Data journalism is still a nascent concept in the emerging hyperlocal media sector, but examples of activity do exist – particularly in the US – and steps can be taken to make it more mainstream. This book chapter was part of "Data Journalism: Mapping the Future" published in 10 Jan 2014 and edited by John Mair and Richard Lance Keeble. See: http://www.abramis.co.uk/books/bookdetails.php?id=184549616 for more details.
The document discusses innovations in public engagement and civic participation using online tools. It notes that social media sites are increasingly where people discuss public issues, rather than formal government websites. It proposes that governments create an online "civic space" to bring democratic activities and discussions from social media into one place, and engage citizens in co-creating outcomes. Examples discussed include using petitions, webcasting meetings, and moderated discussions to increase transparency and public input into the democratic process.
Neighborhood online networks are web-based systems that allow local residents to connect, share information, and engage with what is happening in their community. These sites range from social networks to news sites and forums, and can discuss local issues, events, recommendations, and engage with local governance. Research shows that active participation in neighborhood online networks can increase social connections and trust within a community.
Hyper-local Media: A Small but Growing Part of the Local Media EcosystemDamian Radcliffe
"Hyperlocal media has expanded significantly in the UK in the past 12 to 18 months, notes Damian Radcliffe. Supported by new funding and training initiatives, interest from academics and policy-makers, as well as the increased take-up of internet-enabled mobile devices, the result has been a step-change in activity and interest in the hyperlocal scene." Contribution to “What do we mean by local? The rise, fall and possible rise again of local journalism” – published Sept 2013 by Abramis Academic Publishing and edited by John Mair, Richard Lance Keeble, Neil Fowler: http://www.abramis.co.uk/books/bookdetails.php?id=184549593
Summary version available on the BBC College of Journalism website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogcollegeofjournalism/posts/Hyperlocal-media-A-small-but-growing-part-of-the-local-media-ecosystem
Is Offline Consultation Dead? Catherine Howe at PEP-NET SummitPEP-NET
The document discusses the rise of online communication and social media, and how local governments can harness social media to better engage with communities. It introduces Citizenscape, a tool created by Public-i to bring together online conversations from social media and connect them to democratic processes, allowing governments to better represent virtual communities and integrate online and offline engagement.
This document discusses making data more accessible to society through open data, communication, and technology. It begins by introducing an online discussion on opportunities and challenges of using open data, data visualization, and other technology approaches.
It then discusses three main ways of making data more accessible: open data, which freely shares data for public use; communication, where data is explained through storytelling and visualization to broad audiences; and interactive technology, like apps and crowdsourcing, that enable public participation as data producers. Examples like Mappiness and OpenStreetMap demonstrate how crowdsourced data can benefit society.
The document provides context for an online discussion on these topics from June 11-24, 2014 and invites participation from both experts
Blockchain-based Crowdfunding: what impact on artistic production and art con...eraser Juan José Calderón
Blockchain-based Crowdfunding:
what impact on artistic production and art consumption?
Primavera De Filippi. Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law
The document discusses how virtual spaces can bring communities together and the importance of engaging communities through digital channels. It argues that communities are increasingly communicating online and that local governments need to participate in online conversations to remain relevant and enable co-production of services with communities. Examples of virtual community spaces and tools are provided to illustrate how to facilitate online civic participation and dialogue.
New Voices: Local online participation trends and opportunitiesSteven Clift
The document discusses online civic engagement and local government in Minnesota. It notes that Minnesota was an early pioneer in computing but was wiped out by PCs. It discusses the use of online forums and social media to facilitate local civic participation, information sharing, and decision making. Examples are given of neighborhood forums used to discuss issues like crime prevention and disaster response. Challenges include reaching a diverse population and ensuring participation from all community members.
The document discusses innovations in public engagement and civic participation using online tools. It notes that social media sites are increasingly where people discuss public issues, rather than formal government websites. It proposes that governments create an online "civic space" to bring democratic activities and discussions from social media into one place, and engage citizens in co-creating outcomes. Examples discussed include using petitions, webcasting meetings, and moderated discussions to increase transparency and public input into the democratic process.
Neighborhood online networks are web-based systems that allow local residents to connect, share information, and engage with what is happening in their community. These sites range from social networks to news sites and forums, and can discuss local issues, events, recommendations, and engage with local governance. Research shows that active participation in neighborhood online networks can increase social connections and trust within a community.
Hyper-local Media: A Small but Growing Part of the Local Media EcosystemDamian Radcliffe
"Hyperlocal media has expanded significantly in the UK in the past 12 to 18 months, notes Damian Radcliffe. Supported by new funding and training initiatives, interest from academics and policy-makers, as well as the increased take-up of internet-enabled mobile devices, the result has been a step-change in activity and interest in the hyperlocal scene." Contribution to “What do we mean by local? The rise, fall and possible rise again of local journalism” – published Sept 2013 by Abramis Academic Publishing and edited by John Mair, Richard Lance Keeble, Neil Fowler: http://www.abramis.co.uk/books/bookdetails.php?id=184549593
Summary version available on the BBC College of Journalism website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogcollegeofjournalism/posts/Hyperlocal-media-A-small-but-growing-part-of-the-local-media-ecosystem
Is Offline Consultation Dead? Catherine Howe at PEP-NET SummitPEP-NET
The document discusses the rise of online communication and social media, and how local governments can harness social media to better engage with communities. It introduces Citizenscape, a tool created by Public-i to bring together online conversations from social media and connect them to democratic processes, allowing governments to better represent virtual communities and integrate online and offline engagement.
This document discusses making data more accessible to society through open data, communication, and technology. It begins by introducing an online discussion on opportunities and challenges of using open data, data visualization, and other technology approaches.
It then discusses three main ways of making data more accessible: open data, which freely shares data for public use; communication, where data is explained through storytelling and visualization to broad audiences; and interactive technology, like apps and crowdsourcing, that enable public participation as data producers. Examples like Mappiness and OpenStreetMap demonstrate how crowdsourced data can benefit society.
The document provides context for an online discussion on these topics from June 11-24, 2014 and invites participation from both experts
Blockchain-based Crowdfunding: what impact on artistic production and art con...eraser Juan José Calderón
Blockchain-based Crowdfunding:
what impact on artistic production and art consumption?
Primavera De Filippi. Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law
The document discusses how virtual spaces can bring communities together and the importance of engaging communities through digital channels. It argues that communities are increasingly communicating online and that local governments need to participate in online conversations to remain relevant and enable co-production of services with communities. Examples of virtual community spaces and tools are provided to illustrate how to facilitate online civic participation and dialogue.
New Voices: Local online participation trends and opportunitiesSteven Clift
The document discusses online civic engagement and local government in Minnesota. It notes that Minnesota was an early pioneer in computing but was wiped out by PCs. It discusses the use of online forums and social media to facilitate local civic participation, information sharing, and decision making. Examples are given of neighborhood forums used to discuss issues like crime prevention and disaster response. Challenges include reaching a diverse population and ensuring participation from all community members.
Connecting Neighbours Online: Strategies for online engagement with inclusion...Steven Clift
This document outlines an event to train community organizers on setting up online neighborhood forums. It discusses E-Democracy.org's mission to support civic engagement using online tools. The agenda includes introductions, learning about existing neighborhood forums, developing outreach strategies, and further training. Setting up online forums can help neighbors share information, discuss issues, and take collective action to strengthen communities. However, successful forums require inclusive outreach to reflect the full diversity of the neighborhood. The presentation provides case studies of forums that conducted intensive outreach campaigns, hiring local liaisons to recruit over 3,000 new members door-to-door and at community events.
"'Tis true. There's magic in the Web: The Short and the Long of Co-Creation, Web Science, and Data Driven Innovation". Keynote for the DATA-DRIVEN INNOVATION WORKSHOP 2016 collocated with ACM Web Science 2016, Hannover, Germany, Sunday 22 May 2016
Crang, Mike, and Stephen Graham. "Sentient cities: Ambient intelligence and ...Stephen Graham
Increasing amounts of information processing capacity are embedded in the environment around us. The informational landscape is both a repository of data and also increasingly communicates and processes information. No longer confined to desk tops, computers have become both mobile and also disassembled. Many everyday objects now embed computer processing power, while others are activated by passing sensors, transponders and processors. The distributed proces- sing in the world around us is often claimed to be a pervasive or ubiquitous com- puting environment: a world of ambient intelligence, happening around us on the periphery of our awareness, where our environment is not a passive backdrop but an active agent in organizing daily lives. The spaces around us are now being continually forged and reforged in informational and communicative processes. It is a world where we not only think of cities but cities think of us, where the environment reflexively monitors our behaviour. This paper suggests that we need to unpack the embedded politics of this process. It outlines the three key emerging dynamics in terms of environments that learn and possess anticipation and memory, the efficacy of technological mythologies and the politics of visi- bility. To examine the assumptions and implications behind this the paper explores three contrasting forms of ‘sentient’ urban environments. The first addresses market-led visions of customized consumer worlds. The second explores military plans for profiling and targeting. Finally, the third looks at artistic endeavours to re-enchant and contest the urban informational landscape of urban sentience. Each, we suggest, shows a powerful dynamic of the environment tracking, predicting and recalling usage.
This document summarizes a year-long project exploring the relationship between data and community through engagement with residents of a street in Cambridge, UK. It involved three strands: 1) curating existing data about the street in a physical and digital archive, 2) capturing environmental data like vehicle traffic, and 3) using polling technologies. The project aims to conceptualize "data-in-place" by thinking about how data becomes embedded in a community and place over time through interactions between people, data infrastructures, and the physical environment.
The Politics of Web Space Richard Rogerswebhostingguy
This document discusses different conceptualizations of the politics of web space over time. In the early "hyperspace period", individual websites were mapped by analyzing their inlinks and outlinks to show associations between sites. Later, the web was seen more as a public sphere and cluster maps showed issue networks. Currently, location data grounds the web in physical geography. The politics of inclusion and authority are seen in search engine rankings and directory listings.
The document discusses how the Internet has impacted citizens' relationship to the public sphere. While some argue the Internet could provide new democratic possibilities by circumventing traditional media, others are more pessimistic. The Internet reflects existing social inequalities like the "digital divide" between those who do and do not have access. Additionally, concepts like democracy and public sphere may not apply to the postmodern nature of online interactions. Recent studies also suggest the Internet has a limited role in promoting citizenship. In conclusion, the Internet has not significantly changed how citizens relate to the public sphere despite new communication abilities.
Social media course 2010 2011: what's going on online?guillaume ereteo
The document discusses the development of semantic web technologies and linked data. It describes how these technologies allow data and knowledge to be machine-readable and connected through URIs, enabling machines to better understand and process online information. It provides examples of how semantic markup and linked open data are being widely adopted and are starting to transform the internet into a global data space where all kinds of resources can be named, described and connected for humans and machines.
The document discusses open government and increasing transparency, participation, and collaboration between governments and citizens. It notes that open data can drive innovation when society creates applications and analyzes data, and transparency secures democracy. However, increased transparency may lead to tensions between network dynamics and existing institutional structures as organizations resist changes that threaten their power structures.
Digital Exclusion: Implications for Human Services Practitioners SUE WATLING ...Sue Watling
Digital Exclusion: Implications for Human Services Practitioners (2010) SUE WATLING and KARIN CRAWFORD Journal of Technology in Human Services, 28:205–216,
Networks for Citizen Consultation and Citizen Sourcing of Expertise: Explor...@cristobalcobo
"New ICTs + New Media = New Democracy? Communications policy and public life in the age of broadband"
Experts’ workshop
New America Foundation, 1899 L St NW, Washington, DC
September 20-22, 2011
www.americanthinktank.net
Cristobal Cobo, Ph.D
Research Fellow
Oxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford
Citilab Presentation October 2009 - Digital CitiesDave Harte
The document discusses four key ingredients for developing a digital city: 1) A desire for citizens to talk about things in the city, 2) A strong social culture where citizens interact, 3) Open access to city data, and 4) Issues for citizens to advocate for or against. It argues that combining a citizens' cognitive surplus and freely available public data through various online and offline social platforms can create new economic opportunities and an engaged digital workforce that shapes the future of the city from the bottom up. Realizing this vision will likely involve tensions between various stakeholders, but this messy process is an important part of cultivating an innovative digital culture.
Cipr building online community (19 10 10)(final)Catherine Howe
The document discusses how online communities are becoming increasingly important as society moves towards a more networked age. It argues that local governments need to engage with citizens in online spaces, not just expect people to come to them. It suggests that governments can save costs by webcasting meetings and enabling more self-organization and co-production of services among online communities. Local governments need to understand online culture and build relationships online to stay relevant to their communities.
This document provides an overview of data journalism. It discusses the origins of database journalism in the 1950s and examples of early practitioners. It also covers recent developments like increased use of data visualization and tools that allow for more interactive data stories. Experts comment that data-driven journalism can uncover important stories and that skills in data analysis and visualization will be increasingly important for journalists. The document also lists some free and popular tools used for data analysis and visualization.
The document discusses how elected officials can better engage with citizens using new technologies and the concept of co-production. It argues that representative democracy needs to change to reflect an increasingly networked society. Some engagement strategies proposed include using social media like Facebook and Twitter, holding virtual meetings and surgeries, opening up government data and processes, and collaborating with digital activists and online communities. The goal is for elected representatives to build relationships with constituents over the long term through more transparent and participatory governance.
The document discusses how the internet may impact social capital. It presents three perspectives: that the internet increases social capital by enabling new forms of interaction and community; decreases social capital by competing for time and reducing offline social interaction; or supplements social capital by providing an additional means of communication without major effects on offline social life. The document then analyzes data from a 1998 survey of National Geographic website visitors to evaluate these perspectives.
Summary of social media techniques and applications that can be used to improve the public involvement process in urban and transport planning. Including reporting applications, serious games, collaboration tools, educational applications and supporting tools.
A combination of automatic, real-time data feeds from government agencies and new Web 2.0 "data visualization" tools can both increase cooperation and operating efficiency within government, and improve the quality of policy debate and encourage people to become actively involved in offering ideas to improve government. NOTE: best viewed in full-screen mode to read notes.
Connecting Neighbours Online: Strategies for online engagement with inclusion...Steven Clift
This document outlines an event to train community organizers on setting up online neighborhood forums. It discusses E-Democracy.org's mission to support civic engagement using online tools. The agenda includes introductions, learning about existing neighborhood forums, developing outreach strategies, and further training. Setting up online forums can help neighbors share information, discuss issues, and take collective action to strengthen communities. However, successful forums require inclusive outreach to reflect the full diversity of the neighborhood. The presentation provides case studies of forums that conducted intensive outreach campaigns, hiring local liaisons to recruit over 3,000 new members door-to-door and at community events.
"'Tis true. There's magic in the Web: The Short and the Long of Co-Creation, Web Science, and Data Driven Innovation". Keynote for the DATA-DRIVEN INNOVATION WORKSHOP 2016 collocated with ACM Web Science 2016, Hannover, Germany, Sunday 22 May 2016
Crang, Mike, and Stephen Graham. "Sentient cities: Ambient intelligence and ...Stephen Graham
Increasing amounts of information processing capacity are embedded in the environment around us. The informational landscape is both a repository of data and also increasingly communicates and processes information. No longer confined to desk tops, computers have become both mobile and also disassembled. Many everyday objects now embed computer processing power, while others are activated by passing sensors, transponders and processors. The distributed proces- sing in the world around us is often claimed to be a pervasive or ubiquitous com- puting environment: a world of ambient intelligence, happening around us on the periphery of our awareness, where our environment is not a passive backdrop but an active agent in organizing daily lives. The spaces around us are now being continually forged and reforged in informational and communicative processes. It is a world where we not only think of cities but cities think of us, where the environment reflexively monitors our behaviour. This paper suggests that we need to unpack the embedded politics of this process. It outlines the three key emerging dynamics in terms of environments that learn and possess anticipation and memory, the efficacy of technological mythologies and the politics of visi- bility. To examine the assumptions and implications behind this the paper explores three contrasting forms of ‘sentient’ urban environments. The first addresses market-led visions of customized consumer worlds. The second explores military plans for profiling and targeting. Finally, the third looks at artistic endeavours to re-enchant and contest the urban informational landscape of urban sentience. Each, we suggest, shows a powerful dynamic of the environment tracking, predicting and recalling usage.
This document summarizes a year-long project exploring the relationship between data and community through engagement with residents of a street in Cambridge, UK. It involved three strands: 1) curating existing data about the street in a physical and digital archive, 2) capturing environmental data like vehicle traffic, and 3) using polling technologies. The project aims to conceptualize "data-in-place" by thinking about how data becomes embedded in a community and place over time through interactions between people, data infrastructures, and the physical environment.
The Politics of Web Space Richard Rogerswebhostingguy
This document discusses different conceptualizations of the politics of web space over time. In the early "hyperspace period", individual websites were mapped by analyzing their inlinks and outlinks to show associations between sites. Later, the web was seen more as a public sphere and cluster maps showed issue networks. Currently, location data grounds the web in physical geography. The politics of inclusion and authority are seen in search engine rankings and directory listings.
The document discusses how the Internet has impacted citizens' relationship to the public sphere. While some argue the Internet could provide new democratic possibilities by circumventing traditional media, others are more pessimistic. The Internet reflects existing social inequalities like the "digital divide" between those who do and do not have access. Additionally, concepts like democracy and public sphere may not apply to the postmodern nature of online interactions. Recent studies also suggest the Internet has a limited role in promoting citizenship. In conclusion, the Internet has not significantly changed how citizens relate to the public sphere despite new communication abilities.
Social media course 2010 2011: what's going on online?guillaume ereteo
The document discusses the development of semantic web technologies and linked data. It describes how these technologies allow data and knowledge to be machine-readable and connected through URIs, enabling machines to better understand and process online information. It provides examples of how semantic markup and linked open data are being widely adopted and are starting to transform the internet into a global data space where all kinds of resources can be named, described and connected for humans and machines.
The document discusses open government and increasing transparency, participation, and collaboration between governments and citizens. It notes that open data can drive innovation when society creates applications and analyzes data, and transparency secures democracy. However, increased transparency may lead to tensions between network dynamics and existing institutional structures as organizations resist changes that threaten their power structures.
Digital Exclusion: Implications for Human Services Practitioners SUE WATLING ...Sue Watling
Digital Exclusion: Implications for Human Services Practitioners (2010) SUE WATLING and KARIN CRAWFORD Journal of Technology in Human Services, 28:205–216,
Networks for Citizen Consultation and Citizen Sourcing of Expertise: Explor...@cristobalcobo
"New ICTs + New Media = New Democracy? Communications policy and public life in the age of broadband"
Experts’ workshop
New America Foundation, 1899 L St NW, Washington, DC
September 20-22, 2011
www.americanthinktank.net
Cristobal Cobo, Ph.D
Research Fellow
Oxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford
Citilab Presentation October 2009 - Digital CitiesDave Harte
The document discusses four key ingredients for developing a digital city: 1) A desire for citizens to talk about things in the city, 2) A strong social culture where citizens interact, 3) Open access to city data, and 4) Issues for citizens to advocate for or against. It argues that combining a citizens' cognitive surplus and freely available public data through various online and offline social platforms can create new economic opportunities and an engaged digital workforce that shapes the future of the city from the bottom up. Realizing this vision will likely involve tensions between various stakeholders, but this messy process is an important part of cultivating an innovative digital culture.
Cipr building online community (19 10 10)(final)Catherine Howe
The document discusses how online communities are becoming increasingly important as society moves towards a more networked age. It argues that local governments need to engage with citizens in online spaces, not just expect people to come to them. It suggests that governments can save costs by webcasting meetings and enabling more self-organization and co-production of services among online communities. Local governments need to understand online culture and build relationships online to stay relevant to their communities.
This document provides an overview of data journalism. It discusses the origins of database journalism in the 1950s and examples of early practitioners. It also covers recent developments like increased use of data visualization and tools that allow for more interactive data stories. Experts comment that data-driven journalism can uncover important stories and that skills in data analysis and visualization will be increasingly important for journalists. The document also lists some free and popular tools used for data analysis and visualization.
The document discusses how elected officials can better engage with citizens using new technologies and the concept of co-production. It argues that representative democracy needs to change to reflect an increasingly networked society. Some engagement strategies proposed include using social media like Facebook and Twitter, holding virtual meetings and surgeries, opening up government data and processes, and collaborating with digital activists and online communities. The goal is for elected representatives to build relationships with constituents over the long term through more transparent and participatory governance.
The document discusses how the internet may impact social capital. It presents three perspectives: that the internet increases social capital by enabling new forms of interaction and community; decreases social capital by competing for time and reducing offline social interaction; or supplements social capital by providing an additional means of communication without major effects on offline social life. The document then analyzes data from a 1998 survey of National Geographic website visitors to evaluate these perspectives.
Summary of social media techniques and applications that can be used to improve the public involvement process in urban and transport planning. Including reporting applications, serious games, collaboration tools, educational applications and supporting tools.
A combination of automatic, real-time data feeds from government agencies and new Web 2.0 "data visualization" tools can both increase cooperation and operating efficiency within government, and improve the quality of policy debate and encourage people to become actively involved in offering ideas to improve government. NOTE: best viewed in full-screen mode to read notes.
The importance of little data: creating an impact at a local levelDamian Radcliffe
Data journalism can have a real impact at a local level and although this type of reporting is less mainstream than it is nationally, examples and opportunities for best practice do exist.
Book chapter in Data Journalism: Inside the global future- available: https://www.amazon.com/Data-Journalism-Inside-global-future/dp/1845496639
The document summarizes the key issues and debates around the concept of multistakeholderism that emerged from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process regarding Internet governance. It analyzes the role and participation of civil society groups in the WSIS, noting limitations around their representativeness and legitimacy. While multistakeholderism aimed to be more inclusive, the document finds gaps remained between experts and activists in the civil society caucus studied. Representativeness and legitimacy were not fully realized through the caucus email list discussions.
Planning Liveable Cities With Big Social DataMatt Low
Big social data – data collected from online social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Yelp – can provide new insights into the dynamics of cities. Billions of data points can be harvested to understand how people move around the city and how they experience the urban environment. Deeper, real-time urban insights provide the evidence base for planning more liveable cities – building more responsive transport systems, developing unique neighbourhood identities, and designing more attractive places.
These new data sets are especially useful for addressing gaps within the urban planner’s
toolbox. Firstly, while the pace of change in cities accelerates, conventional data sets (such as Census data or surveys) are updated infrequently. Secondly, there is limited data about the invisible dimensions of cities – sentiment, movement, and social networks.
my talk to 2/12/09 O'Reilly IgniteBoston, emphasizing that passage of economic stimulus package, combined with current economy, is perfect time to introduce data-centric "democratizing data" approach, giving workers, regulators, public, watchdogs real-time access to critical information! Video version: http://tinyurl.com/c9vkjy
This document discusses the emergence of online disability activism in response to UK welfare cuts. It analyzes three types of online actors opposing the cuts: formal organizations, digitized activists, and digital action networks. The research focuses on the digital action network "The Broken of Britain" and its Facebook page. Analysis found the group effectively builds consensus online around personal stories and alternative policy frames. However, questions remain around its long-term sustainability and accountability as a new form of online-only disability activism.
Citizens can now take pictures of issues in their neighborhoods and share them online or with local governments. However, reductions in local newspaper and radio journalism mean less accountability reporting on local institutions like governments and schools. While some online and TV news sources have expanded hyperlocal coverage of neighborhoods, few have replaced the in-depth reporting on powerful local groups that newspapers previously provided. It remains unclear if new forms of local media like public access radio or merged newspaper/TV operations can sufficiently cover local accountability.
Hyper-Local update: 20 key developments, February - March 2011Damian Radcliffe
Follow on from previous slide packs offering a personal take on hyper-local developments in the UK and USA. These slides include developments I thought were noteworthy in Feb 11 - March 11. Would very much welcome comments, feedback and suggestions.
Better Community Connections Through Big Data and AnalyticsSAP Analytics
http://spr.ly/AA_PublicSector - With in-memory computing and analytics tools, the City of Boston is providing better service to citizens and engaging more with the community.
-Bloomberg Businessweek Research
ODDC Context - Opening the Cities: Open Government Data in Local Governments ...Open Data Research Network
Presentation in the first workshop of the Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries project. Looking at the context of open data, and the research case study planned for 2013 - 2014. See http://www.opendataresearch.org/project/2013/jcv
This document discusses the role of open data in cities and the potential for data cooperatives. It notes that while data provides benefits through personalization, individuals may not be in control of their own data. The document suggests data cooperatives as a way for people to take back control of their data through custodianship, representation, and redistributing the value of aggregated personal data in a fair way. Open data initiatives in cities like Manchester aim to make all public data freely available to fuel innovation, but questions remain around empowering all people to benefit from data.
Are We Measuring the Right Things? From Disclosing Datasets to! Reshaping Da...Jonathan Gray
The document discusses reshaping data infrastructures and the implications for open data initiatives and advocacy. It notes that for beneficial ownership advocacy in the UK, disclosure of existing datasets was not enough, and civil society organizations had to undertake sustained engagement to influence development of data infrastructure systems. This included research on costs, functionality and legislation around public registries of beneficial ownership. It highlights how campaigners must look beyond released information to how information is collected and generated through infrastructure. The document also discusses implications for measuring the right things and new forms of "statactivism" to shape what and how things are measured through infrastructure.
This document discusses data visualization in journalism. It notes that as the amount of data generated grows exponentially, data visualization is important for understanding and conveying large datasets. The document outlines how data visualization has become an important part of data journalism, with media organizations developing specialized teams. It provides examples of how the Guardian, Seattle Times, New York Times and Reuters have used data visualization for investigative, explanatory and interactive journalism. The document also discusses citizen and independent journalism's use of open data and data visualization for political and social activism. Finally, it addresses challenges around ensuring data-driven graphics are understandable and conveying the limitations of using numbers to represent truth.
Are there ways in which we could use new smart technologies to aid the shift to a participative democracy rather then merely increasing passive consumption?
Data Journalism: chapter from Online Journalism Handbook first editionPaul Bradshaw
This chapter is from the first edition of the Online Journalism Handbook. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Active citizens and journalists using open data to innovate the information s...USAC Program
Active citizens and journalists in Italy are using open data and new platforms like street television to circumvent corporate media monopolies and promote civic issues. The Italian government also passed a transparency decree to increase accessibility of public administration information and encourage distributed monitoring of government activities. Community groups are emerging that focus on data journalism, technological skills sharing, and building communities of watchdogs and storytellers to empower citizens and overcome challenges of traditional media.
Similaire à Hyperlocal media and data journalism (20)
Moving Beyond Twitter/X and Facebook - Social Media for local news providersDamian Radcliffe
Slides from a workshop exploring "Moving Beyond Twitter/X and Facebook - Social Media for local news providers"
This presentation outlines social media habits in the US (and globally) and offers suggestions for how local newsrooms can tap into them.
The presentation features key data, user case studies and recommendations for new things to try out.
The presentation was part of the New York Press Association's 2024 spring conference.
https://nynewspapers.com/2024-nypa-spring-conference/
Slides from a workshop exploring "How is AI changing journalism?"
This presentation outlines how newsrooms have been using artificial intelligence (AI) for some time, and how the emergence of Generative AI is accelerating this usage. The presentation outlines use cases, key steps for implementation and some emerging areas and issues to keep an eye on.
The presentation was part of the New York Press Association's 2024 spring conference.
https://nynewspapers.com/2024-nypa-spring-conference/
Lessons from Community-Centered Journalism for Local Journalism ResearchDamian Radcliffe
Slides presented by Regina Lawrence - based on our research - at the 2024 Local Journalism Researchers’ Workshop, March 25-26, 2024 at Duke University. The presentation outlines key points from our research, including: why Community-Centered Journalism matters, the backdrop that it plays out against, and five key challenges for growing this journalistic practice.
After the sobering read seen in our 2022-23 report, this year’s World Press Trends study strikes a more cautiously optimistic note, with more than half of the respondents conveying a positive outlook about their companies’ business prospects for the foreseeable future.
This is despite publishers grappling with challenges on various fronts, including elevated inflation and interest rates, surging paper and printing expenses, continual shifts within advertising markets and audience behaviours, as well as wider geopolitical uncertainty reflected in conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, wider strategic challenges such as the surge of Generative AI, changing relationships with platforms and continued challenges to press freedom and freedom of expression, also continue to vex many journalists and publishers.
In response, news publishers are inevitably looking closely at their revenue strategy, investment priorities, areas of focus, cost management, and their stance on areas such as AI and other technologies. We delve into these themes extensively within this report.
This report is primarily based on the findings of an online survey distributed to WAN-IFRA members and other senior media executives between July and September 2023, and was available in four languages (English, French, Spanish and German).
Survey participants were typically members of the senior team at a newspaper or a newspaper group. Based on the information provided by our respondents, a third (66%) are C-Suite (CEOs, Publishers, Managing Directors). A further third is either a Commercial Director/Heads of Strategy or Executive Editor.
We received 175 complete responses from 60 nations around the world. Using classifications developed by the World Bank, 58% of respondents come from developed economies and 42% from developing economies. Our sample also features a wide range of different countries with respondents coming from countries as diverse as Argentina, Canada, Russia, and Indonesia. They also came from some of the world’s largest media markets, including Germany, India, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Through the data and insights that they provided, we are able to comprehend the attitudes of today’s industry leaders in a variety of business and editorial roles. Their observations, regarding the sector’s present and future, can be seen throughout this report.
As ever, we want to express our appreciation to everyone who participated in this annual survey. This report would not be possible without their contributions.
A huge thank you to all of our contributors: Damian Radcliffe, Dr. Francois Nel, and Teemu Henriksson. Last but not least, this report would not be possible without the support of our partner, Stibo DX.
Full CV/Resume as of March 2023, listing my previous experience, research and journalistic output, media mentions, speaking engagements and events/conferences that I have organized. (Produced for an academic audience, hence the length!)
How is AI changing journalism? Strategic considerations for publishers and ne...Damian Radcliffe
The document discusses how AI is being used and will continue to be used in journalism, media, and advertising over the next five years. It outlines several ways AI is currently being utilized, such as to generate routine reports, personalize content, and programmatically place ads. The document also provides strategic and editorial considerations for organizations looking to implement AI, including having a clear strategy and guidelines around transparency, copyright, and managing cultural changes in the workplace.
Redefining News: A Manifesto for Community-Centered JournalismDamian Radcliffe
This forward-thinking report makes the case for embracing a more inclusive, community-focused model of journalism, one that prioritizes listening to and collaborating with communities to produce relevant, equitable and impactful news and storytelling. The report features an actionable framework to put the principles of Community-Centered Journalism into practice and explains how this approach differs from traditional models of journalism, with potential benefits including rebuilding trust, tackling inequities, and fostering civic engagement.
Building a Stronger Local Media Ecosystem: The Role of Media PolicyDamian Radcliffe
This paper plays out against a backdrop of continued closures and diminished local news reporting across much of the United States. It explores the role that media policy can and should play in supporting local journalism.
In examining this topic, we investigate three fundamental questions:
What is local media policy?
What are the key existential issues and/or problems local media policy must wrestle with?
What potential solutions to the local news crisis can media policy potentially help address?
The core of our response to these questions is derived from a series of five public webinars hosted by the Tow Center. Through these events, we invited a range of industry and academic experts to share their perspectives on areas related to these major themes.
Our conversations explored the scope of media policy, barriers to implementation, opportunities for policy to make a difference, and some of the unique characteristics that shape U.S. media policy and attitudes toward potential policy interventions.
To this, we have added further context and updates on some of the latest policy developments, based on a literature review and our continued interest in this subject.
The latest World Press Trends report shows that business sentiment in the industry has taken a downturn, in a context where multiple challenges face news publishers around the world. Yet there are causes for optimism, as revenue diversification progresses and publishers double down on new revenue sources and editorial products.
This year’s World Press Trends study makes for a sobering read after the optimism of our previous report. The mood in the industry has changed, and publishers find themselves in a more unpredictable business environment due to a number of challenges, including high levels of inflation, rising paper and print costs, as well as ongoing changes to advertising markets.
The change in business sentiment is one of the main findings of the new World Press Trends Outlook report. As in the previous years, the analysis is based on an online survey distributed to industry leaders. 167 news executives from 62 countries took part in the survey in Fall 2022 – a big thank you to them for sharing their insights, results and strategies.
WAN-IFRA also works with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Zenith for key performance indicators (global revenues and circulation). For audience insights, we work with analytics specialist Chartbeat. World Press Trends is supported by Protecmedia, the content management provider.
Damian Radcliffe, longtime industry analyst, journalist and academic, authored most of the report, offering his analysis and context to the survey and emerging trends. Dr. Francois Nel, also a longtime analyst, well-known academic within our industry and longtime contributor to WPT, provided his analysis, contribution and data analysis of all our collected data. WAN-IFRA’s Andrew Heslop shared his analysis on our Press Freedom data, and WAN-IFRA’s Teemu Henriksson helped to coordinate the project along with Dean Roper.
Here is what makes up the core of the report:
Executive Summary
Methodology and Profile of Respondents
Chapter 1: Global snapshot of performance indicators
Chapter 2: Business Outlook
- Tougher times ahead
- Priming the profit pump
- Relationships with Platforms
- Digital Transformation
Chapter 3: Revenues
- Back in black
- Print’s continued importance
- Revenue diversification in practice
- A bumpier revenue road in 2023
- Ad advice Publishers, it’s all about controlling what you can control
Chapter 4: Investment and Expenditure
- Investing in Revenues
-Tech spending
- AI and publishers
- Costs and Outgoings
Report partner: How AI and automation solutions can impact newsrooms
Chapter 5: Media Freedom
Social Media in the Middle East 2022: A Year in ReviewDamian Radcliffe
Welcome to the latest annual study on Middle East Social Media Trends. This report, the eleventh in a series dating back to 2012, provides an in-depth analysis of the current state of social media in the Middle East. As the most comprehensive and up-to-date study of its kind, it is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the region's digital landscape.
In this report, we examine the most popular social media platforms and the ways in which people are using them. We explore the impact of social media on politics, business and culture in the region. Our findings will be of interest to anyone interested in how social media shapes the way we connect with one another, as well as the ways in which we consume and find information. These trends are relevant to marketers, journalists, brands and businesses, as well as government agencies and public bodies.
Over the past decade, the Middle East has seen a significant increase in social media adoption. Today, it boasts some of the highest penetration rates of social media in the world, making it a key market for platforms and businesses looking to engage with Arab audiences.
From staying in touch with friends and family to consuming news and entertainment, social media - as it is around the world - is an integral part of daily life in the region. Social media is also playing an increasingly important role in politics, with many politicians and activists using the platforms to connect with the public and mobilize support for their policies.
Damian Radcliffe is a journalist, researcher, and professor based at the University of Oregon.
He holds an endowed chair as the Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism, and he is also a Professor of Practice, an affiliate faculty member of the Department for Middle East and North Africa Studies (MENA) and the Agora Journalism Center, and a Research Associate of the Center for Science Communication Research (SCR).
Damian is also a three time Knight News Innovation Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies (JOMEC), and a life fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
In spring 2023 he will be a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, his alma matter.
With over 25 years of experience in the media industry, Damian has worked in editorial, strategic, research, policy and teaching roles in the USA, Middle East and UK. He continues to be an active journalist, writing regular features for leading trade publications such as Digital Content Next, International Journalists' Network (IJNet), What's New in Publishing, journalism.co.uk and other outlets.
He is a globally recognized expert on digital trends, social media, technology, the business of media, the evolution of present-day journalistic practice and the role played by media and technology in the Middle East.
As an analyst, researcher and trainer, he has worked with a wide range of industry and academic organizations including the BBC World Service, Facebook, FIPP, INMA, Thomson Reuters Foundation, World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the United Nations.
He has been quoted on issues relating to digital media and journalism by major outlets such as AFP, BBC, Business Insider, Editor & Publisher, NPR, The New York Times, Snapchat, Wired and Voice of America.
As a freelance journalist his work has also been published by leading publications and trade outlets such as the BBC, Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), Harvard’s Nieman Lab, HuffPost, PBS MediaShift, Poynter, TheMediaBriefing and ZDNet.
Originally from the UK, Damian lives on the west coast of the US with his wife and three young children.
The Most Popular Social Media Accounts in the Middle East (H1 2022)Damian Radcliffe
For the first time, this report brings together the most popular accounts originating in MENA on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.
Each of these platforms is explored in more detail in this report, but below we outline the account with the largest number of followers, likes and subscribers, across MENA as well as the region's four biggest markets: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
The report was made by possible by support from the New Media Academy and data from Emplifi. My thanks to them both.
From the Ground Up: How Community-Centered Journalism can Help Create a More ...Damian Radcliffe
A look at some of the key themes and ideas from an upcoming report on Community-Centered Journalism, commissioned by the Agora Journalism Center. Presented at a local journalism researchers workshop hosted at the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill, on Feb 19th 2023.
Mental Health and Digital Safety Tips for Journalists.pptxDamian Radcliffe
Tips and recommendations for my Social Media for Journalists class (Fall 2022) at the University of Oregon. The deck includes tips for digital safety, self-care and mental well-being, as well as managing digital overload. It features links to resources and materials from DART, CPJ, Poynter and others.
This document provides 10 tips for using Instagram Stories successfully as a journalist. The tips include planning content in advance, using consistent fonts and templates, keeping stories moving with a mix of images and video, adding hashtags and mentions, making stories accessible without sound, using templates from apps like Canva and Mojo, curating highlights and reels, practicing with the apps, and learning from other creators on Instagram. The goal is to establish structure, pace content appropriately, and engage audiences.
This edition of WAN-IFRA’s annual flagship research and report reveals an industry challenged but optimistic about its business. It examines the results of publishers’ business in 2021, their forecasts for 2022 and beyond, and the trends and issues shaping the industry.
Our research shows news publishers feel confident about tackling the ongoing coronavirus crisis, and that some of their early pandemic-era pivots are beginning to pay dividends. However, publishers still need to navigate considerable transformation and turmoil, even if there are signs of a resurgence in global advertising markets and a maturing of many reader revenue strategies. The invasion of Ukraine has further undermined companies’ plans, as how that conflict will unfold can have long-lasting effects on industries across the board, in addition to the humanitarian crisis it is causing.
As in the previous years, the World Press Trends Outlook analysis is based on an online survey distributed to industry leaders. 162 news executives from 58 countries took part in the survey in Fall 2021 – a big thank you to them for sharing their insights, results and strategies.
In addition, WAN-IFRA works with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and ZenithOptimedia for key performance indicators (revenue, circulation and ad spend). For additional audience insights, we work with analytics specialist Chartbeat.
World Press Trends is supported by Protecmedia, the content management provider.
--
Per the report intro (page 4): "Damian Radcliffe, longtime industry analyst, journalist and academic, authored most of the report for the first time, offering his analysis and context to the survey and emerging trends. Dr. Francois Nel, also a longtime analyst, well-known academic within our industry and contributor to WPT, provided his analysis, contribution and data analysis of all our collected data. WAN-IFRA's Teemu Henriksson helped to coordinate the project along with Dean Roper."
Discover the benefits of outsourcing SEO to Indiadavidjhones387
"Discover the benefits of outsourcing SEO to India! From cost-effective services and expert professionals to round-the-clock work advantages, learn how your business can achieve digital success with Indian SEO solutions.
HijackLoader Evolution: Interactive Process HollowingDonato Onofri
CrowdStrike researchers have identified a HijackLoader (aka IDAT Loader) sample that employs sophisticated evasion techniques to enhance the complexity of the threat. HijackLoader, an increasingly popular tool among adversaries for deploying additional payloads and tooling, continues to evolve as its developers experiment and enhance its capabilities.
In their analysis of a recent HijackLoader sample, CrowdStrike researchers discovered new techniques designed to increase the defense evasion capabilities of the loader. The malware developer used a standard process hollowing technique coupled with an additional trigger that was activated by the parent process writing to a pipe. This new approach, called "Interactive Process Hollowing", has the potential to make defense evasion stealthier.
Ready to Unlock the Power of Blockchain!Toptal Tech
Imagine a world where data flows freely, yet remains secure. A world where trust is built into the fabric of every transaction. This is the promise of blockchain, a revolutionary technology poised to reshape our digital landscape.
Toptal Tech is at the forefront of this innovation, connecting you with the brightest minds in blockchain development. Together, we can unlock the potential of this transformative technology, building a future of transparency, security, and endless possibilities.
Gen Z and the marketplaces - let's translate their needsLaura Szabó
The product workshop focused on exploring the requirements of Generation Z in relation to marketplace dynamics. We delved into their specific needs, examined the specifics in their shopping preferences, and analyzed their preferred methods for accessing information and making purchases within a marketplace. Through the study of real-life cases , we tried to gain valuable insights into enhancing the marketplace experience for Generation Z.
The workshop was held on the DMA Conference in Vienna June 2024.
Gen Z and the marketplaces - let's translate their needs
Hyperlocal media and data journalism
1. Hyperlocal media and data
journalism
Data journalism is still a nascent concept in the emerging hyperlocal media
sector, argues Damian Radcliffe, but examples of activity do exist –
particularly in the US – and steps can be taken to make it more
mainstream
2. Background and context
Hyperlocal blogs and websites can offer a valuable service to local communities. Their
greatest qualities are their interactivity with their readership and the exchange of local
information and discussion that they facilitate. Hyperlocal websites can potentially also be
good for maintaining local identity and can provide healthy scrutiny and discussion of local
democracy and local issues, which is to be encouraged (House of Commons Culture, Media
and Sport Committee 2010).
Hyperlocal Media is a small but emerging part of the UK’s local media ecosystem. NESTA’s
landscape report, Here and Now – UK Hyperlocal Media Today, defined hyperlocal media
as: “Online news or content services pertaining to a town, village, single postcode or other
small geographically-defined community” (Radcliffe 2012: 6). Available in all media
platforms, this sector has a long history across the print medium and is increasingly becoming
more established in the digital space. The number of known websites rose from 432 in May
2012 (Ofcom 2012) to 633 by February 2013 (Turner 2013) and the real picture may be
bigger once content on social media platforms is taken into consideration.
In the absence of more detailed data, the Openly Local Hyperlocal Directory1
(from which
these figures are derived), serves as our most detailed model for understanding the size and
geographic spread of the UK’s hyperlocal media scene. Not surprisingly, research suggests
that much of this activity is focused on major conurbations such as London and Birmingham.
However, Ofcom has also noted: “… some rural areas were well served, with South
Gloucestershire having 11 sites, largely aimed at small towns and villages, and Wiltshire
3. having ten” (Ofcom 2012). In contrast to this regions such as the North East, the East
Midlands or the three Devolved Nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland appear to
be disproportionately under-served (Ofcom 2012: 110).
It will be interesting to see if this geographic distribution changes over time, especially as the
sector becomes more established, or if devolution – at national and local levels – encourages
the creation of more sites, including those designed to hold political institutions to account.
Political encouragement
The Coalition Government has made some positive noises to encourage local accountability,
particularly in its desire for citizens to scrutinise public data. However, the results have yet to
live up to the hyperlocal hyperbole. Following a decision to open up government data –
4. including local government spending2
and information “at a level that allows the public to see
what is happening on their streets” (Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street 2010) – the
Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, enthusiastically called
for an army of “armchair auditors” to scrutinise local accounts, arguing:
Greater openness in spending is the best way to root out waste, spot duplication and
increase value for money. That is why I have been asking councils to “show me the
money” so local taxpayers can see where their hard earned cash is going (Department
for Communities and Local Government 2010).
The move was later accompanied by efforts to ensure that “credible community or
‘hyperlocal’ bloggers and online broadcasters get the same routine access to council meetings
as the traditional accredited media have” (Department for Communities and Local
Government 2011). Although no indication was given as to what the criteria were for
determining how a community or hyperlocal blogger could be considered “credible” – the
rationale for their role was more explicit:
With local authorities in the process of setting next year’s budget this is more
important than ever. Opening the door to new media costs nothing and will help
improve public scrutiny. The greater powers and freedoms that we are giving local
councils must be accompanied by stronger local accountability (ibid).3
5. Disappointing results
‘I reckon a few armchair auditors might decide to watch telly instead’ (Osley 2011).
Despite comments in mid-2011 that the “new wave of local scrutiny by citizen journalists,
microbloggers and armchair auditors … was a triumph” (Department for Communities and
Local Government 2011b), the evidence to substantiate this claim is limited. Although there
were some initial successes – from Adrian Short’s website for the Royal Borough of Windsor
and Maidenhead (the now defunct http://armchairauditor.co.uk/) to the successful
identification of issues in Barnet (http://wwwbrokenbarnet.blogspot.com/) and Islington4
–
these were exceptions, rather than the rule. The reasons for this mainstream failure are
multiple. Perhaps, as Neil O’Brien, the former Director of the Policy Exchange think tank,
suggested:
I think when they were in opposition the Conservatives were a bit naive about the way
they thought they could just stick data out there and brilliant people would come and
cut it up and make it very useable (cited by Wheeler 2012).
Particular barriers pertinent to hyperlocal publishers include: time, skills and the format in
which the data is available (ibid). Time is an especially important consideration for
hyperlocal publishers given that these sites are seldom run full time (many practitioners hold
down other day jobs). Alongside this, there is also the consideration that data mining may not
throw up anything of particular interest, or that it can be difficult to determine the story
behind the data – if, indeed, there is one at all (Osley op cit).
6. Hyperlocal publishers may also come to the conclusion that their limited time is better served
focusing on content which is quicker (and often easier) to produce. Certainly they cannot
cover everything (Jones 2011) although that is not to say that they do not offer stories related
to local government. They clearly do (Williams 2013). It is just that they are not necessarily
embracing data – and data journalism – to do it.
Hyperlocal data journalism: Three UK case studies
Despite the presence of a number of inhibiting factors, examples of data driven hyperlocal
media do exist. In 2010 Dave Harte produced a map5
of gritting routes for Bournville News,
taking publicly available information but presenting it in a useful way for residents. On his
blog he explained the “tedious process of creating the map and why this hyperlocal blogging
thing is doomed to failure unless we get a rich supply of local data to feed off” (Harte 2010).
He also outlined the motivation behind this effort:
I thought the potential grit shortage might mean that some roads would stop getting
gritted should the cold spell continue and knowing which roads were meant to be
gritted would be useful knowledge. “Will my road get gritted?” is an easy question to
answer since the City Council has an alphabetical list of all the roads that are gritted
in order of priority (ibid).
7. Later in the year, James Cousins, Conservative councillor for Shaftesbury ward in
Wandsworth, did something similar; plotting the location of all grit bins in the borough on a
Google map and posting6
this on his blog. The data, previously only available in a text format
– and four clicks deep – on the council website, was now potentially a lot more accessible
(Dale 2011).
Alongside presenting existing data in new and creative ways, hyperlocal websites also
encourage the creation of new datasets too – covering areas where existing data either does
not exist, or fails to provide the level of granularity needed to solve a particular issue. One
example of the latter is Bramcote Today. Established following a workshop led by Talk
About Local and facilitated by Broxtowe Borough Council, one of site’s earliest successes
stemmed from online discussions about Hillside Road (Johnson 2011a) – a notorious accident
blackspot.
As a result of these conversations, the county council installed equipment to monitor the
number and speed of vehicles, later sharing the results (Johnson 2011b) with Bramcote Today
readers and involving them in a discussion around potential solutions such as a community
speed watch scheme (Austin 2011). A number of these measures were successfully
implemented. This result was very much in line with the hyperlocal ethos of Talk About
Local founder William Perrin. He described his ambition as being to:
… use the web to drive people into local democratic avenues to get things to change
... The websites are] there to augment real human engagement in the political process.
8. You need representatives to make decisions ... but the web can help them understand
better what those issues should be ... we help augment traditional community action
(cited in Beckett 2010).
Other UK hyperlocal sites7
are helping to generate data – and action – using off-the-shelf
resources such as mySociety’s FixMyStreet widget, which allows people to “report, view, or
discuss local problems like graffiti, fly tipping, broken paving slabs or street lighting”. Since
it launched in early February 2007, more than 350,000 incident reports have been generated8
with MySociety reporting that over 50 per cent of users have never contacted their local
council before; showing that the tool can play a role in promoting active citizenship
(FixMyStreet 2013). Some US hyperlocals make use of a similar tool, SeeClickFix9
– the
data it provides offering a means to highlight issues, generate stories and promote discussion,
“an example of community news that doesn't necessarily come packaged in story form”
(Gahran 2012).
Hyperlocal data journalism: Three case studies from across the pond
Beyond embracing SeeClickFix, a number of American based US hyperlocal websites have
also harnessed data journalism to help tell the stories of the communities they serve. San Jose
based NeighborWebSJ used maps to report on the “Streetlight Shutoff Program”, a cost-
saving initiative to permanently switch off certain lights. Although it saved the city $77,000 a
year – against an electricity bill of $3.5 million a year for streetlights, and a $90 million
budget shortfall – many residents and businesses argued the scheme increased the risk of
9. crime. On one road, Alum Rock Avenue, a resident complained that lights were out at 13 bus
stops. In response to these community concerns, the website included a Google Map to
indicate where lights were out across the city, as well as information on how to report issues
to the authorities (Rombeck nd a).
This reporting helped to identify that some lights had been turned off by accident, whilst
others were turned back on as a result of public pressure, including those at the bus stops on
Alum Rock Avenue. In February 2013 the city agreed to reconnect 900 of the streetlights that
had been previously shut off as part of the budget cuts in 2008-2009 (Rombeck nd b). The
team at NeighborWebSJ have also produced a Google Map which shows all of the 2012
homicides in San Jose, with data coming from police press releases, and links to other
media.10
This type of activity has been taken a stage further by specialist hyperlocal sites such
as Homicide Watch DC11
which covers every murder in the District of Columbia. The site
uses “original reporting, court documents, social media, and the help of victims” and
suspects’ friends, family, neighbours and others in an effort to “cover every homicide from
crime to conviction”. It was awarded the Knight Public Service Award by the Online News
Association in 2012 in recognition of its efforts to explore a single issue in a single
geographic area.12
Meanwhile, in California, the Bay Citizen, created an interactive map to show every bike
accident reported to police. Users can filter by road conditions, lighting and other
requirements such as “who is at fault”. The map makes use of data from 14,113 incidents
10. between January 2005-December 2009, allowing cyclists to determine which are the safest
routes to use, and which are the ones they should avoid.
Lessons from EveryBlock: Why data alone is not enough
All of these examples involve hyperlocal publishers using data to illustrate particular issues
or community considerations; often harnessing maps as a means to tell stories or provide
opportunities for audiences to analyse data in a manner which is meaningful to them. The
sites are not purely data driven, and they all provide context and interpretation which
audiences clearly value.
These are important considerations for publishers, and the failure of the EveryBlock – a US-
based website which aggregated local information produced by government and state
agencies – helps to reinforce this point. The site, which offered a data-centric approach to
hyperlocal, launched in 2008 and was bought by MNBC in 2009. However, in February
2013, the site was closed13
after NBC decided that they “didn’t see a strategic fit for
EveryBlock within the [NBC News Digital] portfolio” (Schiller, cited in Sonderman 2013).
As Steve Johnson, Assistant Professor of Electronic Journalism at Montclair State University,
noted: “Readers don’t care about the raw data. They want the story within the data” (Johnson
2013). By way of an example, he explained what happened when he explored data related to
lower Manhattan:
11. There were reports on what graffiti the city said it had erased each month, by
neighborhoods. But what was missing was context, and photos. If I’m a reporter doing
a story on graffiti, I want to show before and after photos, AND, more importantly, I
want to know whether the city is successfully fighting the graffiti artists, i.e., who is
winning. The raw data didn’t provide that.
To some extent, the EveryBlock team acknowledged this when in 2011 they moved the site
moved in a new direction, telling their audience:
As valuable as automated updates of crime, media mentions, and other EveryBlock
news are, contributions from your fellow neighbors are significantly more meaningful
and useful. While we're not removing our existing aggregation of public records and
other neighborhood information (more on this in a bit), we’ve come to realize that
human participation is essential, not only as a layer on top but as the bedrock of the
site (Holovaty 2011).
Ultimately however, this pivot was unsuccessful and although some decried the fact that
EveryBlock was “clearly the future” (Coates 2013), the site failed to resonate enough with
audiences or advertisers to survive.
Moving forward: Five ways to help further grow and embed hyperlocal data journalism
Perhaps we should not be surprised that data journalism – and the armchair auditing that the
UK Government has spoken so enthusiastically about – is not more mainstream at a
hyperlocal level. After all, this sort of activity is not for everyone:
12. … you need to be a particular type of person. Politically, you need to be engaged and
interested in local government, understand how local government works and have a
driving reason to dedicate yourself to it. To have all these traits in combination is rare
(Worthy 2013).
And even with the power of automated technology and feeds, it is clear that audiences still
value context and interpretation; activities which can often require quite a lot of leg-work.
Sure, give me an aggregator that sifts through a Twitter “cloud” and tells me what the
conversation is all about in my neighbourhood; but then I still need a grunt to go and
knock on doors; make contact; get content (Waghorn 2009).
As we have seen, for time-pressed hyperlocal publishers, regular usage of data journalism
may just be one thing too many to accommodate. However, given the increasing wealth of
public data being made available, it is not unrealistic to expect that the hyperlocal sector will,
over time, need to embrace data journalism more than it has at present.
Below are five ways in which the sector might be able to build upon existing practices, so
that data journalism becomes a more mainstream hyperlocal activity.
1. Using data as a day-to-day illustrator
DNAinfo.com New York used maps and infographics to help demonstrate the conclusions of
their analysis of the city’s 2011 stop and frisk numbers. This enabled them to identify the top
25 locations where people were stopped-and-frisked by the police, as well as the extent to
13. which black and Hispanic New Yorkers are stopped-and-frisked far more than any other
demographic. Their analysis also showed that more people are stopped at the Port Authority
Bus Terminal – regardless of race – than any other location (Colvin and Harris 2012).
2. Using data to create niche blogs or stories
Given the plurality of news sources increasingly used by audiences (Ofcom 2013) citizens
and hyperlocal publishers may want to explore the idea of responding to a major (perhaps
even single) issue with a unique series of stories, or potentially even a standalone website.
Birmingham City University students showed how this might work when in 2010 they set up
a hyperlocal blog – http://birminghambudgetcuts.blogspot.com/ – aimed at the 50,000 public
sector workers in the region. The site specifically focused on budget cuts and how they were
affecting people (Watt 2010).
3. Using FoI to unlock hitherto hidden data
FoI (Freedom of Information) requests can be a useful means to unearth data which might
otherwise not be published. As a result, it can offer great potential as a source for stories.
Saddleworth News demonstrated this effectively following an FoI into the cost and usage of
the Oldham Says website, revealing that the site had received just 2,548 unique visits in the
six months to the end of September 2010.
With a total of £25,544 having been spent on setting up the site, that’s roughly
equivalent to an incredible £10 for each and every click. The site’s readership has
been particularly low in the last two months, with just 268 people logging on in
August and 296 doing so in September (Saddleworth News 2010).
14. 4. Unlocking the Power of the Many (or at least a few): networked journalism
Given that many hyperlocal websites are run by an individual, or a very small number of
volunteers, having the time and skills to embrace data journalism can be a challenge. One
solution to this issue may be more networked journalism, bringing together people around
specific questions or issues as the Birmingham based website Help Me Investigate did14
.
Working in this way may require a change of approach for some publishers – and, of course,
recruiting and managing the efforts of volunteers can be a time-consuming. Nevertheless, as
Professor Jeff Jarvis has argued:
Professional and amateur, journalist and citizen may now work together to gather and
share more news in more ways to more people than was ever possible before.
Networked journalism is founded on a simple, self-evident and self-interested truth:
We can do more together than we can apart … This, I believe, is the natural state of
media: two-way and collaborative (Jarvis 2008).
5. Data driven campaigns and partnership working
Finally there are also opportunities to use data as a tool for partnerships, with hyperlocals
identifying stories as a grassroots level which then get escalated at a wider local, regional or
national level. Perhaps surprisingly this doesn’t happen as often as you might think:
15. Thus far, “there’s been only one example of collaboration [with local newspapers]. I
found statistics on ambulance call-outs in response to assault incidents. They were
rising massively but violent crime was only rising a small amount ... The newspaper
picked up on my research, ran some more maths on the numbers, and ran a story”
(Perrin, cited in Beckett 2010).
Final Thoughts
Alongside these five areas of opportunity, I would also like to see the sector come together
more to help develop data journalism skills, share best practise and explore opportunities for
partnership working with other hyperlocals.
One potential area to do this could be around joint investigations. It would be fascinating to
see sites in major cities such as Birmingham or Manchester coming together on a semi-
regular basis to jointly explore key datasets around subjects such as crime, public spaces or
health. This would enable them to tell the story relevant to their own patch as well as build a
city-wide or national picture around topics which always enjoy a strong local dimension.
The second version of HelpMeInvestigate – which focuses on supporting a network of
community editors around specific issues (Bradshaw 2011) – offers a potential model for this
and it would be interesting to see if this approach could be expanded to other topics and
collaborators. This could be particularly effective if combined with a trade body (Radcliffe:
2013) which can promote training and the sharing of best practise. Such a body could help
16. improve data journalism knowledge and training across the sector and in the process help to
take hyperlocal media – as well as hyperlocal data journalism – to the next level.
Whether inter-sector links develop along these lines is perhaps, to some extent, a moot point.
I believe that they would help the sector to grow and develop, but irrespective of that it clear
is that both data journalism and hyperlocal media are an increasingly established part of the
21st
Century news and information landscape. As a result, seeing how they evolve and
embrace one another will be fascinating journey to observe.
Notes
1
See http://openlylocal.com/hyperlocal_sites, accessed on 6 October 2013
2
The Government undertook to publish “new items of local government spending over £500
to be published on a council-by-council basis from January 2011 … and new local
government contracts and tender documents for expenditure over £500 to be published in full
from January 2011”. See: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/letter-to-government-
departments-on-opening-up-data, accessed on 6 October 2013
3
Also see: Access to local council meetings: ministerial letter. Available online at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-local-council-meetings-ministerial-
letter, accessed on 6 October 2013
4
The CLG website notes in a July 2011 announcement entitled “Armchair auditors are here to
stay” that in Barnet “serious deficiencies in procurement arrangements saw the council spend
over £1m of taxpayers’ money to hire a private security firm with no tendering exercise,
contract or proper invoicing. It was uncovered by local armchair auditors and activist
bloggers”. They also highlight that “in Islington an independent audit of thirty of the council’s
top five hundred suppliers found that many invoices had been paid more than once”. See
17. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/armchair-auditors-are-here-to-stay, accessed on 6
October 2013
5
View the map:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=p&msa=0&msid=101109997956977
110556.00047ce1b07baadd30e81&ll=52.426291,-
1.949043&spn=0.018318,0.042915&z=14&source=embed, accessed on 6 October 2013
6
See http://jamescousins.com/2010/12/gritting-wandsworth/, accessed on 6 October 2013
7
For example, Lichfield Live, http://lichfieldcommunitymedia.org/2012/04/26/how-to-add-
recent-fixmystreet-reports-to-your-hyperlocal-site/, accessed on 6 October 2013
8
See http://www.fixmystreet.com/ – stats provide on the homepage when accessed on 1
October 2013
9
See http://seeclickfix.com/, accessed on 6 October 2013
10
See
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=217123681087309783437.0004c94f4cd9b6
9d312e5&hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=m&source=embed&ll=37.321732,-
121.875501&spn=0.171191,0.205865, accessed on 6 October 2013
11
See http://homicidewatch.org/, accessed on 6 October 2013
12
See http://homicidewatch.org/about/, accessed on 6 October 2013
13
See http://blog.everyblock.com/2013/feb/07/goodbye/, accessed on 6 October 2013
14
See http://helpmeinvestigate.com, accessed on 6 October 2013
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Note on the contributor
23. Damian Radcliffe is an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff School of Journalism, Media
and Cultural Studies. He has written about hyperlocal media for a number of organisations
and media outlets including: Ofcom, the BBC College of Journalism, Networked
Neighbourhoods, journalism.co.uk and the Democratic Society. In 2012 NESTA published
his landscape report, Here and Now, the first comprehensive review of the UK’s hyperlocal
scene. Links to Damian’s extensive hyperlocal writing and research can be found via his
personal website: www.damianradcliffe.com/hyperlocal.