Data for Journalists: A Practical Guide for Computer-Assisted Reporting

Now in its sixth edition, Data for Journalists is a straightforward and effective guide to using data for news stories.

This concise textbook addresses all the key basic skills that data journalists need, including how to find and scrape data, how to build a database, how to visualize data, and how to use spreadsheets and database managers – before launching into coding and more advanced analysis. Alongside step-by-step instructions on beginning data analysis, Houston discusses why these digital tools should be an integral part of reporting in the present day. Thoroughly revised and updated, this sixth edition features a new chapter on data visualization as well as new material on using free software such as Google Sheets and Datawrapper.

Emphasizing that journalists are accountable for the accuracy and relevance of the data they acquire and share, particularly if artificial intelligence is involved, this is an ideal core text for courses on data-driven journalism and computer-assisted reporting.