#Interhacktives ← Social media news, online communities and journalism

Interviewed: Claire Miller, senior data journalist at Trinity Mirror 1

May

2013

Claire Miller has been a reporter and data journalist for Media Wales since 2010. Featured on my list of top ten tweeters in the field, she has recently been appointed as senior data journalist for Trinity Mirror. Claire kindly agreed to answer a few of my questions about her new role and the developing field of data journalism. How have ...

Top Ten Tools for Data Journalism 1

May

2013

Data journalism is ever-evolving and so are the tools of the trade. Aside from Microsoft Excel (which I’ve blogged about here and here), these are the tools which are, in my opinion, the most useful for data journalism at the moment. Google Fusion Tables The gateway drug for most data journalists, Google Fusion Tables is ...

Making data accessible: interview with Nick Scott from import.io

May

2013

Big data. We’ve been hearing it all too often as of late. The world is coming to realise that the amount of information spread across the web could lead to innovation after innovation. But how do we find it and how do we harness it? One London startup can answer that for some users. Import.io ...

Mapped: England’s cancer prevalence by PCT (2011)

May

2013

I decided to experiment with Google Fusion Tables after my past Google Heatmap attempts, and create a map which was much more interactive. I submitted Freedom of Information requests to the Department of Health and other governmental organisations for information on cancer rates by primary care trust (PCT) or other suitable boundary, either as a ...

Data, social media and elections, an account by a Transparency International insider

May

2013

There is no NGO with bigger global acclaim in the fight against corruption, no matter where it is, than Transparency International. The organization turns 20 years old this month and it has tried in the last few years to adapt by monitoring not only what documents and officials say, but also what pops up in ...

Who did it best? Data coverage of the 2013 local elections 2

May

2013

Yesterday the final results were in for Thursday’s 2013 council elections, and true to form some of the biggest media publications were not content with simply stating by numbers which councils had won or lost seats (à la the less than inspiring Independent and Spectator’s election results run-downs). Ignoring paywalled websites and those who simply ...

Ladies Who Code: Interview with co-founder Angie Maguire

May

2013

Ladies Who Code began in 2011 and is a collective of professional coders meeting to share knowledge and ideas. Two Mint Digital employees saw an opportunity to bring people who use code in their jobs, or who are just pretty damn good at it, together to create awesome stuff. Since then, the brainchild of Angie ...

Top tips for building digital loyalty from Kate Day, Mark Johnson and Christian Broughton

May

2013

Over the course of the year we have been privileged to hear insights from many working journalists, community managers and social media editors. Here are a sample of the tips from three of the best: Kate Day, social media and engagement editor, The Telegraph Growing a community is above all about understanding the people you ...

Number of refugees rises steeply in Brazil and mildly in the UK. Brave new world ahead?

Apr

2013

The number of refugees applying to live in Brazil increased more than three times since 2010, according to United Nations figures just released. In 2012, there were more than 2,000 people asking for shelter in the South American country. That is just one tenth of the number in the United Kingdom in the same period. ...

Infographic: battle of the social sexes

Apr

2013

We all hear that certain social networks get dominated by a particular sex (think Pinterest or Instagram for women) but the folks at InternetServiceProviders.org have made an infographic illustrating all the data. It seems mostly U.S. focused but provides some enlightening information such as the 70% female user base on Pinterest. Also useful are the stats about men ...

Data Journalism Awards 2013 Shortlist Released

Apr

2013

I blogged earlier in the year on the 2013 Data Journalism Awards and promised to keep you posted, and can now reveal that the shortlist has been announced. Speaking at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, The Global Editors Network announced their 72 finalists, with the shortlisted candidates representing 19 different countries, including Argentina, Austria, ...

WiFi censorship: How big can the problem be?

Apr

2013

David Cameron has announced plans that could see public WiFi censored to stop people downloading porn in public places. Now, I can’t say I’ve seen people ever doing this myself but, if one wanted to, how many places could you actually download porn? There are a few different ways to find out. You can text ...

Google Fusion Tables for Dummies

Apr

2013

When I say “dummies”, I really mean myself. Just so we’re all aware. Anyway, for my final project I plan to make a fusion table of NIMBY requests in the UK, but before I do that, I figured that I had to practice. I’ve tried making them before with rather disastrous results, so this is ...