A discussion on the dos-and-don'ts of Data Journalism

[petronius]

Old article, but I just ran across it and found it interesting. The specific term 'Data Journalism' is new to me, but apparently a fast growing segment of the media industry.

Programmers explain how to turn data into journalism & why that matters

By now you’ve heard about how The Journal News of Westchester County, N.Y., published the names and addresses of thousands of local gun permit holders.

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We can all agree that sort of violent retaliation went too far. But there’s less agreement about whether the paper erred when it published the information in the first place.

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That seems to be the real sticking point in the broader discussion: Do journalists have a free pass to do whatever they want with public-record data?

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But when a journalist chooses to copy that information, frame it in a certain (inherently subjective) context, and then actively push it in front of thousands of readers and ask them to look at it, he’s taken a distinct action for which he is responsible.

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Lots more at the link above; the snips don't do it much justice...

From: poynter.org