Slide 1
DATA JOURNALISM ON DEADLINE
WHAT IT’S REALLY LIKE TO PRACTICE “SOCIAL SCIENCE IN A HURRY”
Slide 2
My name is Ben
Sometimes I go by @palewire
Slide 3
All our slides are belong to
bit.ly/dataondeadline
Slide 5
Who am I?
Do you know?
Slide 6
Who am I?
Do you know?
You don’t. But you should.
Slide 7
I’m Philip Meyer.
Slide 8
In 1973 I wrote the book
“Precision Journalism,”
crystalizing the ideas
behind today’s “data
journalism.”
Slide 9
You don’t have to take my
word for it. Read the new
history of data journalism,
“Apostles of Certainty.”
I’m all over it.
Slide 10
Why is Ben trotting out
my esteemed image only
to treat it like a debased
meme? Because I once
wrote the following:
Slide 11
To cope with the
acceleration of social
change in today’s world,
journalism must become
social science in a hurry.
Slide 21
We’re flattering him here,
but one generous way to
describe the situation is
to say our boy Ben has
developed a hypothesis.
Slide 24
I admit it’s a stretch, but
you might describe what
our dunce has done as
operationializing his
research question
Slide 28
I know what you’re
thinking. Before anyone
else is exposed to this
flimsy work, we need
some peer review
Slide 31
Okay, so if so-called
theory is true, you should
be able to make
predictions, right?
Slide 46
Walt Whitman once said,
“I like the scientific
spirit—the holding off,
the being sure but not too
sure…
Slide 47
… the willingness to
surrender ideas when the
evidence is against them:
this is ultimately fine…
Slide 48
…it always keeps the way
beyond open—always
gives life, thought,
affection, the whole man,
a chance…
Slide 49
… to try over again after a
mistake—after a wrong
guess.”
Slide 51
Walt Whitman didn’t have
to put out a newspaper.
Slide 58
Cool story bro.
But if you’re really doing
science, you work needs
to be replicable.
Slide 62
No corrections is good.
What do you got for me
today, though?