Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city and financial capital, but it is also a place with the dubious reputation of being one of the most unlivable cities in the world. These challenges provide fertile ground for investigative reporting and some of the country’s best stories.
As calls for change grow louder in light of the latest IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report and in the run up to COP26 conference in Glasgow this November, it’s time to focus on how data visualization can help people grasp the challenges that lie ahead.
Scenes of supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump storming the US Capitol building dominated news headlines and filled social media feeds last week. Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from January 4 to 10 found Reuters producing a play-by-play summary of what happened, and FiveThirtyEight examining the stark difference in reaction by the authorities to the Capitol mob compared to Black Lives Matter protesters. Also in this edition, we feature National Geographic’s cartography archive, Data Crítica’s investigation into under-counting of Indigenous COVID-19 infections, and The Markup’s analysis of the impact of Facebook’s political ads.
For this week’s Friday 5, where GIJN rounds up key reads from around the world, we found The Markup creating an online privacy tool, suggestions on how to make your maps more neutral, and practical tips for pitching donors during a pandemic.
For the very first story in our new series about journalists’ favorite tools, we spoke with Emmanuel Freudenthal, a freelance investigative reporter based in Nairobi. He told GIJN’s Gaelle Faure all about how he uses virtual tools like GPS Tracks and Gmail Snooze and physical tools like plane-tracking antennas and good old motorbikes.
Tracking aircraft has become an increasingly valuable tool for investigators of corruption, government surveillance and military operations. GIJN’s new resource on planespotting is an in-depth guide on how to track airplanes, identify their owners and much more.
Satellite imagery has become an indispensable tool in investigative journalism for fact-finding, gauging the impact of a particular situation and figuring out the exact details. Here’s a round-up of of some major stories which satellite imagery helped uncover.
In Hungary, nonprofit news site Átlátszó has hired a full-time data team to create a wide range of data visualizations and data-driven stories, notably on corruption. Amanda Loviza spoke to the team’s leader Attila Bátorfy about his plans to raise the bar for data journalism in Hungary.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from February 11 to 18 finds learning opportunities from @utknightcenter and @WorldResources, while @Tagesspiegel and @correctiv_org ask who owns Berlin’s housing and @LacePadilla examines what makes a good visualization.
What’s the global #ddj community tweeting about? Our NodeXL mapping from July 10 to 16 has Dwarshuis on the Airbnb takeover of Amsterdam, @blprnt on taking a systems approach to data and @SPIEGELONLINE and @Correctiv_org on Big Pharma’s payments to doctors.
