I’ve been working for some time on picking apart the many processes which make up what we call data journalism. Indeed, if you read the chapter on data journalism (blogged draft) in my Online Journalism Handbook, or seen me speak on the subject, you’ll have seen my previous diagram that tries to explain those processes.

I’ve now revised that considerably, and what I’ve come up with bears some explanation. I’ve cheekily called it the inverted pyramid of data journalism, partly because it begins with a large amount of information which becomes increasingly focused as you drill down into it until you reach the point of communicating the results.

What’s more, I’ve also sketched out a second diagram that breaks down how data journalism stories are communicated – an area which I think has so far not been very widely explored. But that’s for a future post.

I’m hoping this will be helpful to those trying to get to grips with data, whether as journalists, developers or designers. This is, as always, work in progress so let me know if you think I’ve missed anything or if things might be better explained.

UPDATE: Also in Spanish.

The inverted pyramid of data journalism

Here are the stages explained: Continue reading →