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Science Journalism
Public Group active 8 months, 4 weeks ago“Using the art of reporting to communicate science to the public.” — via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_journalism
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Brian Glanz posted an update in the group
Science Journalism: 8 months, 4 weeks ago · ViewWe know the impact of Big Data on every field of science — now, editorial decisions in journalism are increasingly data driven, especially thanks to web analytics; see Sonderman http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/143389/new-generation-of-web-analytics-applies-big-data-to-newsroom-decisions-visual-revenue-jumptime/
Is data driven journalism something new, or have the top newsrooms and editors always had access to analytics and Google Analytics is a democratization?
Is this a practical emergence of the ”science of journalism?” Theory side, I’m reminded of that phrase in Fuller’s ”What Is Happening to News” http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo6974363.html — tapping neuroscience for explanations of how journalism is faring in the information age.
I don’t think data driven journalism is anything to worry about, any more than other tools which could be used for better or worse. Analytics based editorial decisions are not creating modern media consumption, and it only seems more responsible, to me, to be better informed. Bloggers have been watching their logs and analytics for more than ten years, I should hope this is not entirely news to newsrooms.
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Kaarli Tasso joined the group
Science Journalism 1 year ago · View
Happy to see you here, @kaarli — clearly we’ve not made much use of this science journalism group! while JTM Online has been slow cooking, but that’s no reason not to start :)
I liked Al Tompkins’ take on the JSOnline Pulitzer, including the need for more multimedia story telling and commentary on challenges in communicating science generally http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/als-morning-meeting/128649/how-pulitzer-prize-winning-explanatory-reporting-project-humanizes-science-of-genetic-detection/
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Brian Glanz posted an update in the group
Science Journalism: 1 year, 7 months ago · ViewThe recording of the 10/8 Skeptically Speaking show is now available online — about the effects of online science reporting and blogging on science journalism — listen to or download it at http://skepticallyspeaking.com/episodes/80-science-journalism
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Brian Glanz created an event for the group
Science Journalism: 1 year, 7 months ago · View -
Brian Glanz created the group
Science Journalism 1 year, 7 months ago · View
As far as I can tell, these analytical tools can only assess the quantity of who’s following which stories in terms of volume numbers, but what about the quality? To me it’s more important to have a smaller audience of the RIGHT people, than a generic audience of a larger volume.
If news producers plan to make publishing decisions based solely on traffic volume, then we’re going to run into the same issues of commercial driven media pre-internet, where there was a lacking of true impactual substance in order to match the general tastes of a broader audience. Google Analytics might as well be the new Nielsen.