I had an informative Twitter conversation with three data journalists about the skills needed for a journalism graduate to land a data reporting job, how J-Schools can teach data skills, and how to learn those skills.
The three journalists are Cheryl Phillips (@cephillips), data enterprise editor at The Seattle Times; Stephen Stirling (@SStirling), data reporter for the Star-Ledger in New Jersey; and Derek Willis (@derekwillis), interactive news developer at New York Times. My Twitter handle is Digital Journalism (@mututemple).
To facilitate reading, I selected relevant tweets in the conversation and edited them into three sections: data skills for a data journalist, how to teach data skills, how to learn data skills.
Part 1: Data skills for a data journalist
@SStirling Q: essential coding skills for a functional data journalist at a regional news media – html, css, javascript, api, else?
— Digital Journalism (@mututemple) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @sstirling depends what you are doing with your data journalism: SQL, stats, mapping all vital for analysis in stories
— cephillips (@cephillips) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @sstirling advanced spreadsheet ability, data cleaning chops, relational database work, mapping & basic understanding of stats
— cephillips (@cephillips) October 1, 2013
@cephillips @mututemple that’s a terrific base for data journalism. It all starts with spreadsheets, queries and cleaning. — Stephen Stirling (@SStirling) October 1, 2013
@cephillips@mututempleIts amazing what understanding Excel, Access, MySql and data cleaning (emphasis on that) do for a reporter
— Stephen Stirling (@SStirling) October 1, 2013
Part 2: How to teach data skills
@cephillips @SStirling if u were to teach data journo as adjunct, how do u structure the courses? u can’t cram that much into 1 course
— Digital Journalism (@mututemple) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @sstirling Am teaching data journ. as adjunct — project-based but focusing on spreadsheets, queries in SQL and data-cleaning
— cephillips (@cephillips) October 1, 2013
@cephillips @SStirling do u think that would be enough for graduates to land a data job?
— Digital Journalism (@mututemple) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @sstirling good Q– doubt it. Might help in landing a data-centric beat reporting position though
— cephillips (@cephillips) October 1, 2013
@cephillips @SStirling I believe it’s a big Q for #jschool professors: data journo is like a moving target to be taught as standard courses
— Digital Journalism (@mututemple) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @sstirling I agree, & what I teach barely touches those web-dev data journo skills you mentioned. I do fusion tables/Tableau
— cephillips (@cephillips) October 1, 2013
@cephillips @mututemple I agree that it’s tough from a teaching perspective..
— Stephen Stirling (@SStirling) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @cephillips Jen LaFleur recently told me she sees a basic team as a back-end person, front end person and a reporter.
— Stephen Stirling (@SStirling) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @cephillips @sstirling here’s what my data reporting class covers: http://t.co/wAcvQcObJi
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) October 1, 2013
@derekwillis @cephillips @SStirling Derek, Q from perspective of teaching – is this course alone enough for j-students to land a data job?
— Digital Journalism (@mututemple) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @cephillips @sstirling it would depend on the job & the student, but it’s possible. certainly would help with internship.
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) October 1, 2013
@mututemple@cephillips feel one of the best things a prof could do is emphasize the need to keep learning and tap into community to do so
— Stephen Stirling (@SStirling) October 1, 2013
Part 3: How to learn data skills
@SStirling @cephillips How did u self-teach what you do now? It might be something #jschool teachers/students want to know
— Digital Journalism (@mututemple) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @cephillips trial by fire. I’m still learning, always.
— Stephen Stirling (@SStirling) October 1, 2013
@SStirling @mututemple all still learning. — enrolled in R Coursera class now!
— cephillips (@cephillips) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @sstirling first spreadsheet analysis lesson came from CPA friend, then I found NICAR/IRE & lucky to work on story with P Meyer
— cephillips (@cephillips) October 1, 2013
@cephillips @mututemple I think that’s a big thing too, the NICAR community is forever giving. You can troubleshoot with the experts
— Stephen Stirling (@SStirling) October 1, 2013
@SStirling @cephillips profs capable of doing well on both journo and coding are few and far between…
— Digital Journalism (@mututemple) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @sstirling and journalists who possess those skills also are too rare
— cephillips (@cephillips) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @cephillips Agreed. It’s tough. Would love to see more collaboration between CS and journo depts. Pushing at my alma mater.
— Stephen Stirling (@SStirling) October 1, 2013
@cephillips @SStirling among data reporters/editors you know, what r their background – journo or CS?
— Digital Journalism (@mututemple) October 1, 2013
@mututemple @sstirling mostly journo — but it is much more of a mix now
— cephillips (@cephillips) October 1, 2013
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