Data Journalism In The HealthCare Industry
The concept of Data Journalism extends beyond the level of vague understanding of a common man by segregating the two words such as “Data” and “Journalism”. So many years ago, journalists used to work on a spreadsheet that is filled with loads of data with numbers. But those days had their bit of time and it was all over. Now everything is dealt in digital medium and numbers hold the prominence to describe all types of data. For instance, if the career history of an individual has about more than or equal to 300,000 confidential documents, it could be described with just two numbers. Whatever the kind of data may be, such as photos, videos, audios, political votes, diseases, and corruption, there are only two numbers, zeros and ones used to describe the entities.
There is one interesting factor that makes data journalism different from the rest of journalism. It is none other than the wider outreach of data surfing that allows combining the traditional nose for news and has the potential to convey a compelling story with the support of sheer scale and range of digital information available now. It is mandatory for a journalist to identify the specific phase that supports the availability of huge data platform. They can make use of the effective programming tools which can help them automate gathering process and then combine information acquired from police, local government and other civic sources. The employment of tons of software’s in order to figure out possible connections between millions of documents can also prove beneficial.
Of several productive features in Data Journalism, infographics is something used by contemporary journalists to gain more attention by providing information that is really newsworthy. It helps journalists to present data in a visually spectacular manner with the use of tools such as Gapminder. More such ways of expressing information appeals the users and the diverse designs used for the purpose of the presentation will be closely monitored by design experts and quite often the technique symbolizes the phrase “Information is beautiful”.
With respect to an individual, the data presentation takes a whole new turn. The data pertaining to an individual media can be as much as effective as anything else and opens up novel news gathering strategies. The primary understanding that everybody should have is, Data is an effective tool or source for data journalism using which relevant stories can be constructed in a way it appeals to a certain sector of market. Scepticism should be always present while analyzing any data. It actually helps a data journalist travel in a safe zone. Irrespective of the type of information such as sharing data, context, and questions, one should be very conscious about how it can be shaped and restricted with the use of effective tools it provides.
Journalists perform the most happening and interesting task to generate news through the numerous platforms available in today’s tech-savvy world. Immediate or overnight sources such as eye witnesses, blogs, and live incidents and so on substantiate data journalism to a greater extent. This is one of the important reasons for the degree of importance that data journalism receives these days. Another hidden thing in Data Journalism is the network enhancement of various business firms. Let it be a simple food commodity or a shop clues product, everything becomes viral in global economy once it is presented via data journalism. Number of pioneering journalists has already started their research to gain deeper insight into the creation and manifestation of data which could bring a possible change or revolution in the history of data journalism.
