DMJ is offering a special topics course in Data for Journalists for Spring 2024. The course introduces students to tools and methods used in data journalism and provides them with theoretical and practical knowledge to source, structure and analyze data in their reporting. It is being taught Wednesdays from 9:30am-12:20pm; please read important details below!
Course Overview:
Data journalism is no longer a siloed ‘branch’ of journalism. Every reporter encounters large datasets, be it statistical or textual, in academic studies, government documents, financial records, sports and elsewhere. Every reporter needs to be able to perform basic analytical tasks and understand how to work with data – and every reporter has the ability to do so even without coding knowledge. This class empowers students to use familiar tools like Google Sheets in new and powerful ways, demystifying commonly used statistical concepts, and creating a learning environment where students can get hands-on experience with data. Students will be able to plan and execute data projects independently, and gain a higher level of confidence in approaching quantitative
reporting tasks. The class uses the data training framework developed by the New York Times, adjusting it to the needs of new reporters by bolstering the data training components with foundational pitching, newsgathering and story structure skills.
Progression and Topics:
Throughout the semester, classes will combine lectures, discussions and in-class workshops. For the first half of the semester, students will be introduced to concepts and methods in data journalism through learning about and critically analyzing historical and contemporary data stories. They will learn different story archetypes, explore and understand spreadsheet data, and learn how to develop a research hypothesis and test it. They will practice in Google Sheets, incrementally growing their skill set in data analysis, statistical concepts, and matching the appropriate data visualization approaches to best represent their findings. In the second half of the semester students work in small groups to pitch a story for their final projects. They will work on gathering, cleaning, manipulating and analyzing their data as well as the contextual reporting needed – such as interviewing experts – to write a story with a major data component. Students will present their work throughout the semester and develop critical skills by editing their peers. The class will end with student presentations, allowing learning from the group’s experience and communal feedback.
It is pertinent to note that the first two and final two weeks are in person, but the rest of the course will be taught online and synchronous. The course number is DMJ393, Section 01: Data for Journalists. It is hybrid and will be taught on Wednesdays from 9:30am-12:20pm. It is open to all DMJ majors and minors.