How to Launch Career as a Data Journalist
Data is used by companies to construct complex marketing strategies. As analytics advances and knowledge becomes more available, the media has also made use of data. Some publications have entire departments dedicated to data, such as ProPublica and The New York Times, while others, such as FiveThirtyEight, concentrate solely on data. In the data reporting environment, this translates into a lot of different work, but it can be a challenging career path to break into. To learn what it takes to excel in the world of data journalism, we talked with Jeff Larson, the data editor at ProPublica.
Journalism with data is massive. It is enormous and reflects the integration of numerous areas that are important in their own right, such as forensic analysis, statistics, architecture and programming. What we call data journalism today is the concept of integrating all these elements to tell powerful stories. But who's going to do all that?
The concept of data journalists is described by Mirko Lorenz as a "workflow where information is the basis for analysis, visualization, and, most importantly, storytelling," which may be more precise. Notice that you'll also see the word "CAR" (Computer-Assisted Reporting) going by. This was the first structured, systematic approach to gathering and analyzing data using machines to boost the news.
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A Step-by-Step Roadmap for Data Journalism Learning
To get started, this step-by-step plan contains the first pointers. According to your educational context and your learning style, you will need to personalize this guide. Here are the eight measures included in the plan to become a data reporter:
- Establish a broad base of knowledge
- Writing, Writing, Writing
- Learn (Some) Languages for Programming
- The workflow of Discover Data Journalism
- Build your toolbox
- Begin to build your network
- Continue your lessons
- Go for it!
Establish a Broad Base of Knowledge
Naturally, journalists are individuals who have to be able to change their skills as new subjects come along. Besides, the issues covered by data journalists will vary so much that you have to be able to cover a broad spectrum, even broader than traditional journalists.
For all, the secret to building a broad knowledge base is possibly different and depends on your style of learning.
The vast knowledge base identified by this first phase encompasses not only knowledge of current affairs but also knowledge of quantitative subjects. You should even be aware of politics. And you should also understand data analysis, because your ability to interpret political data depends on it. Finally, consider gaining experience in the journalism field itself.
Writing, Writing, Writing
In your strategy to become a data journalist, you might think that this move is sort of insignificant, but it isn't. Writing well is one of the things that is difficult to teach. If you want to write quickly and accurately, you need a lot of practice. This means knowing how to write to a specific audience for a popular medium, which may be a journal, a newspaper, etc. It takes more than just writing for yourself. Writing clearly is important.
Fortunately, there are quite a few online courses on this subject, so you won't be left in the cold. For instance: QuickStart, Data Science Academy and Data Science Institute offer courses in data journalism.
Learn (Some) Languages for Programming
While you can perform many operations with tools like Microsoft Excel, programming is not a prerequisite to becoming a data journalist per se. However, you can benefit from learning how to code at this (early) level. The aim of learning to programmed here is to show that you can collect, show and interpret data.
Notice that it depends on where you want to work and what information/story you are working on to use a certain language here.
As a data journalist, some jobs need you to know more about web creation than about data processing, transformation, and modeling, and vice versa. It's probably better to have a base in both and then improve your skills in whatever interests you most, as it will also play a role in which jobs you're going to apply for.
Next, skills are also in high demand for the Django (Python) and Ruby web frameworks. You should consider the Code School courses if you're trying to learn how to program in both.
Finally, R/SAS/SPSS and Python should also be on the to-learn list for a data journalist. These languages vary from other languages and the aforementioned Django system in that they are excellent for data processing and modeling.
Data Camp’s Introduction to R and Introduction to Python for Data Science courses are courses that could come in handy here. They are customized for beginners and, step by step, take your programming skills to the next level. You can go here for SAS training, and you can visit there for SPSS.
The Workflow of Discover Data Journalism
A crucial step in your learning is understanding the workflow and getting a toolbox at your disposal to handle it. To get started with this step, there are few requirements, but most data journalists agree that you should understand Microsoft Excel. If you have no idea how spreadsheets work, you should make sure that you have working skills with Excel.
You can start looking at the workflow of data journalism once you have the base.
Data journalists should go through the steps of data collection, data wrangling, analysis, and data visualization and reporting, very much like the data science workflow.
Build Your Toolbox
To solve the workflow that has been mentioned above, you need to have the right tools. Fortunately, data journalists have a wide variety of resources at their disposal. Naturally, the option for a specific tool depends on the context in which you are working. A glance at the data journalist job posts tells us that the tools will differ from job to job, and there is also the context of the story and the data that will have some influence on your choice. Finally, since you have a strong knowledge of it, you may also have a preference for some tool.
Begin to Build Your Network
If you want to become a data journalist, creating your network will be crucial, because that is how you will find motivation and mentorship. Your network will make it possible for you to learn from the best.
On Twitter, start by following some of the key individuals in data journalism and the industry.
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