by Lauryn Higgins
Every year the brightest and the best data journalists and journalism students descend upon the windy city for a four-day conference to mingle, listen and discuss the latest innovative technologies that are helping advance newsrooms.
The National Institute for Computer Assisted Reporting, NICAR, maintains a library of federal databases and trains journalists in practical skills of getting and analyzing electronic information. NICAR resources allow journalists and data reporters the ability to keep their newsrooms up to date with the latest technologies and provide their readers with the most recent information that pertains to their city and target audiences.
NICAR resources include databases that range from FBI Uniform Crime Reports to the most recent number of deaths from opioid overdoses, as well as visual and electronic maps of cities and counties that go beyond the basics of Google Maps. While all this data is available through the website, every year NICAR gives hands-on experience and the opportunity for journalists who utilize these resources, the chance to speak about what they've learned and what they hope the future of these technologies hold. And for aspiring data journalists, the conference is a crash course and a glimpse into an impending career.
The 2018 conference hosted journalists from large and small newsrooms, student journalists from all over the country and eight University of Nebraska–Lincoln students. Of the eight students, I was fortunate enough to attend the conference for the first time and dip my toe into the world of all things data reporting.
As a graduate student in the College of Journalism and Mass Communication, I am pursuing my degree with a concentration in professional journalism. However, I chose this program largely because of the heavy focus the university places on technology in journalism.
Journalism is an evolving field, and to stay ahead, you have to stay current. The need to be evolving and the will power to be eager to evolve is a mindset that University of Nebraska–Lincoln champions and one I fully support. During my time at NICAR, it was refreshing to see how much technology is advancing and improving the field of journalism.
My four-day trip began with a, "Diversity in the Newsroom" panel discussion led by four reporters from various small newsrooms. They explained the importance of hiring a team of staffers that not only bring various skills to the table, but that can also provide news that speaks to different demographics. And in doing so having a team from those various demographics is what allows a news outlet to be well-rounded.
At any given point the conference hosted 10 different talks every hour for guests to attend, but I opted to listen in on "Demystifying Data Science." Inside the vast world of data science lie countless stories to be told, and through an intensive two-hour lecture we learned how to break down that data by region, county and city to find stories inside the numbers. From a small town in West Virginia that is crippled by opioid overdoses to the rising number of female-owned startups in Seattle, the data is there, but it is up to journalists to present it.
The conference was filled with hands-on virtual reality demonstrations, analytical reporting exercises and ways in which drone technology is changing the landscape of agricultural reporting. However, the key takeaway was just how vital quality journalism is needed in today's advancing world. With news at our fingertips and virtually everywhere, the constant overload of information can be hard to break through. But by preparing journalists with cutting-edge technology and providing resources that make news accessible, we can slowly dial back and out of a world of excessive news and get back to providing quality news.
