DOES OPEN DATA NEED JOURNALISM?

STONEMAN, JONATHAN (2015): DOES OPEN DATA NEED JOURNALISM? UK: REUTERS
INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.

Main Research Question

-Does open data need journalism?

-Does journalism need open data?

History of Open Data and Open Data in Journalism

Open Data movement started in the United States when president Obama signed a memorandum,
aiming to make datasets being open to access, scrutinize, use, modify, share, etc. by the public1. With
the aid of computers and internet, journalistic practices in the newsrooms has changed and the demand
for data-journalism skills increases. The National Institute for Computer Aided Reporting (NICAR)
was established to provide more trainings of new skillset for journalists. Many other countries follow
the US’s lead and many initiatives are seen to mushroom around the globe; however, none of the
policies mentioned “journalism” or consider journalists as end-users.2 Data is released yet often
outdated and slow, which results in a slowdown in journalistic activities and does not enable journalists
to inform the public in real-time. Moreover, stories containing data can rarely make it to the front page;
and in many cases, they receive relatively low attention from the audiences.

Example case study in Kenya

Kenya has an open data portal and ranks at the highest place among all developing countries in the
Open Data Barometer. Data is seen as the country’s asset and a key to the transparency of the
government. However, like other initiatives, Kenya’s Open Data Initiatives (ODIs) does not mention
journalism or the media.

4 years after launching, Kenya’s ODIs did not make any progress. There were very few datasets on the
portal and many of them are not updated. Nick Hargreaves, an…observer, suggested there is a need for
refreshment with policy guidelines. One of the reasons why ODIs in Kenya and other countries are not
successful is that ODIs is rather a top-down exercise than a demand from its people. Moreover, ODIs
are carried out due to the peer pressure instead of a thorough, sustainable plan.3

1
Stoneman, Jonathan (2015): Does Open data Need Journalism? p. 3.
2
Ibid., p. 4.
3
Stoneman, Jonathan (2015): p. 7.
Openness in Context

Openness cannot be simply achieved by just publishing data but it is rather based on how open the
government is to the questions from the media and how quickly they respond to Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests.4 According to Open Data Barometer, effective Open Dara policies require
collaboration between the government and its citizens. On the one hand, government provide the
transparent data. On the other hand, public has technical skills and freedom to use data as a tool for
change.5

It is argued that many governments holding themselves back from pure openness because they are still
reluctant to get out of their “comfort zone”. Being truly open means everyone, with access to all and
unfiltered data, can give feedback, recommendation based on officials’ performance and/or examine,
judge, criticize when government officials behave badly. This create a dilemma for the government.
Between pure openness and the need of avoiding criticism, blame when policies fail, many
governments are seen to be in favor of the latter one.6

How data is used by journalists

In the eye of Journalists, “data” is practically synonymous with “statistics” and has been turned into
make charts, graphs, and interactive web pages with very little news value or journalistic content. 7

Impact of Data on audience

As for the impact of data on audience, infographics are still not seen as a major source of news by
consumers and has less impact than headlines and words.

Journalists rarely describe their sources in enough detail to keep their accounting role, while advocates
of open data are usually technology companies with commercial goals, therefore there is less need for
an alliance between journalists and advocates of open data in order to increase impact.

Does Journalism need Open Data?

Some journalists and editors indicate that data can be a “savior”8 to the declining journalistic industry;
however, they do not rely heavily on open data, but they use Freedom of Information to acquire data
when necessary. Not less to say the disintermediation already happens in the social media sphere.

4
Ibid., p. 13.
5
Ibid.
6
See Ibid., p. 16 ff.
7
Ibid., p. 16.
8
Ibid., p. 15.
In the end of article, the write calls for the active asking for data rather than passive processing.
governments should improve the quantity, quality, and timeliness of open data and publish data which
is useful to a sizeable element of the population.9

Questions:

1. As a journalist, have you worked with Open Data?

2. Does journalism need open data?

3. Do you think Open Data can be helpful with the situation (corruption, crime, etc.) in your
country?

9
Ibid., p. 23.