Python is an extremely powerful language for journalists who want to scrape information from online sources. This series of videos, made for students on the MA in Data Journalism at Birmingham City University, explains some core concepts to get started in Python, how to use Colab notebooks within Google Drive, and introduces some code to get started with scraping.
Continue readingFor some time now Twitter has been flirting with abandoning the reverse-chronological ordering that attracted so many journalists to the service.
Having already introduced “While you were away…” tweets a year ago, and the curated “Moments” storylines 4 months ago, the suggestion is that it may finally be ready to make the leap to a Facebook-style “what we think you’ll like” timeline.
This may be initially opt-in, but then so, once upon a time, was Facebook’s algorithm.
I’m not one of those old users who are inevitably crying about the death of Twitter. We all change as we get older, and Twitter is no exception: once an always-on special companion, now it is a more occasional big crowd encounter. Continue reading
A Twitter network identified by Bluenose
A version of this post originally appeared on Help Me Investigate Welfare.
Every so often on Help Me Investigate we compile a list* of people on Twitter to follow on particular issues. Here’s how we do it:
The quickest way to kick off your Twitter list is to search Twitter biographies for users who mention the areas you’re interested in.
Twitter tool FollowerWonk has a facility for searching biographies on the site – make sure you select “search Twitter bios only” from the drop-down menu. Continue reading
If you’re looking to get into coding chances are you’ll stumble across a raft of jargon which can be off-putting, especially in tutorials which are oblivious to your lack of previous programming experience. Here, then, are 10 concepts you’re likely to come across – and what they mean.
Variables are like boxes which can hold different things at different times. Image by Wolfgang Lonien.
A variable is one of the most basic elements of programming. It is, in a nutshell, a way of referring to something so that you can use it in a line of code. To give some examples:
Variables can be changed, which is their real power. A user’s name will likely be different every time one piece of code runs. An age can be added to at a particular time of year. A counter can increase by one every time something happens. A list of items can have other items added to it, or removed. Continue reading
Don’t worry, I’ll get over this Twitter thing very soon, but for now I want to address all of the ill informed coverage that stifles use of Twitter because it can’t see beyond a) celebrities using it and b) the Facebook-style status update thing.
If you’re struggling to think of what to talk about on Twitter, here are some suggestions: Continue reading
My post on 1000 Things I’ve learned about blogging (actually 100) has attracted some attention, with quite a few people wanting more. So for those who are interested, I’ll be posting further ‘1000 things’ as I learn them via Twitter – you can find them with this search or this RSS feed. I’d love to know your ‘things’, by the way.
I was looking to draw up a list of ten essential books on online journalism – but it seems to me that there are really only six (updated to 8, September 2010).
Have I missed something? Let me know. In the meantime, here are my six 8 essential reads for online journalists:
PS: I maintain an ongoing list of useful books for online journalists at My Amazon Associates store. If you’re in the US, you may prefer the Amazon.com version.
UPDATE: It’s very true that blogs are a better source of up to date information and reflection on what’s going on now. Check out Shane Richmond’s list on must-read online journalism posts.
Online Journalism Blog 