Incorporating Data Journalism into Curricula
The following articles, featured in the June 2018 edition of the Asia Pacific Media Educator, examine various challenges and considerations for journalism instructors in teaching students the fundamentals of data journalism and different ways to incorporate data into reporting.
Authors: Amy Schmitz Weiss, Jéssica Retis-Rivas
Abstract:Journalism programs today face the need to train their students in the latest applications and tools – including data journalism techniques. Despite several classes and programs available in this subject area (Berret & Phillips, 2016), students are not actively enrolling in such classes. Using an epistemological approach and Actor-Network Theory (Latour, 2005), this exploratory study of US journalism students identifies some key perceptions that highlight potential barriers to entry for enrollment in such courses.
Interdisciplinary Learning in Journalism: A Hong Kong Study of Data Journalism Education
Authors: Lingzi Zhu, Ying Roselyn Du
Abstract: Using data collected in the assessment survey of a series of data journalism (DJ) training activities in Hong Kong, this study compares participants’ learning activities. These participants consist of students, scholars and professionals from diverse academic backgrounds. The findings show that significant differences exist between learners with journalism-related backgrounds and those with science backgrounds. Compared with journalism majors, during the activities, science majors interact with others more and get more practice; they also gain more theoretical and practical outcomes alongside higher levels of learning enjoyment. Interviews with journalism majors indicate that lack of fundamental knowledge, time and support in practice brings difficulties to their DJ learning. Suggestions for an interdisciplinary approach to journalism education were also collected through interviews, which include more information on DJ, a deeper level of interdisciplinary interaction and more interactions with the industry. Survey and in-depth interviews are both used in this research to provide references for DJ students and instructors.
Environmental Images in Indian Newspapers
Authors: T. Nirmala, I. Arul Aram
Abstract: This study examines how the environment is represented in images in India’s two main national newspapers, The Times of India and The Hindu, in the calendar years 2014 and 2015. Photographs and infographics were taken for the analysis as they are frequently observed images in the newspapers. Using content analysis, manifest content of the images was analysed. Later, visual discourse analysis was used to find the inherent meaning present in the images of the environment. In this study, infographics have been subjected to a detailed analysis. The findings show that the images of climate change, biodiversity and water scarcity themes were most frequently found. Adverse impacts were well represented in newspapers such as the graphical information of global CO2 emissions, dipping levels of reservoirs and groundwater, and threats to the ecosystems. The Times of India used more of graphics with textual information as part of infographics and The Hindu used more of statistical data. Though The Times of India and The Hindu employ infographic artists besides graphic designers, infographics were scarce compared to photographs. Data journalism is the way of the future, and the newspapers should strive more to help public understand scientific and ethical aspects of an environmental problem better.
Data Journalism Teaching, Fast and Slow
Author: Paul Bradshaw
Abstract: This commentary draws on a decade’s experience of teaching data journalism within a variety of contexts to describe the lessons learned regarding different pedagogical techniques and choices about the aspects of data journalism to teach. What emerges is a difference between classes aimed at a general audience, who might be skeptical and/or ignorant of the diversity of data journalism practice and those aimed at a more specialist audience aiming to go into the increasing numbers of roles dedicated to data-driven techniques.
A DIY, Project-based Approach to Teaching Data Journalism
Author: Caroline Graham
Abstract: As a case study, this article will illustrate how a project-based approach has addressed some of the challenges of embedding data journalism content into courses at a small Australian university. It will also identify some of the associated limitations and difficulties. Since 2013, Bond journalism students have undertaken five collaborative data-driven investigations, with a sixth underway in 2018. The project-based approach encourages resilience, creative problem-solving and minimizes students’ aversion to maths and statistics while empowering students to produce industry-standard work in an area of inexperience and discomfort. However, it is a reasonably resource-intensive approach and would be difficult to replicate in a larger cohort.
When the Numbers Don’t Add Up: Accommodating Data Journalism in a Compact Journalism Programme
Author: Sue Green
Abstract: Journalism educators recognize the need to prioritize teaching data journalism to ensure their students are industry-ready, particularly given the exponential growth in data, data availability, collection and analysis. However, research indicates that falling staff numbers and skill levels, lack of available sessional expertise and insufficient room in existing course curricula are among the problems faced in accommodating data journalism. This article outlines the efforts of Swinburne University of Technology’s journalism programme to meet these challenges and the solutions implemented. The programme staff sought expertise through their existing international contacts and within their own university but also reached beyond the silos of their own department and faculty into computer science disciplines. The outcome means students in a programme which promotes its practical nature and industry-experienced staff will be taught by staff with data analytics expertise but limited journalism experience. This has, however, opened up the possibilities for collaboration between the analytics and journalism staff members and a team approach to the teaching of data journalism.
First Things First: Teaching Data Journalism as a Core Skill
Authors: Lynette Sheridan Burns, Benjamin J. Matthews
Abstract: When journalists publish work based on data, they often appear to be working with secondary sources, such as leaked internal corporate communications or information derived from publicly available Internet sources. However, they are relying on a source of information that varies greatly from other secondary sources. Among the differences is the process by which the data is verified, particularly given that datasets are often very large and unprocessed. How, for example, does a journalist determine the authenticity of data such as The Paradise Papers, the largest leak in history, where more than 13.4 million files revealed the workings of the tax haven industry? The issue of authenticity is further complicated by the processes journalists use to prepare data for delivery to a wide audience. In this article, the authors describe how the model of critical reflection (Sheridan Burns, 2002, 2013) can be used to develop data literacy in first year journalism students as the first step in developing their sense of efficacy in dealing with the complexities of data journalism. Using a scenario based on a large, easily accessible dataset, the authors provide a model through which students can come to understand working with data as a core journalism skill. The model draws on Schon’s (1983) theory of reflective practice, which posits that professionals think by doing and on what Schon calls ‘the conversations we have with ourselves.’
Getting Started with Data Journalism: A Baby Steps Approach
Author: Kayt Davies
Abstract: I have been concerned about the numeracy of journalism students (and some journalists) for a long time, and I am definitely not aline in this. There is a small but persistent thread of research pointing to a dearth of this type of content in tertiary communications courses over several decades (Green, Shearn, & Bolton, 1983; Maier & Curtin, 2004); Meyer, 1973). What has lent an air of urgency to our concern is the rise of spin and the onset of the “era of big data,” which are new and need to be addressed, alongside many other issues that are not new. These are concepts such as “correlations does not imply causation” and “how sampling choices can skew results.” Ideas like these were raised by Darryl Huff, in his well-loved book How to Lie with Statistics, first published in 2954 and described by Steele (2005, p. 205) as “the most widely read statistics book in the history of the world.” It could be a mainstay of journalism education, but according to Griffen and Dunwoody (2018), there are structural reasons why it is hard to bring ideas like this into university journalism programs. This essay will cover the key points in my evolving understanding of the theory and practice of teaching data journalism in tertiary communications programs.
Enthusiasm for Making a Difference: Adapting Data Journalism Skills for Digital Campaigning
Author: Glen Fuller
Abstract: Journalism is conventionally taught through a ‘teaching hospital’ type model involving a set of tacit professional skills largely developed through experience (Anderson, Glaisyer, Smith, & Rothfeld, 2011). This article reports on the approach taken to adapt data journalism pedagogy for a digital campaigning unit in a journalism course. The main focus is building confidence with developing relevant technical skills in what Davies and Cullen (2016) describe as ‘quantitative literacy’. Although there is a range of ways to approach the turn to ‘data journalism’ (Coddington, 2015), teaching aspects of data and computational journalism with students can be difficult as the focus on technical and math skills contravenes the self-identity of journalism students as writers or similar (Nguyen & Lugo-Ocando, 2015). Meyer and Land’s (2005) pedagogical theory of the ‘threshold concept’ is used to think through the affective aspects of a practical exercise for developing ‘data confidence’. Journalism has long attracted students with a social justice orientation and who want to ‘make a difference’ (Vromen, 2016), and challenging students to appreciate the social change context of online engagement is often sufficient to enthuse a student into developing technical skills. The example explored here should be useful for journalism educators in other contexts approaching the common challenge of working with students to develop ‘data confidence.’
Teaching Data Journalism in New Zealand
Author: Grant Hannis
Abstract: This case study details how a postgraduate journalism programme in New Zealand uses a short, focused module to introduce students to the basic concepts and practices of data journalism. The students consider and reflect upon the examples of published data journalism and work through an example of data visualization. While some areas for improvement are suggested, a survey of the students reveals they are generally satisfied with the module.
Safety and Security of Journalists: Yet Awaiting Intervention from Indian Academy and Industry
Author: C. S. H. N. Murthy
Abstract: The article is an overview of the growing concerns about escalating violence against journalists in India and a matching lack of interest in Indian academy to understand the various implications of such violence—both pedagogically and sociologically. The fact that about six journalists were killed in a span of two to three months—September–November 2017—speaks volume about the magnitude of the problem in India—the world’s largest democracy that has the largest volume of media presence. By far, the safety and security of journalists was never part of a serious debate among Indian media houses or Indian journalism education except by way of expressing a symbolic condolence whenever a journalist was killed in action. Although Indian academy has displayed abject ignorance of this important component of journalists’ training despite the UNESCO proposing a model curriculum for safety of journalists at University level in 2007, the media industry which runs its own media schools in India to train its recruits is never concerned about the safety and security of the journalists. Using the methodology adopted by the Freedom House in its report on Freedom of Press (2016) for determining the varied ways in which the pressure was laid on the objective flow of information, the present study throws light on several dimensions involved in evolving a pedagogy for the ‘safety and security of journalists’ from sociological perspectives.