3 ms·
I do what you're describing, as a community it's a real mix of backgrounds. Personally I think you're best off looking for someone with an editorial background
by msy 14y ago
I do what you're describing, as a community it's a real mix of backgrounds. Personally I think you're best off looking for someone with an editorial background and a willingness or interest in the technical side than the other way around, a knack for spotting a story is a harder skill to learn. The other thing is that presenting those stories in anything other than words is another skillset entirely, both in terms of design and development. Finding someone that can do all 3 very well is a tall order. More recent grads coming out of journo school increasingly have some programming or stats proficiency, that would be the best place to start looking. The other place would be the more hard (as in both high quality and more technically/theory focussed) graphic/information design courses.
- stdbrouw 14y agoDunno, the trouble with a lot of data journalism that currently exists, is that the people doing it don't have a strong statistical background and tend to forget things like using null hypotheses and regression analysis and take the things they find in data at face value much too often. So sure, teach a writer to do data analysis, but when you do, really teach them.
- msy 14y agoI couldn't agree more. Serious data journalism is essentially a subset of investigative journalism and it really takes a team - qualified statisticians, domain experts, journalists and visual designers.