29/11/2013
Data Journalism Handbook translation to aid Georgian journalists
The Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), alongside the European Journalism Centre (EJC), released today two chapters of the Georgian translation of the Data Journalism Handbook with later chapters to be published over the coming months.
The event prompted contributor Moran Barkai to take a closer look at the data journalism scene in Georgia by talking with Josh LaPorte, EJC Country Manager for Georgia, and Tina Tsomaia, Assistant Professor at the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management.
What is the state of data journalism in Georgia?
Tina Tsomaia: ”The state of data journalism in the country is poor. Only one non-profit organization is regularly engaged in it and it does so through donor funding. Some stories using data are popular and spread quickly through social media, so there is some demand. But in general media outlets find data journalism time-intensive and expensive to do, and journalists are generally not trained in this field. But there is also no real pressure for additional data journalism stories, since much of Georgian journalism is focused on daily political news and sensationalist stories.”
How accessible is data in Georgia?
John LaPorte: ”The government has recently put huge amounts of data online and this has created some very positive dynamics, which is why our initiative has good timing in terms of local data resources and databases. So access is very high. But this data is not effectively being delivered to the public in any kind of regular reader/viewer-friendly way. For example, Transparency International Georgia is very good in collecting and collating this data. But it is not in the business of telling stories with data. Rather, it focuses on how to use and source data.”
Who are the main actors in the field of data journalism in the country?
LaPorte: ”GIPA is the main actor. No media outlet would really fit into this category. Only the non-profit organisation JumpStart has a dedicated programme. Its project, Visualizing the News in Georgia, funds the organisation Feradi which produces data-driven stories.”
How did you decide to translate the handbook into Georgian?
LaPorte: ”The real impetus came from a pilot data journalism workshop we implemented last summer together with Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Enthusiasm and participation were extremely high among the local media and we realised, moving forward, that resources like the Handbook would be an important component in teaching data journalism courses and in introducing global best practice examples.”
Tsomaia: ”When you see a truly good resource, you think it was created especially for you! In a sense, this is how we feel about the Data Journalism Handbook. We will use the Handbook as a guide while developing the Media Engineering Master, bringing together students of journalism and students of computer science. It will also serve us to train journalists and students in data journalism and data visualisation.”
This is the fourth published translation of the Handbook to date with further projects planned.
Full story here
The post Data Journalism Blog – ”Handbook translation to aid Georgian journalists” appeared first on Journalism Now.