am 11.10.11 21:45, schrieb Tim McNamara:
> 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:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> data-driven-journalism mailing list
>>>>>>> data-driven-journalism at lists.okfn.org
>>>>>>> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/data-driven-journalism
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> data-driven-journalism mailing list
>>>>> data-driven-journalism at lists.okfn.org
>>>>> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/data-driven-journalism
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> @mlaucelli
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> data-driven-journalism mailing list
>>>> data-driven-journalism at lists.okfn.org
>>>> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/data-driven-journalism
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> data-driven-journalism mailing list
>>> data-driven-journalism at lists.okfn.org
>>> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/data-driven-journalism
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> @mlaucelli
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> data-driven-journalism mailing list
>> data-driven-journalism at lists.okfn.org
>> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/data-driven-journalism
>>
>>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> data-driven-journalism mailing list
> data-driven-journalism at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/data-driven-journalism

-- 

http://www.datenjournalist.de
http://www.opendatacity.de

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lorz
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/lorenz-matzat/31/b00/571
Facebook: http://de-de.facebook.com/people/Lo-Rz/100001536331743

public PGP:
http://gpg-keyserver.de/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x53601B9EB93E01BE

Lorenz Matzat
Medienkombinat Berlin
Köpenickerstraße 187/188
10997 Berlin

Tel. (030) 7891 3457
matzat at gmail.com