Data Journalism Top 10: Measuring Mask Use, Parental Interruptions, Childbirth Woes, India’s Low Death Rate

How widespread is mask use in your country? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from July 13 to 19 finds The New York Times mapping the odds of people encountering other mask wearers in the United States, two university professors quantifying the number of interruptions a parent suffers on average every hour while working from home, the Committee to Protect Journalists talking to data journalists about the struggles of reporting on COVID-19, and openDemocracy documenting cases of mistreatment of women in labor around the world since the pandemic started.

What We’re Reading: Pakistani and Zimbabwean Journalists Detained, Race and the Newsroom, and Tips for Interviewing

In this week’s Friday 5, where we round up key reads from around the world in English, one journalist from Zimbabwe and another from Pakistan were abducted and detained, the Reuters Institute report on Race and Leadership in the News Media was released, and NPR’s Terry Gross and The New York Times’ Michael Barbaro offered up some tips on interviewing.

Data Journalism Top 10: How US Infection Spread, Data Hires, Identity Theft, and Lightning Strikes vs. Lottery Wins

Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from June 22 to 28 finds The New York Times analyzing travel patterns and genetic data to show how the disease spread across the United States, and the impact it has had on nursing homes and elderly care facilities. The Washington Post is responding to the increasing importance of visual data communication by expanding its data and graphics team, and the Pulitzer Center is calling for data journalism story proposals.

What We’re Reading: Pegasus Spyware Targets Another Journalist, Cybersecurity Reading List, and Capitalizing Black

This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes a report from The Guardian and GIJN member Forbidden Stories about a Moroccan journalist targeted by Pegasus spyware, five books on cybersecurity that you should be reading, and, in the midst of the global Black Lives Matter movement, AP Stylebook’s decision to capitalize Black.

Data Journalism Top 10: Black Lives Matter, Racial Wealth Gap, Pandemic Lockdown Violations, Housework Gender Inequality

Once confined to bands of protesters, the Black Lives Matter movement has spread across America. Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from June 15 to 21 finds The New York Times mapping the protests in more than 2,000 US cities and towns over a two week period. On the coronavirus front, The Telegraph analyzed the widening racial wealth gap caused by the pandemic, the Guardian and Liberty Investigates looked into police enforcing lockdown measures disproportionately against Blacks, Asians, and other minorities, while Important Stories and Holod Media examined the fines issued by Russian courts for lockdown violations during the pandemic.

A Ukrainian Investigative News Team Fights for Media Freedom

The Ukrainian investigative group Bihus.info has built a name for itself investigating corruption. It formed in the aftermath of the Ukrainian Revolution, as journalists tried to piece together some of the documents destroyed and damaged by the former regime. Today, they are battling a tough media freedom environment and investigations into their own staff and reporters which slow them down and which they see as an effort to pressure them in relation to their reporting.

Data Journalism Top 10: Black Lives Matter Protests, Police Shootings, Questions on COVID-19 Research Site, Russian Orphans

The death of African American George Floyd in police custody has resulted in a major uproar against structural racism in the United States. Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from June 1 to 7 finds The New York Times examining police use of force in Minneapolis, the city in which Floyd died after being pinned down by a police officer. The Washington Post also dug into data of every fatal shooting in the US by police officers since 2015.