wjec data journalism slides

Hacks and hackers in the classroom

Megan KnightUniversity of Central Lancashire

maknight@uclan.ac.uk@meganknight

http://www.meganknight.org

The problem

Data journalism is increasingly important in the newsroom

Journalists and journalism students are often unfamiliar with data and tools

Data analysis is not easy to learn quickly Frustration, fear of failure Mathphobia

Hacks and Hackers

A model in which journalists (hacks) and computer and data experts work together on projects over the course of a day or a weekend

Developed as a way to transfer skills and collaborate

Aimed at professional journalists Succesful at the time, but little evidence of long-

term engagement with data journalism

The cases DJCamp

Three events since 2010 Professional journalists, varying numbers of

“hackers” Manchester, Preston and Istanbul Two “HotPot” student projects

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Conclusions

Start with the story, then find the data Cleaning takes at least five times as long as

anticipated The more data-experienced the journalist, the

more hackers you can have in the room Research the possible data sets and sources,

but don't deliver them at once Final storytelling presentations are essential Follow-up?

Questions?

Megan Knight

University of Central Lancashire

maknight@uclan.ac.uk

@meganknight

http://www.meganknight.org