Tag Archives: Google News Lab

Information is Beautiful Awards 2017: “Visualisation without story is nothing”

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david mccandless

David McCandless, founder of the IiB awards, hosted the ceremony

MA Data Journalism students Carmen Aguilar Garcia and Victoria Oliveres attended the Information is Beautiful awards this week and spoke to some of the nominees and winners. In a guest post for OJB they give a rundown of the highlights, plus insights from data visualisation pioneers Nadieh Bremer, Duncan Clark and Alessandro Zotta.

Nadieh Bremer was one of the major winners at this year’s Information is Beautiful Awards 2017 — winning in both the Science & Technology and Unusual categories for Why Are so Many Babies Born around 8:00 A.M.? (with Zan Armstrong and Jennifer Christiansen) and Data Sketches in Twelve Installments (with Shirley Wu).

Why Are so Many Babies Born around 8am

Silver, Science & technology category – Why Are so Many Babies Born around 8:00 A.M.? by Nadieh Bremer, Zan Armstrong & Jennifer Christiansen. The prize was shared with Zan Armstrong, Scientific American.

Gold in Unusual category for Data Sketches in Twelve Installments by Nadieh Bremer, Shirley Wu Unusual

Gold, Unusual category: Data Sketches in Twelve Installments by Nadieh Bremer, Shirley Wu

Bremer graduated as an Astronomer in 2011, but a couple of years working as an Analytic Consultant were enough for her to understand that her passion was data visualisation. For the past year she has been exploring this world by herself. Continue reading →

“Data matters — but people are still the best sources of stories”  —  insights from investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan

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Peter Geoghegan

Peter Geoghegan

In a guest post Jane Haynes speaks to investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan of the award-winning news site The Ferret about data, contacts and “nosing up the trousers of power”.

When the Scottish Government announced last month that it was banning fracking, it was a moment to savour for a group of journalists from an independent news site in the heart of the country.

The team from investigative cooperative The Ferret had been the first news organisation to reveal plans by nine energy companies to bid for licences to extract shale gas from central Scotland.

Using a combination of contact-led information and FOI requests, they uncovered the extent of the ambitions to dig deep into Scottish soil.

Firms target more of central Scotland for fracking

It was part of a steady flow of fracking stories from the Ferret team, ensuring those involved in making decisions were in no doubt of their responsibilities and recognised that every step would be scrutinised. Continue reading →