10 good reasons to learn data journalism now

Data Journalism as a discipline has been gaining more and more attention over the past decade. Data teams are on the rise in newsrooms, and many are investing time and resources to expand their work into data-driven investigations that are able to present topics in engaging formats that combine meaningful data with innovative design.

In tumultuous times it is essential to invest in new ventures that can help broad audiences make sense of this ever-changing digital landscape. We've highlighted 10 reasons why journalists rely on data journalism. This is to help you realise just how important this growing field is for your journalistic endeavours.

1. Everything is data

2. You want to find things that matter: data can help you

3. You can make your piece pop

4. Cross-border cooperation is a must

5. You don’t have to work alone

6. It encourages openness and transparency

7. Data journalism is thriving thanks to its collaborative community

8. You’ll be on the cutting edge of new formats

9. Keep up with open source technologies

10. Data makes the story

1. Everything is data

The so-called datafication of society, caused by the ever-increasing availability of data, has made journalists who are able to make sense of that data increasingly relevant. As Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen explains in this Data Handbook 2 chapter, there are three main goals of current data journalism: to critically observe our evolution towards a datafied society, to make data understandable by its own means, and to make visible the limits of what can and should be told and seen through the lens of data.

But can you put everything into a database? The answer is always yes! Robert Gebeloff, journalist for the New York Times, recently mentioned in a presentation at Data Harvest conference that "everything can be turned into a database" and we couldn't agree more. He argues for the power of "thinking in raw data and columns'' and the need to turn statements from various sources, from word of mouth to written documents, into data that can be reused.

Sounds like a challenge? Take a look at this free video course from data visualisation expert Maarten Lambrechts, which shows you how to transform and cleanse your data. You can also read our latest guide from Abbott Katz on mastering excel with dynamic array functions. You’ll be able to navigate spreadsheets at speed to filter and sort data to find hidden stories for your news coverage!

2. You want to find things that matter: data can help you

It almost goes without saying that the last few years have left no doubt about the power of data and what data journalism can do to inform us about daily news and tell compelling stories.

At a time when data about the COVID-19 (and currently the vaccines)was pouring in from all corners of the globe, data journalists were making sense of those figures to communicate the challenges of the pandemic to citizens everywhere. Even though we all have wished for better circumstances, we can't ignore the role of data journalism in translating this complex data from an infinite amount of resources.

In fact, this year The New York Times was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their data collection; recognition that proves the role news outlets play in making sense of the data collected during the pandemic and sometimes filling the void left by our governments.

The New York Times made more than 9.98 million programmatic requests for COVID-19 data from websites around the world. They have and continue to maintain daily content maps and graphs that have become the most read online content ever produced by the newspaper, explained Josh Williams and Tiff Fehr, the leaders of the paper’s COVID-19 data collection team, in this report.

To read up on some of the most influential COVID-19 data projects, take a look at our rundown of pieces that made journalism history last year.

3. You can make your piece pop

If you need any more reasons beyond the eye-catching and sleek data visualisations and infographics then this post is for you. We stand behind the words of master talents and journalism trainers like Alberto Cairo, who argue that a successful journalism project is one that complements image and text, giving equal weight to both. There is no longer any room to deny the power that strong data visualisation has to contextualise and attract audiences.

Data visualisation can make your posts more engaging and attractive, as well as more shareable on social media due to its often visual appeal for audiences. In addition, the development of advanced software, such as Datawrapper, can help to almost automate your graphics, which is very handy when time and resources are tight. This chapter published in Data Handbook 2, written by experts in the field such as Helen Kennedy and Andy Kirk, explores how data visualisation is embedded in newsroom practice and its associated trends and challenges. It highlights the potential for data visualisation to "emphasise a point, add empirical evidence, allow users to explore data sets, as aesthetic attraction to stimulate interest and to offer entry into unseen stories."

For inspiration, take a look at the projects that won the Malofiej 2021, including El País’ universally praised "A Room, a Bar and a Classroom, How the Coronavirus Is Spread through the Air,", which leaves no doubt about the power of data-driven journalism to create richer stories.

4. Cross-border cooperation is a must

Fortunately, data journalism is no longer a newsroom "niche," due in part to the growing number of collaborations through borders, teams and disciplines. Data journalists are now working together in a global network, sharing their experiences to conduct research and draw conclusions from the data they collect. The nature of this type of journalism requires collaboration across borders, as most datasets are accessible to individuals online which makes them perfect for journalists to analyse with different skillsets across countries. Just look at the impactful and investigative projects we’ve talked about here, such as the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers led by cross border organisations such as ICIJ and OCCRP.

This is not just limited to journalists within the newsroom, but it is now common to see teams of scientists, researchers, PhDs and many other professions working together on collaborative projects, due in large part to the demand of COVID-19 reporting. This, in turn, has fostered the link between medical and social sciences and led to a great combination between the data-driven and research-based approach.

5. You don’t have to work alone

More and more journalists have realised that they don't have to do everything on their own. Do I need to hire a programmer or do I need to learn code and become a programmer to make my career in data journalism? This is the lifelong dilemma, and while you can find many opinions on this, it's more motivating to think that you don't have to learn everything at once. Instead, you can work with a team who possess a mix of skills in design, statistics, coding, data wrangling and writing to develop compelling news stories.

However, if you do feel inspired to learn programming, you should dive deep into this video course by Winny de Jong to learn the most common uses of Python for data journalism. Share ideas with other data journalism enthusiasts and students who can help you in your endeavour.

6. It is about openness and transparency

Data journalism allows you to make your reporting transparent and accessible to your readers. Where does your data come from? How was it collected? Answering these questions with data engages the reader by shedding light on the building blocks of your article. The process of collecting data can be fraught with inherent bias or other contradictions and the audience has a right to know these risks.

It is common to include a methodology section at the bottom of data journalism articles. This explains how the data was sourced and analysed which allows the article to be replicated by other media outlets and journalism teams. Nowadays, it is standard for major media organisations to opensource their repositories of data on GitHub so it can be reused by others. One such news organisation is ProPublica, which specialises in investigative journalism, where it has its own section for sharing datasets that you can take a look at yourself. Following these practices will make your reporting more open and accessible, and ultimately more credible.

7. Data journalism is thriving thanks to its collaborative community

Data journalism thrives on data made publicly available. However, it is important to make these datasets as accessible as possible and not exclude anyone. In addition, it is crucial to create a community around data journalism where everyone can share their experiences and provide feedback for one another.

There are many online platforms and tools that allow you to benefit from the expertise of others and share your own, which will enhance your educational experience. From massive communities built around Twitter, Discord or Slack, to niche communities that help you learn new skills and network with colleagues. We looked at five of these micro-learning communities to further explore data journalism and hone your skills: Twitch, Clubhouse and Discord are amongst them.

To get started, join our Discord data community where you can chat with people from around the world about job opportunities, favourite resources, and case studies.

8. You’ll be on the cutting edge of new formats

Is it possible to present a complex topic like vaccination in an engaging and light way? Data journalists usually feel comfortable using new formats that can give their posts a new angle or surprise the audience. Gamification and data sonification are just some of the techniques blossoming and paving the way in audience engagement and outreach.

In the latest News Impact Summit on Data Journalism, Sarah Slobin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic and visual journalist at Reuters, highlighted some of their most notable articles this year. One of the pieces included What will it be like when we go back to the office?. The project suggests hypothetical situations we will find ourselves in when we go back to our work spaces in the form of a cute game that makes challenges such as keeping social distance more visually appealing.

Slobin went through some of the tools that made these pieces possible, such as Illustrator, Node Script and Svelte, but she insisted, "technology is always changing so the ability to learn new tools is more than important than the actual the tools you can use". For approaching this type of project, Sarah explained that they focus on the readers’ experience, what they’re learning, and of course, how to keep them coming back.

Alex Selby-Boothroyd, Head of Data Journalism at The Economist, talked about data sonification, another recent trend that has really taken off. He talked about some of the experiments they have done with data sonification and how they've developed their latest projects such as sonifying vaccination data while also explaining the nuts and bolts of developing engaging projects that keep the context concise and clear. To dive deeper into this topic, take a look at this article from Miriam Quick and Duncan Geere, host of the Loud Numbers podcast, who explore the power of sonification to bring your data storytelling to life.

9. Keep up with open source technologies

When we talk about tools, we have to mention open source software and its potential for data journalism and facilitating the work of multimedia journalists.

For Adolfo Antón, coordinator of the Master in Data Journalism at the University of Alcalá, "free tools allow everyone, including journalists, to explore, analyse and visualise data without the restrictions and limitations of proprietary and/or protected software. They therefore benefit journalism as a whole, reconciling it with rigorous, critical and investigative journalism and bringing it closer to data science by sharing its methodology."

What are some of the basic tools you should familiarise yourself with? Think about starting your education with Python, Bash, R, Gephi, Tabula, Open Refine.

10. Data makes the story

But in the end, we can't forget the main benefit of data journalism: it's about finding stories that would never have been told otherwise.How many topics have been unearthed thanks to searching for patterns in data? As Simon Rogers wrote in this already legendary post at The Guardian, "Data journalism is 80% perspiration, 10% great idea, 10% output." Journalism based on data analysis allows teams to find news directly from primary sources.

Antonio Delgado, a data journalist working for Datadista, a Spanish based data journalism and investigative news outlet, explains that the pandemic has been a strong case in point. “Many decisions about restrictions have been made based on data, and journalists need to work with the same information to challenge the management of different administrations.” Datadista has published 60 datasets on pandemic surveillance in Spain in their GitHub account since March 2020. This has not only given free access to other journalists but researchers and academics as well, leading to half a dozen published scientific papers.