Archive
23 Apr

Global’s data journalism team “a first” in Canada

<p><br /><img alt="" class="imagecache-large inline-image" src="http://j-source.ca/sites/www.j-source.ca/files/imagecache/large/images/global data_0.PNG" title="" /></p><p><strong>By Tamara Baluja</strong></p><p>If there is one online initiative at Global News that David Skok is convinced will pay dividends in the long run, it’s the network’s <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/data-desk-investigations/">data desk</a>.  </p>

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23 Apr

Five free visualization tools recommended by Global’s data desk

<p><a href="http://j-source.ca/article/global%E2%80%99s-data-journalism-team-%E2%80%9C-first%E2%80%9D-canada">Global News data desk</a> journalist <a href="http://www.patrickcain.ca/">Patrick Cain</a> outlines his favourite five free data journalism tools:</p><p><strong>1/ Google Fusion Tables</strong></p>

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1 May

Data Journalism Handbook available online for free

<p> </p><p><a href="http://datajournalismhandbook.org/1.0/en/">The Data Journalism Handbook</a> is available online for free, and includes insight into how top news organizations use data to enhance their reporting.</p><p>With chapters about the use of data on the part of BBC, <em>The Guardian</em> and <em>The Chicago Tribune,</em> as well as 18 case studies and basic instructions (with links!) on how to scrape the web for data, the guide is thorough.</p><p>You can find the <a href="http://datajournalismhandbook.org/1.0/en/">handbook in its entirety online here</a>. </p>

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30 Apr

Calculating a percentage in a Google spreadsheet

<p>In the second of our continuing series of video tutorials on using data journalism tools, Fred Vallance-Jones shows you how to calculate percentages in a Google Docs spreadsheet.</p><p> </p>

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17 Apr

Using data to tell stories — on deadline

<p><strong>By David McKie</strong></p><p>Normally, I dislike leads that contain questions.</p><p>But stories that use data to drive the narrative usually begin with the journalist asking a question. So here are a few.</p>

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17 Mar

Data journalism basics with Google spreadsheets

<p><em>In the first of a series of video tutorials on data journalism tools, J-Source's Computer Assisted Reporting editor <strong>Fred Vallance-Jones</strong> goes over how to use a Google spreadsheets to do some basic sorting and summing of information from the Internet.</em></p>

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24 Feb

This space is changing

<p>Since I started writing in this space a few years ago, there have been huge changes to the small but mighty corner of journalism we have called computer-assisted reporting. It has gone from being the technically-complex preserve of a few hardy, analytic souls who toiled away in the back corner of, usually, print newsrooms, to something almost anyone can do using free, cloud-based tools.</p>

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17 Feb

A helpful list of web tools for journalists

<p>Mindy McAdams, an online journalism professor from the University of Florida, has curated this <a href="http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/2012/best-social-media-tools-for-journalists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">list of helpful web tools for journalists</a>. Not only does it list off the best tools to use in a number of categories (such as livestreaming, photo sharing, curating) but it also contains links to articles that explain how journalists can use some of the most popular social media sites most effectively.</p>

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4 Feb

Hacker-assisted reporting: can it be ethical?

<p><em>If you hear the word ‘hacker’ and all you can think is </em>News of the World<em> scandal, stop cringing. <strong>Cecil Rosner </strong>explains how working with hackers who mine for publicly available data can be beneficial to not-so-tech-savvy journalists.</em></p><p> </p><p>I have taken the controversial step of mentioning the words “hacking,” “reporting” and “ethical” all in the same sentence. Now I’ll need the rest of this post to convince you I haven’t lost all vestiges of integrity.</p>

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1 Feb

Canadian newspapers and infographics: Too scared to try?

<p><em>Around the world, newspapers are boldly experimenting with online infographics -- and they're making money. So why aren't papers in Canada following suit? <strong>Claire Prime</strong> looks into this in the latest issue of the Ryerson Review of Journalism.</em></p><p> </p>

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