introduction to data journalism for climate change

Introduction to Data Journalism

Yolanda MaCo-founder, Data Journalism China

Bangkok, Dec 2017

with special focus on climate change

WHAT IS DATA JOURNALISM

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Data= Structured Information

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http://www.opencalais.com/opencalais-demo/ 5

Data Journalism= Journalism= Storytelling

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““‘Characters! People respond to narratives, not data. Even abstract climate change concepts can be made engaging if they’re embedded in a story.’

Kate Marvel of NASA GISS

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DIFFERENT TYPES OF DATA STORIES

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Text Story

https://www.reuters.com/article/sri-lanka-migration-drought/feature-climate-change-fueled-drought-drives-sri-lankas-farmers-to-cities-idUSL8N1N54BV

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Text Story ● A rice farmer needs two successful harvests a year on 2.6 acres (about one hectare) of

land to earn the 17,760 rupees ($115) a month needed to keep a family of four above the country’s poverty line, he said. A maize farmer needs even more land – about 3.7 acres, he said. (He - M.W. Weerakoon, a Ministry of Agriculture additional secretary)

● “We get a lot of people coming from the villages now because there is no work. For men we pay around Rs 800 ($5) per day and women around Rs 600,” said Chamindha Samarwickrema, who manages a small tobacco plot.

● Government data shows that about 4 million Sri Lankans – almost 20 percent of the island’s people – are now internal migrants.

● But the move is not always permanent – about 35 percent of them remain in their new districts for less than five years, according to the Department of Census and Statistics.

● Though its share is falling, agriculture still accounts for about 27 percent of Sri Lanka’s economy, and provides jobs for about 2.2 million people, according to Sri Lanka’s Central Bank.

● “The key factor would be that we don’t lose large tracks of the planted extent,” he said. During the last harvesting season over 200,000 acres of the 540,000 planted were lost to drought and minor floods, according to Sri Lanka’s Department of Agriculture.

https://www.reuters.com/article/sri-lanka-migration-drought/feature-climate-change-fueled-drought-drives-sri-lankas-farmers-to-cities-idUSL8N1N54BV

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““The expert inputs and research data formed a strong foundation. Use numbers, data in a manner that can be easily understood, connect with on-ground situation.”

Amantha Perera, Speaking at GIJN 2017 Contributor to the Thomson Reuters Foundation

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Static Graphics

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/when-sea-levels-attack-2/ 13

News Application

https://guariglia.com/app1 14

Video/ Motion Graphics

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2014/dec/01/carbon-emissions-past-present-and-future-interactive http://community.globaleditorsnetwork.org/content/past-present-and-future-co2-0 15

Interactive Visualization

https://ig.ft.com/sites/climate-change-calculator/ 16

DATA JOURNALISM WORKFLOW

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https://simonrogers.net/2013/01/27/a-data-journalism-workflow/

https://onlinejournalismblog.com/2011/07/07/the-inverted-pyramid-of-data-journalism-2/

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1. Story idea + Find the data

2. Clean & Analyze the data

3. Present & Publish the data

4. Update & Maintain the story (if possible )

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Pretty much like cooking...

Photo source: http://www.10thkitchen.com/2012/03/pea-and-asparagus-orzo-with-tarragon-mint-and-lemon/ 20

Data Sources - Gov/ Intl Orgs

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Always be skeptical

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Data Sources - Civil Society

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Ask more questions● Who funds this organization?

● Who collects the data?

● Who owns the data? Can I re-distribute?

● Which countries/regions does it cover (or not cover)?

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Data Sources - Open Data

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Data Sources - Citizens

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Data Sources - Very old way...

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Data Sources - FOIA

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Ask even more questions● How updated, consistent and accurate is the data?

● Is there any gaps in its data collection? If so, why? Is it clearly explained?

● Who would want to hide something? Is it possible

to manipulate?

● What is the methodology behind?

● Are there any other sources for the same data? If so, are they the same/ consistent?

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Attribution

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Best practices for covering climate change with datahttps://medium.com/global-editors-network/best-practices-for-covering-climate-change-with-data-42316263b67a

A data journalist’s microguide to environmental datahttps://medium.com/data-journalism-awards/a-data-journalists-microguide-to-environmental-data-b56e750abd74

Investigating With Databases: Verifying Data Qualityhttps://gijn.org/2015/05/14/investigating-with-databases-verifying-data-quality/

Data Journalism Is Disrupting Climate Change Coveragehttps://www.globaleditorsnetwork.org/press-room/news/2015/10/data-journalism-is-disrupting-climate-change-coverage/

Data Journalism: Do the Numbers Add Up to Climate Action?https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2014/04/data-journalism-do-the-numbers-add-up-to-climate-action/

Data Journalism Handbookhttp://datajournalismhandbook.org/1.0/en/index.html

Resources

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Thank You!

yolandahku@gmail.com

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