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Interviewed: David Ottewell, head of the Data Journalism Unit at Trinity Mirror

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David Ottewell kindly spared some time to share a few hot data journalism tips with me. Here’s what he had to say…

What’s happening with Trinity Mirror’s new Data Journalism Unit?

The Data Journalism Unit for Trinity Mirror (Regionals) was set up at the start of April. I’m running it. The idea is to provide (a) news and (b) useful resources for titles across the group.

My aims are to use the reams of data being published every day, along with fresh insight into already available data and FOI requests, to provide news, including front-page news, for titles in the Trinity Mirror family. The idea is that having one central unit that can interrogate data, and provide output in terms of news lines, visualisations and bespoke data sets, is more efficient than having the same process going on across numerous newsrooms.

We’re also providing data resources, such as the GM house price data, which can sit in the site and update every month with the latest figures. Individual titles can provide whatever content they like around these resources (pictures, copy, etc.). The main obstacles, as always, are time and resources. I’d rather our unit did fewer things brilliantly than more things less well.

Image: Mirko Lorenz

Image: Mirko Lorenz

People are starting to realise what can be achieved with data

Data journalism is already a vital part of the journalistic landscape. There is so much data available that previously might take a journalist days or weeks to gather. There are also so many tools for interrogating and visualising this data.

People are realising what can be achieved and how data can tell us vital things about the state and prospects of our communities.

Get ahead of the game now, before the game leaves you behind.

Journalists will always need certain traditional skills. These include recognising a story’s new value, knowing what is important to their readers, being able to communicate this clearly and interestingly.

Arguably this is even more important when it comes to data journalism, because of the volume of information available. Which datasets do we pick? What are we looking for? How do we relate what we find in a way that readers can understand and will respond to?

These traditional skills must be harnessed to new skills. The ability to write code, scrape data, manipulate spreadsheets and create their own, and so forth, give any reporter an enormous advantage for now. In the future, that might not be the case, as a journalist who can’t do such things may find themselves at a similarly large disadvantage. My message would be: get ahead of the game now, before the game leaves you behind.

Visualisations are great but they shouldn’t replace words

Visualisation skills are equally important. There are so many tools available for online visualisation from Google Fusion, to Tableau, to the likes of infogr.am. Tools like this can bring a story alive, for the sake of what can be a few minutes work. There’s no point having a great story if you can’t tell it and no one reads it.

Above all, don’t be afraid to experiment.

Stats and data are part of the journalistic landscape, but they aren’t a replacement for word-based reporting. Data will always need context; it will need case studies and examples; it will need expert interpretation, analysis, reaction. The Manchester Evening News did a campaign based on a data story about the fact there were 10,000 reports of runaway children every year. That’s a shocking statistic. But it only became a campaign that changed the law when the reporter responsible got case studies and pictures of children (including some who had died), spoke to people who worked in the field who dealt with children and explained why it was happening (and to whom), and talked to MPs about raising the issue in parliament.

America is ahead of the game

There are lots of people working in data journalism who are doing great work. The Guardian, obviously, do some fantastic things, as do the Financial Times. But in terms of cutting-edge data telling us important things, America is ahead of the game – particularly in the field of politics. The Nate Silver five thirty eight blog on the New York Times website is phenomenal.

My advice? Look at what other people are doing in data journalism. Learn about using spreadsheets and learn about coding and scraping, too, if you can. See what visualisation resources are available. Explore what data is available. Above all, don’t be afraid to experiment.


Filed under: Dataplay Tagged: data journalism, David Ottewell, FOI, Trinity Mirror, visualisation

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