J298 Intro to Data-Driven Journalism

Data skills are vital for journalists. Often the deepest learning comes when those skills are applied to a specific topic. Students in this course will learn advanced data journalism skills, including statistics and  programming to work with data. The data and examples we use will focus on disparity on a range of topics including race, gender, disability and others. The course will be a mix of lecture, speakers and hands-on exercises.

Learning outcomes:

• A solid understanding of journalism about covering inequality and best practices in doing so
• Statistical skills (descriptives, correlation, linear and binary logistic regression) and the knowledge of when to apply each tool
• The ability to apply these tools to data sets, including evaluating and vetting data, and clearly explaining data findings
• The ability to document your data analysis
• The ability to develop a project pitch for a new outlet