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News & Analysis
Document of the Day: US Senate Resolution on Freedom of the Press
Following editorials in some 350 newspapers across the United States Thursday calling for an end to attacks on the press by President Donald Trump, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming the vital and indispensable role of the free press.
News & Analysis
INN Joins 350 US Papers in Call for End to Trump Harassment of Press
Join journalists across the US who are asking the public to stand up for their rights to free speech and an open government. While the effort started as a campaign by the Boston Globe to ask the President of the United States to stop attacking the news media, Donald Trump’s attacks on the press aren’t ultimately about the press. It’s about the people.
Data Journalism
GIJN’s Data Journalism Top 10: Faking Climate Change Data and in WEB Du Bois’ Black Americ
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from Aug 6 to 12 finds @sciam profiling a new color scale for the color blind, @EDudinskij’s fun dissertation on dataviz in science fiction movies, @morgenpost using satellite imagery to show the consequences of droughts, and @gregladen and Grant Foster calling bull on a climate change denier’s flawed graphs.
Case Studies
Meet the Man Who Filed 1,400 FOI Requests to Prove Data Acquisition Isn’t Terrorism
For the last three years Gavin Chait has been fighting — and winning — multiple freedom of information cases to unlock data on vacant properties. Here are the lengths he took to disprove the City of London’s excuse for not publishing information on unoccupied commercial properties.
News & Analysis
State Aid For Journalism: Should Governments Provide Subsidies to News Media?
Can a government foot the bill for journalists to carry out their watchdog function, without undue government control or intervention in the editorial process? Paul Clemens Murschetz lists three criteria to ensure state aid for journalism is successful and effective.
Data Journalism
America’s Cultural Landscape, Germany’s Record Summer, Spain’s Immigration Boom, Google’s Data Search
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from July 30 to Aug 5 finds practical advice from @junkcharts for conference presenters to showcase their graphics, @Google making data in data journalism pieces more searchable, @funkeinteraktiv displaying the ways Germany is breaking records this summer, @eldiarioes examining Spain’s immigration boom and author Colin Woodard breaking down America’s regional cultures in The New York Times.
Case Studies
What a Failed Media Startup Can Teach Us About Involving Readers in Reporting
Canada’s OpenFile had an elegant concept. They would ask readers to tell them what they thought was important and make editorial decisions around that. But the platform’s initial success couldn’t be sustained as it struggled to make money and maintain the flow of reader-suggested stories. Here’s what the OpenFile journalists learned about community journalism along the way.
Case Studies
How The Conversation Reuses Archival Coverage
It’s easier than ever for news organizations to update, promote and reuse stories from their archives. Here are some lessons and strategies from The Conversation on how best to revive and repost your archival content to fit the news cycle.
News & Analysis
A New Collaboration Sets a Higher Bar for Working with Whistleblowers
A unique collaboration between five international investigative teams and recently-formed Signals Network is offering unprecedented protection to whistleblowers, and has received the backing of famed NSA exposer Edward Snowden. Their first project? A broad call on the misuse of big data. A GIJN report by Rowan Philp.
News & Analysis
Online Harassment of Journalists: RSF’s 25 Recommendations
A new report by Reporters Without Borders is helping to shed light on the latest danger for journalists – threats and insults on social networks that are designed to intimidate them into silence. The organization has put forth these 25 recommendations for governments, international organizations, online platforms, media companies and advertisers to respond to these virulent online campaigns.
Data Journalism
GIJN’s Data Journalism Top 10: Dam Disaster in Laos, Global Star Gazing, Why We Love Pie Charts
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from July 23 to 29 finds @NadiehBremer visualizing beautiful constellations imagined by different cultures, @mslima diving deep into why we love pie charts, @leigh_tami18 explaining the various methods of joining datasets and the Reuters Graphic’s team visualization of the dam disaster in Laos.
Reporting Tools & Tips
August’s Top Tools for Investigative Journalists
The past few years have seen an explosion of digital tools that can be used to enhance journalism research and reporting. In this new monthly feature GIJN’s IT Coordinator Alastair Otter takes a look at some of the best and latest tools and techniques for enhancing investigative and data-driven journalism.
Case Studies
Journalists Collaborate in Oregon on Mountain of Data on High School Concussions
John Schrag had known for a while about an unexamined pool of data that could shed new light on the issue of concussions in high school sports. The executive editor of a newspaper in Oregon, his first instincts were to keep the story in-house and garner all the glory, but he quickly realized the only way the story would see the light of day was through collaboration.
One Man’s Mission to Spread Data Journalism Across Southeast Asia
Despite increasing state-control, violence against journalists and other threats to press freedom, Southeast Asian journalists are increasingly delving into data journalism and other forms of innovative storytelling and creating a greater impact than ever before — thanks in no small part to Malaysian data journalist Kuang Keng Kuek Ser. GIJN in Chinese editor Siran Liang talked ho him about the rise of data journalism in the region.
They Won’t Back Down: Kazakhstan’s Feisty Newspaper
Journalism has never been easy in Kazakhstan. The outspoken newspaper Uralskaya Nedelya has rarely known a moment’s peace. But it is usually the lawmaker’s pen and the judge’s gavel that are the main enemies of the independent press.
Data Journalism
GIJN’s Data Journalism Top 10: Nike’s Vaporflys, Trump’s Trade War, FastCharts, Datapasta
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from July 16 to 22 finds @UpshotNYT confirming Nike’s claim that their Vaporflys really do give runners an advantage, @FinancialTimes visualizes Trump’s escalating trade war, Britain’s digital divide and introduces their new charting tool and @MilesMcBain makes some data journalists very happy by creating Datapasta.
Case Studies
Reporting Science Amid Climate Deniers: How CPI Is Using Surveys on Insect-Borne Illness
Following a surge of tick-borne illnesses in the northeastern US, two reporters with the Center for Public Integrity are investigating the health impacts resulting from climate change — and they are engaging the help of health professionals and the public to gather stories and data.
News & Analysis
South Africa’s State of Surveillance: How Journalists Are Targets for Spying
There is a growing body of evidence that state spies have been targeting journalists in South Africa. Murray Hunter from the Right2Know Campaign, writes for GIJN about their recently released report which looks at 10 case studies of surveillance against journalists to unpack what happened, how it happened and which parties appear to be responsible.
Case Studies
Can Crowdfunding Save Romania’s Independent Media?
The increasing lack of credibility and growing political meddling in Romanian mainstream media in recent years has resulted in many journalists leaving these outlets and starting their own independent sites. Some of these initiatives support themselves by relying on crowdfunding. But is it viable in the long term?
News & Analysis
Peru’s IDL-Reporteros Stands Up to Prosecutors
Peru’s IDL-Reporteros was facing pressure from the Peruvian judicial and legislative authorities to reveal its journalistic sources after publishing a report revealing alleged acts of corruption in the judicial system. But after a push back by journalists and civil society, prosecutors have rescinded their orders.
Data Journalism
GIJN’s Data Journalism Top 10: Footballers’ Salaries, Google Trends and Gender Bias with Pudding
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from July 9 to 15 finds @morgenpost’s interactive slider showing how fast a German national footballer earns your monthly salary, tons of interesting Google search data in its @GoogleTrends data store, @durand101 and @puddingvizgender exposing bias in the UK House of Commons and @EdjNet offering a search engine for 800,000 EU datasets.
Member Profiles
Starting Up in Syria: Investigative Journalism in One of the World’s Most Dangerous Countries
Syria is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. But that didn’t stop three Syrian reporters from launching the first investigative journalism organization in the country. They spoke with GIJN Arabic editor Majdoleen Hasan about their work.
News & Analysis
The Future of High-Quality Documentaries Reaching A World Audience
Traditionally, documentary films can be a hard sell and haven’t always enraptured audiences. However, these films are now rising to the top of the heap given the possibilities of reaching an ever growing audience in a new battleground — the streaming arena, with the likes of established giants Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Apple.
Reporting Tools & Tips
10 Ways to Personalize Your News Platform
Is personalization the next revolution in the news industry? John S Knight Journalism Fellow Titus Plattner argues that at a time when more and more news outlets are shifting from an advertising-based revenue model to a subscription based model, personalization is the best way to reinforce the relation to the real client.
Case Studies
From Podcasts to Social Audio: 7 Innovations in Audio Storytelling
The past 15 years have transformed the world of audio. Key factors: Smartphones, bandwidth and Apple. Since 2003, at least seven other milestones have helped the audio renaissance gain steam.
Data Journalism
GIJN’s Data Journalism Top 10: Deadly Cycling Cities, GIFs with a Bang and Sustainable Development
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from July 2 to 8 finds @MarieSegger’s tips on highlighting data journalism using GIFs, @jplusplus_’s news finding bot service and Kepler.gl’s data-driven mapping tool.
Reporting Tools & Tips
How to Fact-Check Politics in Countries with No Press Freedom
Starting a fact-checking organization in a country with limited media freedom is difficult, but not impossible. Some, like Rouhani Meter, which fact-checks Iran’s president, may have to operate from outside the country and be creative about how they distribute their content. Daniel Funke writes about fact-checkers who have found a way to work in less-than-friendly environments.