17.04.2008
Journalism Via Computer Programming
Lecture by Adrian Holovaty held on November 23rd, 2007 within the context of the Communication Applied Data Visualization Seminar of the Visualizar 07, a broad program of research, reflection and production activities about data visualization and its social, artistic and cultural applications. The first edition took place at Medialab-Prado from November 12th through 28th, 2007.
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As the Internet becomes more and more important as a platform for news, journalists are realizing that audiences are starting to expect sophisticated Web applications in addition to traditional storytelling techniques. Newspaper stories - flat, linear blobs of text - are no longer good enough.
To take advantage of the Internet, journalists must employ databases and automation. For that to happen, journalists must learn a variety of new skills and, more importantly, change their mindsets about the nature of the information journalists collect. Both practical and philosophical changes must take place.
In this talk, Adrian Holovaty will argue for the introduction of computer programming as a bona-fide subdiscipline of journalism, just as copyediting, photography and video production are already established subdisciplines. In this short term, this means news organizations must begin hiring (or training) computer programmers. In the long term, this means the industry must undergo a significant cultural shift that fundamentally changes the way journalists think about the information they collect every day.
This talk will include an equal mix of theory/persuasion and real-world examples of projects Adrian has made at washingtonpost.com, Lawrence.com and his current company, EveryBlock.