Pre-reporting for data journalists

A brief intro to exploratory analysis In a recent paper, a pair of statisticians took a stab at outlining “the most important statistical ideas of the past 50 years.” Among them: “counterfactual causal inference, bootstrapping and simulation-based inference, overparameterized models and regularization, multilevel models, generic computation algorithms, adaptive decision analysis, robust inference, and exploratory data … Continued

Journalism outlets need new social media policies

What should they look like? Pittsburgh Post-Gazette journalist Alexis Johnson was barred from protest coverage after joking about a Kenny Chesney concert on Twitter. She tweeted: “Horrifying scenes and aftermath from selfish LOOTERS who don’t care about this city!!!!! …. oh wait sorry. No, these are pictures from a Kenny Chesney concert tailgate. Whoops.” Johnson, … Continued

Creating a voice in podcasting

Podcasts create an audience connection by connecting your community with a voice from your newsroom. This can diversify your audience’s experience through audio accessibility which gives you the opportunity to reach new parts of your community. One of The Washington Post’s most popular podcasts is “Can He Do That?”  It discusses the powers and limitations of the President, and how … Continued

Mixed reality: Meeting readers where they are

Trent Tarantino is the RJI Student Innovation Fellow at the Washington Post in Washington, D.C. This summer our student fellows will be sharing dispatches from their fellowships in newsrooms across the country as a part of Innovation in Focus. Jeremy Gilbert, of The Washington Post, and Robert Hernandez, of USC Annenberg, discuss mixed reality for … Continued