hacking the news

futurejournalismproject:

Data Journalism Is the New Punk

Simon Rogers of the Guardian data blog draws comparisons between the emergence of DIY tools for practicing data journalism and the founding ethics of punk.

The underlying question is if you learn a few “chords” (eg., Google Fusion Tools, Gephi) can you start making your data hum.

Says Dan Sinker, head of the Knight-Mozilla News Technology Partnership and former Punk Planet editor, in response to Rogers’ hypothesis:

While I agree with the premise - it’s never been easier to do this stuff than it is right now - I think there are a few steps beyond just learning three chords when doing data journalism. For one, Legs [McNeil, who coined the word ‘punk’] didn’t really say a band needed to be *good* but I’d like to think we’d require that for data journalism

Check the article. Rogers provides links to free data tools and curates a great discussion about the reasonable skills needed to getting started.

Image: Now Form a Band, from British punk fanzine Sideburns in 1977. Via the Guardian.

So cool

futurejournalismproject:

A Finely Curated List of Data Tools

A fantastic resource for getting started in — and advancing — your work with data from some of the best in the business.

Via Datavisualization.ch:

Datavisualization.ch Selected Tools is a collection of tools that we, the people behind Datavisualization.ch, work with on a daily basis and recommend warmly. This is not a list of everything out there, but instead a thoughtfully curated selection of our favourite tools that will make your life easier creating meaningful and beautiful data visualizations.

As Benjamin Wiederkehr writes on their blog, “It includes libraries for plotting data on maps, frameworks for creating charts, graphs and diagrams and tools to simplify the handling of data. Even if you’re not into programming, you’ll find applications that can be used without writing one single line of code.”

FJP Pro Tip: Jump in and start playing. If you’re just getting started, check out our short videos with Bitly data chief Hilary Mason for her advice on working with data.

This is so cool.

jottingmatt:

Hackasaurus.org

Hackasaurus makes it easy to mash up and change any web page like magic. You can also create your own webpages to share with your friends, all within your browser. (via the site)

I love this amazing product by Mozilla aimed at helping educators teach students to code using HTML, Java, and more web languages by remixing current websites online. Through “Goggles”, young coders can learn programming by exploring codes for their favorite websites. Then, they can change/add code to make the site their own. The best part is the ability to send remixed pages to others. Educational resources are also included on the “Teach Webmaking” page.

(via lifeandcode)

ilovecharts:

Yeah, Tumblr!

futurejournalismproject:

News Coverage of Trayvon Martin Case Drops But Still Public’s Top Story

Via the Pew Research Center:

For the third straight week, the controversy over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin was the public’s top story, though coverage dropped considerably. A third of the public (33%) say they followed news about the death of the African American teenager in Florida more closely than any other news, about twice the percentage citing the economy (16%) or the 2012 elections (15%). News about the controversy made up 7% of coverage, down from 18% one week earlier, according to a separate analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ).

African Americans continue to follow news about the controversy more closely than whites. About seven-in-ten blacks (72%) say they followed Trayvon Martin developments more closely than any other story, compared with 26% of whites. Looking at partisans, 45% of Democrats say this was their top story last week, three times the 15% of Republicans that say this. Among independents more than a third (36%) say this was their top story.

(via onaissues)