In September 2017, the lead producer for the BBC Internet Research & Future Services, Tristan Ferne, identified 12 different story formats used in digital news. With new formats constantly emerging, Emma-Leena Ovaskainen, a visual journalist for Finland’s biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, has modified the list and made her own additions.
Since the launch of Serial in 2014, podcast popularity has soared. And an increasing number of investigative journalists have begun aiming for ears as well as eyeballs. At the Uncovering Asia 2018 conference in Seoul, sound experts shared their recommendations on must-hear investigative storytelling.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from May 21 to 27 finds @nigelblue’s wildly humorous infographic book about crazy competitions across the globe, @Data_Match breaks down the list of gifts given to the president of the United States by foreign leaders and @FinancialTimes looks into the pressures Antarctica faces.
Journalists exposing corruption in countries with limited rule of law face enormous risks and their stories may not necessarily make things better for anyone. In Pakistan, journalists have employed a different — and safer — approach to trigger positive change by avoiding front-page corruption exposés and using data journalism to expose flaws in the system instead. A GIJN original.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from April 2 to 8 finds an alarming piece by @iamdylancurran on how much data Facebook and Google have actually gleaned from us, @OCCRP’s powerful database of public records and leaks, @davidottewell’s take on the evolution of data journalism and an investigation by @TheInterceptBr into the militias in Rio de Janeiro.
Since its creation five years ago, Agência Pública has promoted a revolution not only in Brazil, but around Latin America. It is one of the main drivers of a regional scene that brings together digital native-media founded and led by journalists.
The podcast got a major boost with the wildly popular Serial and hasn’t slowed down since. Susan Valentine rounded up a brief history of the humble podcast, showcasing best practices, useful tools, success stories, some of the latest research findings — and why it’s a great outlet for investigative journalism.
Changing the way accountability stories are written takes research, preparation, listening and even a bit of psychology. In an excerpt from from a recent American Press Institute report, here are some recommendations from experts about persuasion and communications — as well as examples from news organizations that are using non-narrative, data and visual elements to make the best of journalism better for audiences.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from August 7 to 13 has @UpshotNYT plotting Game of Thrones characters in two dimensions, @paulbradshaw offering 10 principles for data journalism and data journalists at a @dagstuhl workshop with narrative patterns for data-driven storytelling.
In everyday journalism, to get the public to pay attention to your story, to make it not only truthful, but also credible and attractive, is a hard task. And it has become even harder in the digital era. Information flows constantly through our portable electronic devices, like a river of muddy waters, dragging the authentic pieces of story-telling together with the fake; the verified; and the gossip. So if journalists want to have any chance at succeeding in this battle, they must not only find good stories, but must also elevate their story-telling to an art.
