You’ve heard of data journalism, but you’re really not sure what it is. Or where to start. Or how to use it in your day-to-day work. Join fellow Iowa journalists as we talk about approaches to data journalism; how to deal with data; tools you can use and best practices. We’ll also go over levels of complexity; what’s possible with free and cheap tools and where to start if you’re interested in getting more codeful and building your own scripts and scrapers. We’ll also spend some time brainstorming good data journalism projects and ways Iowa journalists can collaborate with each other. You can be a data journalism novice or expert – we’d love to have all levels represented.
Leading the talk will be Heather Bryant, founder of Project Facet, an open source software platform that helps newsrooms manage the collaborative editorial process. As a journalist and software developer she is completely fascinated with the intersection between journalism, technology and class. Her journalism career started in Alaska where she worked as the new media producer and digital services editor at KTOO Public Media in Juneau. She took a brief break to level up as a programmer, teaching software engineering in San Francisco while starting Facet. Last year Heather was a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University working to help newsrooms create and manage effective, meaningful collaborative partnerships.
What to expect
We’ll have food and beverages available for free. The event will be held in the Iowa Newspaper Association’s conference room on the main floor of its offices in Des Moines’ East Village. There’s plenty of parking around the building – on the street and in ramps. Enter through the front door and take the main hallway straight back. The conference room is on the right.
What is ONA Iowa?
This is our first event (but we hope of there will be many more). We want to provide time and space for training and networking with fellow Iowa journalists. We’re part of the Online News Association, which is the world’s largest association of digital journalists. You do not have to be an ONA member to attend one of our meetups. We do ask that you RSVP to help us plan for how much food we will need to order.
Contact Us
If you’d like to help organize a future event, take on a leadership role with ONA Iowa or ask any questions about the event, please feel free to email us at iowa@journalists.org.