Syllabus Bank for Instructors
Sherp 31 Syllabus for Data Journalism — NYU
Tailored for science journalists, this course syllabus includes lectures on gathering and analyzing data on science and technology topics. Lessons also cover mapping, chart making, data scraping and cleaning, and using Excel for data analysis and visualizations.
NYU-SCPS Data Journalism
This syllabus focuses on core concepts and principles in data journalism, exploring how data enhances reporting and giving an overview of tools for producing data visualizations. Topics include analyzing and structuring data, combining data from multiple data sets, and developing engaging visualizations.
JEM 494: Data Journalism
This website includes the syllabus and class archives from a data journalism course taught by Nick Geidner at the University of Tennessee. The archives include lessons on finding, analyzing, and cleaning data; designing data visualizations; and basic math and statistics for journalists.
Syllabi — Investigative Journalism Education Consortium
Compiled by the Investigative Journalism Education Consortium, this syllabus bank includes links to course syllabi on investigative and data journalism developed by journalism professors at various U.S. universities. Course subjects include data journalism research methods, social networking analysis, computer-assisted reporting, and advanced data and mapping.
Interactive Data Journalism: A One-Semester Syllabus
This course introduces students and journalists to key principles and resources for conducting data journalism. The syllabus features readings and assignments on producing different types of data journalism projects, from maps and charts to webpages and interactive visualizations, as well as basic coding and data journalism ethics.
Teaching Data Journalism: A Survey & Model Curricula
Produced by researchers at Columbia Journalism School and Stanford University, this handbook offers guidance for journalism instructors on developing curricula for teaching data journalism and equipping students for data-driven journalism. The project was funded by the Knight Foundation and incorporates feedback from journalists, educators, and students across the U.S.
Data journalism syllabus: From numeracy to visualization and beyond
This course focuses on understanding and analyzing data, both for general reporting and specialized topics like health care, business, and crime. Readings and assignments include obtaining and cleaning data, statistical analysis, working with polling and survey data, creating visualizations, and data journalism ethics.
Political reporting syllabus: Covering elections, governance and the democratic process
This syllabus is focused on using data journalism to cover elections and politics, including analyzing budgets, state and local statutes, campaign finances, polls, and exit surveys.
Journalism Ethics in the Digital Age: A Model/Open Source Syllabus
Readings and lessons in this course examine different ethical concerns of data journalism. Topics include transparency, intellectual honesty, privacy issues, accuracy and verification of data, and journalists’ rights and responsibilities in reporting.
Syllabus: Critical thinking, ethics and knowledge-based practice in visual media
This course focuses on multimedia journalism, with lessons on developing multimedia story ideas, conducting video interviews, ethics in video production, and effective visual storytelling.
Syllabus: Reporting race, gender and diversity in America
This syllabus features lessons on covering race, gender, religion, and sociological trends in reporting on education, health care, criminal justice, and immigration policy. Readings cover topics like stereotypes and bias, patterns in news coverage, framing diversity issues, and disparities in power and access.
Digital media and society: Covering social media, technology and a networked world
This course focuses on the new digital media environment and reporting on social media and the online public sphere. It includes lessons on privacy, legal considerations in using social media posts, reporting on social movements, and Wikileaks.
Science reporting: Covering the environment, technology and medicine
This syllabus covers topics in science and technology reporting, including using statistics and scientific data, reporting on controversial issues like vaccines and climate change, and fact-checking sources and information.
Health reporting: Semester-long course on covering the science, policy and business of health care
Designed for health reporting, this syllabus features lessons on covering health disparities, the U.S. health care system, hospital safety and quality, and the pharmaceutical industry. Students also learn about using health statistics, understanding medical studies, and ethics in health reporting.
Business reporting: Semester-long course on how to develop compelling business-related stories
This course provides students with an overview on issues related to covering both public and private companies. Topics also include reading and understanding company income statements, reporting on IPOs and mergers and acquisitions, regulatory agencies, and stocks and bonds.
Legal reporting: Covering the judicial system and understanding its importance
This syllabus focuses on accuracy and fairness in covering the legal system, criminal justice issues, and court proceedings.
Feature writing: Crafting research-based stories with characters, development and a structural arc
This course explores principles for crafting compelling feature stories, including conducting thorough research and interviews in the reporting process and writing engaging copy.
Basic newswriting: Learn how to originate, research and write breaking-news stories
This syllabus covers basic reporting practices and techniques, from finding story ideas and gathering data and statistics to conducting interviews and incorporating context in news stories.