A vaccine against that anti-data journalism brain
Authors: Nguyen, A. and Lugo-Ocando, J.
Publisher: http://datadrivenjournalism.net/news_and_analysis/a_vaccine_against_that_anti_data_journalism_brain
Place of Publication: Commentary on Data-DrivenJournalism.net (European Journalism Centre), 04/11/2015
Abstract:There is something strange in that buzzword, “data journalism”. It reads like an oxymoron.
Data and journalism are traditionally not seen as friends – and often as foes. Journalists, suffering from a “blind spot” for numbers, tend to dismiss data and statistics altogether. For some, they are hard to swallow and fly in the face of what journalism is about. Quite a few see numeracy as “a kind of virus which, if caught, can damage the literary brain, leading to a permanent loss of vocabulary and shrivelling of sensitivity,” observes David Randall in The Universal Journalist. “Journalism is one of the few professions that not only tolerates general innumeracy, but celebrates it,” said Aron Pilhofer in a response to recent research. “I still hear journalists who are proud of it, even celebrating that they can’t do math, even though programming is about logic.” Meanwhile, numeracy is rarely or barely included as essential skills in journalism training and education.
No wonder the media often “get a bad press” when it comes to statistics – to the extent that some experts have come to assume journalists never get numbers right. Not entirely correct, but rarely challenged, probably because few would care and dare to challenge it.
And perhaps it is no wonder why the driving force of many data journalism projects today is not journalists but those with non-journalism skills and experiences – developers, designers and producers. Some influential names that have triggered the interest in data journalism, such as Nate Silver or Ezra Klein, were never journalists. This is despite the inspiring work on computational journalism pioneered by Philip Meyer in the 1960s.
So if the seemingly sudden rise of data journalism says anything to journalists, it is this: their traditional luxury of ignoring – even laughing at – statistics is no longer sustainable. Public datasets are now more available and accessible than ever. The ability to use simple computer codes to turn raw numbers into beautiful data maps or informative graphics is exciting and empowering. But all this would become meaningless if that deep-rooted anti-data attitude among journalists is not extinguished.
Source: Manual