Note to self: Real world journo-coding lessons

Notice how your Google reader got a bit emptier than usual?  Didn’t think so.  But it recently occured to me that I haven’t posted in eons.  Why is that? Part of it has been the chaos of moving, spending time exploring LA.  The other part is that I’m finally walking the walk every day.  I ...

Columbia’s new joint MS: Good start, but no panacea

We’ve been retweeting it and raving about it all day in the data community – Columbia has made a big, big step forward in data journalism education by offering a new joint masters in journalism and computer science.  We can add modules to existing curricula all we want, but this is a giant leap.  There ...

Using Javascript for interactive Google charts

Posted by on Mar 29, 2010 in Blog, programming | No Comments

Want to provide interactive graphs to news consumers quickly and easily on platforms that simply don’t support Flash?  Enter the “hidden power of Javascript,” a key component of the Google Visualization API.  It was the subject of a recent “Lightning Talk” I gave at NICAR 2010 in Phoenix.  My slides and a more thorough walk-through ...

Data Delver: Mark Schaver, Louisville Courier

Posted by on Mar 28, 2010 in Blog, CAR, data delvers | No Comments

It’s all very simple for me to sit in front of my computer and proclaim myself a data journalist, or a programmer-journalist for that matter. I’ve spent a lot of time discovering my love for creating data-driven applications. But for many CAR reporters, the role of Web developer has chosen them as the field has ...

Self-teaching data and programming skills

Posted by on Mar 25, 2010 in Blog, CAR, django, programming, theory | 7 Comments

So, you think data journalism and programming are some valuable skills you’d like to learn.  Unfortunately, your school doesn’t offer this as a track, or maybe you’re not even in school anymore.  You know people will help you, and you think it all seems cool, but it can be difficult knowing just where to start.  ...

Bringing data journalism into curricula

Posted by on Mar 24, 2010 in Blog, CAR, programming, theory | 7 Comments

As a recently graduated Medillian (yay for entering the “real world, boo for having to leave such a nurturing and wonderful place), I’ve been thinking a lot about data journalism and my generation.  Why were there so few students at NICAR?  Yes, it costs money to get to a conference, but I’m not even seeing ...

Data Delver: Anthony DeBarros, USA Today

Posted by on Mar 8, 2010 in Blog, CAR, data delvers | No Comments

It’s one thing to say we’re interested in the conversion of journalism and technology now, but it was a completely different story decades ago, when it was the beginning of a melding of the writers and the computer geeks. And as much as things were different than today, newsrooms still wondered how to best integrate ...

Data Delver: Jennifer LaFleur, ProPublica

Posted by on Mar 8, 2010 in Blog, CAR, data delvers | No Comments

The nature of CAR is shifting each day, as data analyzers and Web developers alike prepare to converge on Phoenix later this week.  But for those who’ve been in this for the long haul, the essence of the field remains what it always has been.  That’s the message ProPublica’s Director of Computer-Assisted Reporting, Jennifer LaFleur, ...

Data Delvers: Ben Welsh & Ken Schwencke, LA Times

Using data as part of a package that drives user interest needs a strong team, and cross-collaboration between reporters, editors and web developers.  At the Los Angeles Times, two key people who work to bring it all together are Web dev duo Ben Welsh and Ken Schwencke.  It’s their job to enhance and enrich the ...

Why we do what we do: Pursuing the sparkle

Posted by on Mar 5, 2010 in Blog, theory | One Comment

“If you truly love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” That was the main theme of the faculty speaker at my high school graduation back at Palatine High School in 2004.  It personified my pursuit of knowledge, and of a career, up until that point, and I’ve thought about those ...