Data Journalism and Visualization Event, 12.Jan.2025

Introduction

Data journalism is about using numbers to tell the best story possible. It is not about math, drawing charts, or even writing code. It is about telling stories first and foremost–the math and the charts and the code are all in service to that. 

The techniques of data journalism change all the time but they are marked by an abundance of increasingly more accessible tools that allow sophisticated manipulation and analysis of data. The emphasis of this course is on practical skills and the latest developments in data journalism–working with designers and using free charting tools, sourcing and mapping data. 

Course Objectives of Data Journalism and Visualization

• Finding and getting data
• Preparing data
• Finding stories in data
• Machine learning in data journalism
• Visualizing data
• Data-driven storytelling

Data Journalism and Visualization Course Outlines

Day 1
Finding and getting data

• Find usable data online
• Assess sources of data
• Understand different data file formats
• Download the data

Day 2
Preparing data

• Process and clean data
• Get the data ready to be analyzed and visualized
• Develop good practices in the data processing

Day 3
Finding stories in data

• Identify potential insights in data sets
• Use free tools to conduct basic exploratory analysis

Day 4
Machine learning in data journalism

• Identify what machine learning is and isn’t
• See applications of machine learning in newsrooms
• Use these tools for investigative journalism

Day 5
Visualizing data

• Create visualizations that don’t just consist of designing beautiful maps and charts, but that is understandable
• Understand essential visualization concepts, such as visual encodings
• Choose the right chart or map depending on the nature of the data and the messages it’s meant to convey