[...] via The golden age of computer-assisted reporting is at hand » Nieman Journalism Lab. [...]

[...] ich glaube, die gegenüberstellung von entweder “internet-experimente” oder “philosophie” ist unangebracht. der philosophischen lehrplan, den er aufstellt, muss aufpoliert und modernisiert werden. denn tatsächlich ist die frage “was ist wahrheit?” in der multimediagesellschaft sehr aktuell. doch kann man sie mit rein philosophischen ansätzen nicht mehr beantworten. um in den datenmengen des www zwischen fakt und fiktion zu unterscheiden benötigt man eben auch technik, eine forensiche ausbildung um datensalat zu sezieren. journalisten betreiben immer mehr “data-journalism”. [...]

[...] Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR) has been around in The States since 1952, delivering raw information on local communities and making it searchable to others. CAR is a way of communicating data effectively and was originally developed from journalists using tools like databases and spreadsheets. It gets others involved in what you’re doing, while inadvertently helping you to cut down your workload. Instead of being the lowly intern who has to weed through 458,832 pages of MPs’ expenses, by using CAR other people can gain access to the material and you can sift through it together. [...]

[...] CAR, is not, as Google suggests, “a motor vehicle with four wheels”, it is in fact the process of using data and figures to produce a news story. There is a marginally more developed definition here and a fantastic overview here. [...]

[...] access for sophisticated ongoing access. Mathew Ingram of the Toronto Globe and Mail says that the Golden Age of Computer Assisted Reporting is at hand. As Paul Bradshaw wrote this week on his OnlineJournalismBlog, every newspaper should have a data [...]

[...] Nieman Journalism Lab: The Golden Age of computer-assisted reporting is at hand. Share and Enjoy: [...]

[...] access for sophisticated ongoing access. Mathew Ingram of the Toronto Globe and Mail says that the Golden Age of Computer Assisted Reporting is at hand. As Paul Bradshaw wrote this week on his OnlineJournalismBlog, every newspaper should have a data [...]

[...] access for sophisticated ongoing access. Mathew Ingram of the Toronto Globe and Mail says that the Golden Age of Computer Assisted Reporting is at hand. As Paul Bradshaw wrote this week on his OnlineJournalismBlog, every newspaper should have a data [...]

[...] access for sophisticated ongoing access. Mathew Ingram of the Toronto Globe and Mail says that the Golden Age of Computer Assisted Reporting is at hand. As Paul Bradshaw wrote this week on his OnlineJournalismBlog, every newspaper should have a data [...]

[...] access for sophisticated ongoing access. Mathew Ingram of the Toronto Globe and Mail says that the Golden Age of Computer Assisted Reporting is at hand. As Paul Bradshaw wrote this week on his OnlineJournalismBlog, every newspaper should have a data [...]

But this post overlooks the long and impressive work in computer-assisted reporting (or precision journalism as practiced, espoused and taught by Nieman fellow Philip Meyer) that has been going on for decades.

If you take a look at the web site of Investigative Reporters and Editors http://www.ire.org and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (founded in 1989 and renamed in 1994) and look through its story indexes or the feature Extra!Extra! you will find numerous stories (in the hundreds if not thousands), involving both simple and complex, that have been done over the last two decades using data analysis.

Adrian Holovaty and others do impressive computer-assisted aggregations and presentations of data on the Web, but they do not do data analysis or investigative work or what has been known as computer-assisted reporting.

For a full appreciation of how computer-assisted reporting and database analysis can contribute to better journalism, take a look at the work of Sarah Cohen and Dan Keating at the Washington Post: Andy Lehren, Janet Roberts, Griff Palmer, Jo Craven McGinty,Tom Torok, Aron Pilhofer and many others at the New York Times; Tom McGinty and Maurice Tamman at the Wall Street Journal; Jennifer LaFleur at the Pro Publica and David Donald at the Center for Public Integrity; and many, many others both in the U.S. and around the world.

Brant Houston
Knight Chair in Investigative Reporting
University of Illinois
Author: Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide
Former executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting

[...] (For more Ingram goodness, see his article last week at the Nieman Journalism Lab titled The Golden Age of Computer Assisted Reporting is at Hand.) [...]

I do agree that “computer assisted” needs a revise to capture a different reality.