Tag: journalism
Modeling networked media: Diagrams and graphics in John Wihbey’s The Social Fact
The conceptual black-and-white diagram, or idea-oriented infographic, goes back a long time in publishing design and storytelling. Many an academic or explanatory work has some kind of visual tucked away, […]
Six fascinating projects from the 2019 Computation + Journalism Symposium in Miami
How often is social media used as a source in news stories? Can a decision-tree algorithm generate tens-of-thousands of 250-word stories? And what is belief-driven data journalism? Those questions lie […]
The future of machine learning in journalism
Kevin Wall, a visual journalist at The Boston Globe, is just beginning to use machine learning in his reporting. But the large amounts of data he needs to leverage this […]
How The New York Times used 360 video to show Puerto Rico’s electrical grid repair following Maria
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico. When the hurricane finally dissipated in early October, the damage had made it the worst natural disaster to hit […]
Takeaways on being a watchdog reporter from the 2018 Boston Watchdog Workshop
“We found new and fresh ways to look at an issue that many people had covered before, by not only gathering a lot of data that was already out there, […]
How The New York Times Magazine shipped a soundtrack with its Voyages issue
Through eye-catching photographs of exotic locations, New York Times Magazine’s biannual Voyages issues are meant to transport the audience around the world even if they are just sitting on their sofa […]
Talking to Tracy McGrady: How digital tools and a sharp eye helped me set up an interview with my childhood hero
They never said don’t call your heroes. If you’re writing an article about entertainment, athletics or even politics, your professors have probably told you, “In a perfect world, you’d talk […]
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 […]
Meet the Media Innovation student who builds Boston Globe data stories
Growing up in an “underdeveloped suburb” in China’s Hebei Province, Yan Wu pored over every page of the newspapers that her father took home from work. Wu’s family couldn’t afford […]
Working with The New York Times API in R
Have you ever come across a resource that you didn't know existed, but once you find it you wonder how you ever got along without it? I had this feeling […]
How to merge and clean up multiple CSVs using R
This tutorial solves a problem I was having when working through the exploratory data analysis exercises in Doing Data Science by Cathy O’Neil and Rachel Schutt. I highly recommended picking up a copy for yourself. […]
Social media and news: The dilemma of our time
“Our mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together,” says Facebook on its Community Standards page. Founded as a social network, Facebook […]
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 […]
How The Washington Post offered readers an immersive look at Puerto Rico without power
A blue pickup truck drives past Maria Ortiz Viruet as she walks down a paved road, followed by two small black dogs. The scene’s palm trees and mountains might lead […]
Media Watch: Seung Min Kim on covering Donald Trump
Last month, Politico reporter Seung Min Kim spoke at Northeastern University’s School of Journalism about how the press is and should be covering Donald Trump. Media Watch: Assessing the Press […]
Twitter + R
Introducing twitteR If you've worked with R in any capacity, you've probably noticed by now that developers who create R packages love playing with the letter “R” in their naming […]
Welcome to Data Journalism in R
Welcome to Data Journalism in R print(“Hello world”) ## [1] “Hello world” Now that we got that out of the way, welcome to a brand new Storybench vertical, Data Journalism […]
How AJ+ reported a mini-documentary series on Syrian immigrants
As Omar Duwaji blew out the signature pink, green, yellow and blue candles on a store-bought birthday cake, he was nearly moved to tears. The cake was a surprise from […]
Media Watch: Charlie Pierce on covering Donald Trump
Last month, Esquire politics blogger Charlie Pierce spoke at Northeastern University’s School of Journalism about how the press is and should be covering Donald Trump. Media Watch: Assessing the Press […]
Media Watch: Ethan Bronner on covering Donald Trump
Last month, Bloomberg News senior editor Ethan Bronner spoke with students at Northeastern University’s School of Journalism about the job of covering the Trump administration. Media Watch: Assessing the Press […]
Five major takeaways from the 2017 Online News Association conference
What would journalism look like if news outlets optimized for trust? What is the reporter’s role if an organization decides satire is the most effective way of covering politics? What […]
How The Boston Globe brought Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale’s unique delivery to life
The Red Sox’s acquisition of pitcher Chris Sale in December has proved fruitful: The lefty ace has had, by almost any measure, the most dominant season by a Sox starting […]
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 an Argentine real estate platform is building visualizations for Latin American newsrooms
How much will an apartment within walking distance to a subway station cost you in São Paulo? What about a home overlooking a park in Buenos Aires? Those are the […]
Notes on VR from the 2017 Sheffield Doc/Fest
A growing number of non-fiction works are being produced at the intersection of documentary storytelling and journalism. The Sheffield Doc/Fest has become one of the best events to experience these new […]
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: Trump vs. the NYT, algorithmic news and other cool things we heard over kickoff weekend
Storybench flew all the way to Austin, Texas to attend South by Southwest, the world-renowned tech-and-innovation conference. Reporters Rachel Grozanick and Felippe Rodrigues, both students in Northeastern’s Media Innovation program, are on […]
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 […]