#JOUR 407 Data journalism#
Fall 2014
T-Th 9:30 - 11:20 a.m.
ANDN 224
Instructor: Matt Waite
Email: mwaite3@unl.edu
Twitter: @mattwaite
Phones: (402) 802-5202 cell, (402) 472-5840 office
Office: 318 Andersen
Course description:
Every day, more of our lives is being stored in a database somewhere. With that explosion of data, reporters more than ever need the skills to analyze and understand data to then write the stories hidden in the information. Gone are the days when a reporter could grab a notebook and say “I suck at math.” If that’s what you aspire to, leave now. Don’t want to be that reporter? Welcome to data journalism. The best reporters harness the right tools to get the story. In this class, we’ll use brainpower and software to look at raw data -- not summarized and already reported information -- to do investigative reporting. We’re going to get our hands dirty with spreadsheets, databases, maps, some basic stats and, time permitting, some stuff I’ll call “serious future s**t.” And we're going to do journalism. So buckle up and hold on.
Course goals:
- Understand the basics of data and data journalism
- Master the use of data in journalistic storytelling
- Master spreadsheets and basic data visualization for storytelling
- Use public records laws and understand your rights as a citizen and a journalist
- Gain exposure to advanced tools of data journalism, like GIS and social network analysis, as well as advanced methods of gathering data.
Required Materials:
- A functioning laptop computer that you must bring with you to class every time and ~800 MB of free hard drive space.
- The administrative priviledges to install software on your computer.
- A copy of Microsoft Excel. The MS Office suite is $20 at the UNL Computer Store.
- An up-to-date version of Firefox. Free!
- The Data Journalism Handbook Free!
- Online materials and class handouts, as needed.
- A sense of humor.
Grading:
The grading will be based on the stories you produce, the work you put into them and your participation in class.
The bulk of the graded work in this class is as follows:
| Assignment | Percentage of your grade |
|---|---|
| Four enterprise stories | 60% |
| Data negotiation | 20% |
| Assignments | 10% |
| Data diaries | 5% |
| Class participation/attendance | 5% |
Enterprise stories: You will be required to pitch and execute four data journalism stories on your own during the semester. The stories must include original analysis of data you have obtained, a graphic or visualization of that data and a story worth publishing on NewsNetNebraska. Each story will be line edited and produced for online at an appointed time outside of class.
Data negotiation: During the semester, you will identify a database held by a government agency that you need for a story and go get it. You are negotiating for public data as a journalist, you may not promise to not use the records. Downloading data from the Internet does not fulfill the requirements of this exercise. You will be assigned a deadline for your dataset, and on your deadline day, you will give a 5-min. lightning talk about your experience along with a written report. We will discuss details in class.
Data diaries: Throughout your analysis of data, you need to keep a running diary of what you have done -- what actions you took, commands you ran, thinking behind what you are doing. Yes, it will seem odd, but think of it like writing future you a note explaining how to do this again.
Class participation and attendance: You are bad at college if you don't know what this means. Get involved in class, speak up, ask questions, challenge ideas and you'll get the points. Sit on your hands, do nothing, skip class and you will not like what happens.
Notes on attendance:
Yes, we all get sick. Yes, things happen. I don’t want you to be sick in my class any more than you want to be sick. You’ve got no fewer than four ways to get ahold of me, including my cell number. If you are going to miss class, tell me before class. We’ll work it out. But you have to tell me before class for me to help you.
This said: this class builds each class onto the next one. Miss a class and you are behind. We’re going to be covering a lot of new material in this class. Miss one at your own peril.
The short version on policies regarding academic integrity, diversity and students with disabilities:
You cheat, you fail, no exceptions.
If I’m doing something that’s keeping you from learning, tell me. Tell the Dean. Tell someone, because that’s not cool. I won’t tolerate it from myself and you shouldn’t either.
Now, the longer versions:
Academic integrity:
Every student must adhere to the policy on academic integrity set forth in the UNL Student Code of Conduct as outlined in the UNL Bulletin. Students who plagiarize may receive a failing grade on an assignment or for an entire course and may be reported to the Student Judicial Review Board. The work a student submits in a class must be the student's own work and must be work completed for that particular class and assignment. Students wishing to build on an old project or work on a similar project in two classes must discuss this with both professors. Academic dishonesty includes:
- handing in another's work or part of another's work as your own.
- turning in one of your old papers (including something you wrote in high school) for a current class.
- turning in the same or similar paper for two different classes,
- using notes or other study aids or otherwise obtaining another's answers for a quiz or an examination.
Anything and everything you include in your papers that comes from another source must be attributed with proper citation. That includes ideas and opinions. Plagiarism consists of using phrases, sentences or paragraphs from any source and republishing them without alteration or attribution. The sources include, but are not limited to, books, magazines, newspapers, television or radio reports, Web sites and other students’ papers.
Students with disabilities:
Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the instructor for a confidential discussion of their individual needs for academic accommodation. It is the policy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to provide flexible and individualized accommodation to students with documented disabilities that may affect their ability to fully participate in course activities or meet course requirements. To receive accommodation services, students must be registered with the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office, 132 Canfield Administration, 472-3787 voice or TTY.
Diversity:
The College of Journalism and Mass Communications values diversity, in the broadest sense of the word – gender, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, income, religion, education, geographic, physical and mental ability or disability, sexual orientation. We recognize that understanding and incorporating diversity in the curriculum enables us to prepare our students for careers as professional communicators in a global society. As communicators, we understand that journalism, advertising and other forms of strategic communication must reflect society in order to be effective and reliable. We fail as journalists if we are not accurate in our written, spoken and visual reports; including diverse voices and perspectives improves our accuracy and truthfulness. In advertising, we cannot succeed if we do not understand the value of or know how to create advertising that reflects a diverse society and, thus, appeals to broader audiences.
##Class Schedule:##
A word of warning: This class is pretty fluid. I will move things up and back, depending on how well you’re getting things. If things change, I will update the syllabus on Blackboard and I will update you.
###Aug. 26, 2014###
In class:
Introductions, syllabus, what is data journalism?
Homework:
Read: Chapter 1 of the Data Journalism Handbook
Read: Sun Sentinel: Speeding Cops
###Aug. 28, 2014###
In class:
Public Records: Your rights as a citizen and a journalist.
The public records request assignment.
More examples of data stories; how to start looking for them.
Homework:
Review the records retention schedule for an agency you're interested in. Find a database. Make sure it's not online. Be ready to pitch it as your semester long quest next class.
###Sept. 2, 2014###
In class:
Records quest pitches; Bad at Math is a Lie; Basic Excel - rows, columns, cells, importing, sorting, filtering
Homework:
Excel exercise TBA.
###Sept. 4, 2014###
In class:
Recent examples of data journalism; Basic Excel II - mean, median, min, max, ranking
Homework:
Prepare a story pitch for your first enterprise story.
###Sept. 9, 2014###
In class:
First story pitches; Idea + Excel + Data does not equal story; Writing with numbers;
Homework:
Refine your pitch and submit it to Blackboard.
###Sept. 11, 2014###
In class:
More examples of data journalism; Intermediate Excel - string functions, if/then logic, text to columns;
Homework:
Data cleaning exercise
###Sept. 16, 2014###
In class:
Basic data visualization with Excel; How to report with charts;
Homework:
Using Excel, visualize the data from your story. Does it change anything?
###Sept. 18, 2014###
In class:
Basic data visualization with Chartbuilder and Raw
Homework:
Produce at least one data visualization to accompany your story, which is due on Tuesday.
###Sept. 23, 2014###
In class:
Line edits of your first story. Sign up for a meeting time. No class meeting.
Homework:
Prepare a pitch for your next story. Install Open Refine.
###Sept. 25, 2014###
ONA Conference. No class.
###Sept. 30, 2014###
In class:
Story pitches; Sanity checks; Normalizing data with Open Refine;
Homework:
Install SQLite Manager in your FireFox browser
###Oct. 2, 2014###
In class:
More examples of data journalism; Intro to SQL I - basic concepts, importing data, SELECT, WHERE and more.
Homework:
SQL homework to be assigned
###Oct. 7, 2014###
In class:
SQL II - Like searches, string functions
Homework:
SQL homework to be assigned
###Oct. 9, 2014###
In class:
SQL III - Joins
Homework:
SQL homework to be assigned
###Oct. 14, 2014###
In class:
Data is not truth; Reading footnotes, methodology, metadata; Thinking critically about what data says, and doesn't;
Homework:
###Oct. 16, 2014###
In class:
Line edits, sign up for a time, no class meeting.
Homework:
Prepare your next story pitch. Install QGIS
###Oct. 21, 2014###
FALL BREAK: No Class
###Oct. 23, 2014###
In class:
Story pitches; GIS in journalism -- stories with maps; Intro to GIS;
Homework:
GIS homework to be assigned
###Oct. 28, 2014###
In class:
GIS II - layers, data joins
Homework:
GIS homework to be assigned
###Oct. 30, 2014###
In class:
The good and the bad of online maps; Intro to election mapping; Intro to Tilemill;
Homework:
Tilemill homework to be assigned
###Nov. 4, 2014###
In class:
Election day; How live election mapping works; Tilemill 2;
Homework:
Live election results mapping assignment using Tilemill
###Nov. 6, 2014###
In class:
Line edits, sign up for a time, no class meeting.
Homework:
Prepare your final story pitch.
###Nov. 11, 2014###
In class:
Story pitches. Intro to social network analysis with NodeXL
Homework:
NodeXL homework to be assigned
###Nov. 13, 2014###
In class:
More examples of data journalism; More NodeXL;
Homework:
NodeXL homework to be assigned
###Nov. 18, 2014###
In class:
More examples; Pulling data from PDFs; Strategies, software, horrors;
Homework:
Make a PDF into data
###Nov. 20, 2014###
In class:
PDF horror show therapy - how did the assignment go? Nebraska's public records shame;
Homework:
None
###Nov. 25, 2014###
In class:
Getting your own data; Options available to you; Design your own data gathering effort;
Homework:
None
###Nov. 27, 2014###
Thanksgiving. No class.
###Dec. 2, 2014###
In class:
Serious future s***; Drone mapping, sensor networks, story bots
Homework:
Prepare your open records request lightning talk and paper.
###Dec. 4, 2014###
In class:
The Open Records Quest Lightning Talks;
Homework:
Work on your final projects.
###Dec. 9, 2014###
In class:
The future of data journalism; How to get a job with what you've learned;
Homework:
None. Stories due Thursday.
###Dec. 11, 2014###
In class:
Line edits, sign up for a time, no class meeting.
Homework:
None, we're done.