Author: Felippe Rodrigues
SXSW: ‘Excel is okay’ and other tweet-size insights for data journalists and news nerds
Storybench has boots on the ground covering SXSW from multiple angles, including immersive storytelling, UX design and more. For those that didn’t make it to Austin this year, the next […]
NICAR: Data stories from last year that you could be doing in your newsroom
The NICAR conference is all about seeing and learning from the best of data journalism. And what better way of understanding success than taking a look at the past. The […]
How to scrape Reddit with Python
Last month, Storybench editor Aleszu Bajak and I decided to explore user data on nootropics, the brain-boosting pills that have become popular for their productivity-enhancing properties. Many of the substances […]
Six things I learned developing an interactive map on the effects of climate change
Every once in a while, newsroom developers and visual journalists get one of those projects that becomes both a big challenge and a great learning experience. That was the case […]
NodeXL’s Marc Smith on how mapping virtual crowd networks is relevant to journalism
As social scientists try to understand the online communities we form, journalists are missing out on stories that network theory could help unravel, according to Marc Smith, a sociologist and director […]
How a design studio and an advocacy group developed a data-driven navigator for gun legislation
Last August, Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-profit research and advocacy group for gun control, launched the Gun Law Navigator, an exploratory data visualization tool explaining how states in America […]
Quartz’s first book elegantly explores the innovations underpinning modern life
The embossed hardcover is just the beginning of The Objects that Power the Global Economy, the first book published by the news website Quartz in celebration of its fifth birthday. […]
Takeaways on newsroom innovation from a behind the scenes tour of the Associated Press
The new Associated Press headquarters in lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center is dazzling, and it seems quite fitting for a news company that’s constantly innovating. Earlier this month, […]
5 digital practices every local TV station should be thinking about
All local television newsrooms, sooner or later, will have to accept the challenge to go digital. Some stations, though, are seeing the transition more as an opportunity than a burden […]
How the Associated Press is experimenting with headlines and modular stories to win Facebook
Over the last two months, Associated Press stories have been among the most popular on Facebook, according to a new report from the Associated Press and NewsWhip, a startup that […]
How the Texas Tribune uses tweetstorms and other social media strategies to drive audience engagement
Sending out a thread of tweets is not exactly revolutionary. But, increasingly, reporters and news organizations are using “tweetstorms” as a way of telling a story that won’t fit into […]
How remote anchors are helping local TV news stations cut costs
High staffing and production costs are just two of the challenges TV newsrooms face right now. Some stations, though, are getting creative with the way they address those issues and […]
How Folha de São Paulo builds immersive stories about controversial themes like dams, drought and deforestation
For years, Folha de São Paulo, one of Brazil’s largest newspapers, has been at the forefront of digital experimentation. Its interactive, multimedia series “Tudo Sobre” (“All About” in English) – […]
From breaking news to adding cinematics: What drones can add to storytelling at local television stations
Whether you’re CNN, CBS 2 in Chicago, or KOLN in Lincoln, Nebraska, what has become deeply important in television news today is that the storytelling be compelling. One way those organizations […]
Exploring the rhythm of Brazilian literature through textual analysis and visualization
Much like Spanish or French, Portuguese is very musical to the ear. Inextricably linked to that melodic feeling is the language’s rhythm. To explore that cadence, visual journalist Rodolfo Almeida […]
The trouble with today’s local TV news station buying spree
On a recent episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver pointed out the consequences of the massive consolidation sweeping the television news industry, referencing the pending purchase of Tribune stations by Sinclair Broadcast […]
Five local TV news trends from the Murrow Awards that we like
Last week, the Radio Television Digital News Association announced the winners of its 2017 Edward R. Murrow Awards, which honor outstanding journalism being produced across North America. The Reinventing Local TV […]
Could the “science of content” help reveal why stories go viral?
Digital media companies like BuzzFeed and even legacy newsrooms such as The Washington Post are constantly talking about how their operations have become increasingly data-driven. But despite the immense amount of data being generated […]
Behind the scenes of WGBH’s digital and social media strategy
Over the last few years, Boston-based broadcaster WGBH has been experimenting with ways to boost its digital presence. For a station of its size, that’s not a simple task. For one, it has to […]
Key takeaways on news innovation from the inaugural WhipSmart conference
What are the latest trends and innovative practices in digital newsrooms? Storybench went on the road this week to the inaugural WhipSmart, NewsWhip’s conference on social media, analytics and digital […]
What local television stations should consider before buying a drone
Is there anything in journalism that screams innovation more than drones? Since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instituted new rules in 2016, unmanned aircraft equipped with cameras have become popular in […]
Expressive timelines: Microsoft’s Matthew Brehmer on the power of visualizing time
Matthew Brehmer, a data visualization researcher with Microsoft Research, was recently invited by NUVis, Northeastern University’s Visualization Consortium, to talk about the tools he and his team are developing to reinvent […]
How STAT News used March Madness to engage readers and highlight innovation in science
March Madness is a remarkable time in American culture. Even passive basketball fans go crazy constructing brackets, setting-up fantasy leagues, joining heated conversations, and of course watching a good part of the 63 […]
Upworthy’s Eli Pariser: “I’m the proudest when our stories change the way people see the world”
Eli Pariser has made a name for himself in political activism on the web as a central figure with MoveOn.org and Avazz.org. In 2011, he coined the term “filter bubbles,” referring to […]
Meet the Swedish newspaper editor who put an algorithm in charge of his homepage
About four years ago, Svenska Dagbladet, one of Sweden’s top newspapers, was in free fall. The paper was experiencing depressed circulation, no digital revenue, and dwindling readership. When Fredric Karén took the job as […]
SXSW: The future of news video is understanding audiences
Video is increasingly a priority across newsrooms worldwide. On March 12th, at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, Deborah Acosta, an interactive filmmaker at The New York Times, Adam Banicki, a senior producer at VICE […]
Accelerating knowledge: Four takeaways from an IBM data visualization expert
Northeastern University professor Mauro Martino is one of the minds behind IBM’s Watson News Explorer, a dashboard that allows users to explore the themes surfacing across the news ecosystem. Martino spoke last week […]
10 innovative visualizations of Trump’s first month in the White House
A month into Donald J. Trump’s presidency and the media has had more than enough to report on. Amid advisors resigning, a dizzying web of conflicts of interest, and a fair share of distracting tweets (see here, […]
Winter is here: How Vox mapped snow accumulation in the U.S.
The first big snowstorms have hit the East Coast and their effects have fascinated Vox’s developer Soo Oh, who recently built a map to track snow accumulation across the U.S. The project relies on […]
A Brazilian start-up uses a speed limit simulator to influence voters about traffic
Cars travel around and around in circles until, suddenly, a traffic jam is formed. What happened to slow the cars down? The speed limit on the road was raised. It […]