"Analytic Journalism: Digital Evolution in the

Datasphere"

Tom JohnsonManaging Director

Inst. for Analytic JournalismSanta Fe, New Mexico USA

tom@jtjohnson.com

Presentation to the

South African National Editors Forum

22 November 2010

Johannesburg, South Africa

Today’s conversation

• Journalism past [briefly] and present• What is Analytic Journalism• Where we think journalism is (should

be?) heading

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What’s Changed in Journalism?

• Old: “News” = spoken word, text, images

• Today: “News” = Data = 1s & 0s• Global ubiquity and fluidity of data

• 5 billion cell phones [July ’10]• Africa: 1/3 pop. have cell phones

• Metadata• Editors Database administrators

• Is the Mass Media dead?

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What’s Changed in Journalism?

• Datasphere Basic Process: Data In Analysis Info Out

• Former “basic process”– Superficial research– Gather anecdotes & quotes & AV– Write, i.e. String together in

“acceptable form”– Publish/broadcast soonest– Do it again tomorrow

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What’s Changed in Journalism

Industrial Age Journalism– High capital investment: presses, paper,

delivery, broadcasting equipment– Low investment in “wet ware,” i.e. employees

and their skillsDigital Age Journalism• Low capital threshold for data, analytic

tools, “publishing”• High educational threshold for data,

analytic tools, “publishing”• Power shift from authority and institutional

power to sub-groups and individuals

What’s Changed in Journalism?

• Constant deadlines, but …• Breaking news has already broken

• If people already have the “news,” what do we have to contribute?

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What is “Analytic Journalism”

Traditional Journalism•Quick & Dirty research•Gather quotes•Harvest anecdotes•Get some video•String together in a 30, 60, 90-sec story•Repeat tomorrow

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Analytic Journalism• Not events, but context & trends• Define phenomena of interest as a

SYSTEM • Employ RRAW-P process

Research Reporting Analysis Write ‟Publish”

• Non-traditional analytic tools:GIS, data mining, forensic accounting, Social Network Analysis

Cornerstones of IAJ

• General Systems Theory• Statistics• Data visualization

- www.niceone.org/lab/refugees/• Simulations

- Simtable Fire Model- St. Marks Square - Venice boats- Zozobra park

Cornerstones: IAJ version of Analytic Journalism

• General Systems Theory1. System boundaries2. Variables3. Relationships between variables4. System has goals5. System capable of “learning”6. System exists in an environment

• “System” can be self defined; can be defined by outside observer(s)

• System is “scaleable”10

Newspaper as a system

Theory of Journalistic Process

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Data In Analysis Info Out

Theory. It’s important, valuable.

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Data In Analysis Info Out•Notes•Text•Numeric• Images•Charts/Graphs

•Maps•Audio•Video•Atoms Bits•How? Who?

Theory. It’s important, valuable.

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Data In Analysis Info Out• Notes• Text• Numeric• Images• Charts/Graphs• Maps• Audio• Video• AtomsBits

How? Who?

• What are we looking for? How can we be surprised?

• Source• Definition• Context• Estimating• Counting• Statistical• Geostatistical• Social Network

Analysis• Forensic accounting

Theory. It’s important, valuable.

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Data In Analysis Info Out• Notes• Text• Numeric• Images• Charts/Graphs• Maps• Audio• Video• AtomsBits

How?

• What are we looking for? How can we be surprised?

• Source• Definition• Context• Estimating• Counting• Statistical• Geostatistical• Social Network

Analysis• Forensic

accounting

• Broadcast• Web• Audio• Video• Text• Data

visualization• Maps• Dynamic

databases• Archives

Theory. It’s important, valuable.

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Data In Analysis Info Out• Notes• Text• Numeric• Images• Charts/Graphs• Maps• Audio• Video• AtomsBits

How?

• What are we looking for? How can we be surprised?

• Source• Definition• Context• Estimating• Counting• Statistical• Geostatistical• Social Network

Analysis• Forensic

accounting

• Broadcast• Web• Audio• Video• Text• Data

visualization• Maps• Dynamic

databases• Archives

Contributed contentContributed content

& analysis

Developing Tools for Collaboration

• Who is using wikis? Google Docs? Zoho?• Intra-nets• Inter- and intra-nets

Goals for Journalism Education

• Raise basic admission standards– Applicants already can write; can do basic arithmetic

• Develop/improve tools for newsroom and citizen journalism collaboration– Intranets– Wikis– Google Docs– Blogs, social media, Flickr, etc.– Research customization for journalism

• Develop tools for story telling

Community & Collaboration

• Citizen Journalism and Democracy in Africa:“Periodismo Ciudadano y Democracia en África”: Un libro en línea de Fackson Banda

• UK: The Guardian uses the citizen journalist to great effect in Expenses Scandal• Investigate your MP’s expenses

• Oldweather.org Oldweather.org

• NYTimes Knowledge NetworkEl New York Times ofrece un curso online de periodismo ciudadano

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Online learning; online tools

• ICFJ Anywhere Global source for high-quality, online journalism courses taught by seasoned professionals.

• Google RefineGoogle Refine is a power tool for working with messy data, cleaning it up, transforming it from one format into another, extending it with web services, and linking it to databases like Freebase.

• Many EyesSite is set up to allow the internet community to upload data, visualize it, and talk about their discoveries with other people.

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Storytelling R&D? Innovation?

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Storytelling R&D? Innovation?

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• Potential for “drill-down” dynamics

• Reach URLs

• Show data for statistical analysis

• Ask questions; capture answers

Tomorrow?

• Our job is to “monitor the centres of power.”

-- Amira Haassaid

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Tomorrow?

• In a democracy, news media harvest data; become central warehouse of citizen’s data• A “public library” on steroids• Digital resources for in-house

journalists• Create “dashboards” to monitor gov’t.• Potential to create specialized, non-

journalism “products” • Provide data to app creators

Tomorrow?

• Paying for news rapidly declining market.

• So what can journalists offer?

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"Analytic Journalism: Digital Evolution in the

Datasphere"

Tom JohnsonManaging Director

Inst. for Analytic JournalismSanta Fe, New Mexico USA

tom@jtjohnson.com

Theory. It’s important, it’s valuable.

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Nothing is as valuable as a good theory.