INSTANCES OF DATA DRIVEN JOURNALISM IN THE DAILY TRUST 2016-2018
Abstract
For many years, Western media theories and journalism practices have been the hallmark of the journalism profession in Africa. However, the globalised nature of our world which has become interconnected and interdependent, spawned by increasing technological changes, underlines the importance of analysing journalism practices and new media in Nigeria from a global perspective. Theories of the present global media ecology have therefore, become unsustainable and unsatisfactory (Cottle, 2009). Globalisation opens up the opportunity to study journalism practice and culture as a hybrid (McMillin, 2007), hence the need for a definition of journalism that can reflect and accommodate the global political differences and culture (Wasserman and de Beer, 2009). Research in journalism studies around the world consistently highlights the existence of similarities and differences across cultures which signify the natural diversities in our world. Previous studies on journalism ethics and routines, including editorial conventions in the United States, Europe and Africa show similarities (Hanitzsch, 2009, 413), while other studies have also shown that there are differences in the way journalists from various countries sees their roles when making news judgements in their professional callings (Hanusch, 2008a).
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page
Approval page
Dedication
Acknowledgment
Abstract
Table of content
CHAPETR ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
1.2 Statement of problem
1.3 Objective of the study
1.4 Research Hypotheses
1.5 Significance of the study
1.6 Scope and limitation of the study
1.7 Definition of terms
1.8 Organization of the study
CHAPETR TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPETR THREE
3.0 Research methodology
3.1 sources of data collection
3.3 Population of the study
3.4 Sampling and sampling distribution
3.5 Validation of research instrument
3.6 Method of data analysis
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.1 Introductions
4.2 Data analysis
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Summary
5.3 Conclusion
5.4 Recommendation
Appendix
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
The emergence of data‐driven journalism (DDJ) can be understood as journalism’s response to the datafication of society. In fact, the phenomena of ‘big data’ and an increasingly data‐driven society are doubly relevant for journalism: Firstly, it is a topic worth covering so that the related developments and their consequences can be understood in context and public debate about them can be encouraged. Secondly, the ‘quantitative turn’ (Coddington, 2015) has already begun to affect news production itself and has given rise to novel ways of identifying and telling stories (Lewis and Usher, 2014): As a consequence, we are witnessing the emergence of a new journalistic sub‐field often described as ‘computational journalism’ (Karlsen and Stavelin, 2014) or ‘data‐driven journalism’ (Borges‐Rey, 2016: 840), acronymously known as, ‘DDJ’. The extensive attention that practitioners pay to DDJ has also fuelled ‘an explosion in data journalism‐ oriented scholarship’ (Fink and Anderson, 2015: 476). This research is based on case studies, cursory observations, and/or samples that are limited in spatio‐temporal terms. We aim to complement this body of work with a longitudinal, international study of what may be considered the gold‐standard among practitioners: projects nominated for the Data Journalism Awards (DJA) from 2013 to 2015. Through a content analysis of these pieces we look at how this new reporting style and its key components (e.g. data sources and types, visualisation strategies, interactive features) develop over time. Three years may appear to be a rather short period for a longitudinal analysis, but given the ‘rapidly changing nature’ (Royal and Blasingame, 2015: 41) of data journalism, we expect it to be long enough to shed an initial light on developments in the field. The surprising ability of new media technologies to transform journalism practice cannot be overemphasized. Many scholars have demonstrated how the internet provides media personnel with unrivalled access to information for research purposes. Berger (1997) notes how internet technology has enabled journalists to “…tap into the collective brain, wit and wisdom of thousands of knowledgeable journalists and non-journalists” (Berger, 1997:124). Like the newspaper and broadcast industries themselves, there is not a lot of investment in journalists in Africa. In most cases, newspaper organisations are under-resourced and most journalists in Nigeria echoed their problem of economic stagnation by not being paid regularly. Yet they continue to engage with modern technology. For a long time, there has been a debate about the impact of the rise of internet technology on traditional news media, such as newspapers. However, the influence of internet and other digital technologies on news reporting is often formulated in terms of threats to the existing order in traditional journalism practice and the need to examine and modernise journalists’ routines in Africa. Pavlik (2000) notes that the dominant focus in earlier studies of new media and journalism has been technologically themed based on the argument that new content is crucially determined by the available technology. There is no doubt that technological innovations driven by internet technology pose a challenge to journalism profession in Africa. However, the rise of internet technology offers a platform for transformation, asnew possibilities provided by the internet lend credibility to content. Hence, the importance of the internet as a news-gathering instrument is no longer questioned, since news accuracy is backed by new technology.
