Welcome to the European Journalism Centre’s new data newsletter!

Last month, the EJC held a special session at the International Journalism Festival called Conversations with data. We wanted to find out how data journalists are using data to ask and answer questions in their reportage.

What became clear is that data, like human sources, needs to be prodded, queried, and interrogated to unearth important stories. But it can be challenging for journalists to develop the technical know-how and skills to find, and then interview, data.

So, we thought we’d continue the conversation with you.

We want to share your top tips and tricks so that others can learn from your mistakes and your triumphs. We’ll also be giving you the opportunity to ask questions of practitioners at the top of the field.

Let’s get started!

In our first edition, we’re going to talk algorithmic reporting. From automated news writing to reporting on the role of algorithms in society; if you’ve tried it, we want to hear about it.

We’ll also be giving you the opportunity to ask Nick Diakopoulos questions on the subject. Nick is the author of the early release Data Journalism Handbook chapter on The Algorithms Beat, and Assistant Professor at the Northwestern University School of Communication where he directs the Computational Journalism Lab.