Global Investigative Journalism Network (https://archive.gijn.org/tag/big-data/)
A unique collaboration between five international investigative teams and recently-formed Signals Network is offering unprecedented protection to whistleblowers, and has received the backing of famed NSA exposer Edward Snowden. Their first project? A broad call on the misuse of big data. A GIJN report by Rowan Philp.
As 2013 nears an end, we’d like to share our top ten stories — the stories that you, our dear readers, found most compelling. The list ranges from impassioned calls for journalists to fight back to the dangers of big data, from the latest techniques for tracking business across borders to the arcane practice of plane-spotting. Please join us in taking a look at The Best of GIJN.org.
“Big Data.” It seems like the phrase is everywhere. The term was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013, appeared in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary by 2014, and Gartner’s just-released 2014 Hype Cycle shows “Big Data” passing the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” and on its way down into the “Trough of Disillusionment.” Big Data is all the rage. But what does it actually mean? we asked 40+ thought leaders in publishing, fashion, food, automobiles, medicine, marketing, and every industry in between how exactly they would define the phrase “Big Data.” Their answers might surprise you!
With the aim of contributing to the promotion of data-based investigations and asserting its vision of journalism as an essential service to democracy, OjoPúblico has published “La navaja suiza del reportero. Herramientas de investigación en la era de los datos masivos” (“The Swiss Army Knife Journalist: Digital Research Tools in the Era of Big Data”), a resource for Hispanic reporters who want to become familiar with the world of data journalism and, above all, to understand its meaning and relevance in Latin America and the world.
What are the hot data journalism tweets? Here are top links for Dec. 5-11: pie chart abuse (@johngrimwade); transit data tool (@ddjournalism); big data stories (@BigDataGirl); US diversity map (@PostGraphics); ddj survey (@Bahareh360); Swiss sprawl (@srfdata); dataviz types (@pol_ferrando); more.
Here are the hottest data journalism tweets for Jan 16-22, per our NodeXL mapping: dataviz catalog (@flowingdata); Inaugurations compared (@pewresearch); big data & polls (@ddjournalism); Hispanics in America (@UniNoticias); Le Monde data (@decodeurs); Obama’s record (@nytimes); & more.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from August 21 to 27 has useful digital forensics tools from @bellingcat, mathematician Cathy O’Neil warning us about blind faith in big data and an analysis of Delhi’s insane dowry demands by @htTweets.