July | 2024 | Online Journalism Blog

Bar chart: Case studies were used in only four of 50 articles by data journalists during the election
More than half of articles had no original quotes at all.

Data journalism during the election lacked case studies and quotes from those outside of the Westminster bubble, according to an analysis of over 50 pieces published during the election campaign.

But the rare exceptions offer examples of how we can do better election data journalism which sets the agenda and gives voters a louder voice.

Read the full analysis here. It is part of UK Election Analysis 2024: Media, Voters and the Campaign, a publication which “captures the immediate thoughts, reflections and early research insights on the 2024 UK General Election from the cutting edge of media and politics research.”

The analysis can also be compared to previous reflections in 2015 and 2010.

Applications of genAI in the journalism process
Pyramid with the bottom 'pre-production' layer highlighted: Idea generation and stimulation: identify and map systems and rules, apply brainstorming frameworks (iceberg model, 5 whys, 8 angles of data journalism). Planning. — Generative AI can be used at all points in the journalism process: this post focuses on pre-production

Last week I delivered a session at the Centre for Investigative Journalism Summer School about using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini for investigations. In the first of a series of posts from the talk, here are my tips on using those tools for idea generation.

Generative AI tools may not be entirely reliable, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not useful. Journalism, after all, is about more than just gathering information: reporters also need to generate story ideas, identify and approach potential sources, plan ahead, write and edit stories and solve a range of technical challenges. All of these are areas where genAI can help.

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