Al Jazeera Journalism Review

outside image

Understanding Data Journalism

Data journalism is about much more than just sorting through facts and figures. In the first part of our series, we look at what constitutes data-based storytelling

 

At its core, the principles of data journalism and traditional journalism are the same. Both involve asking questions to paint a truthful and accurate picture of the world. In the case of traditional media, this information is usually obtained from an individual person’s account of a story (a single data point). 

Data journalism takes this one step further by asking questions to a collection of data points (many people’s stories). This approach can help reveal the larger context of a story.

 

What is Data Journalism? 

When people hear the phrase “data journalism” most automatically think of charts and infographics. However, data journalism is a larger field. It’s the entire process of deriving meaning from data to develop a story - not only the visual output. 

A written story that relies on data analysis and interpretation is a better example of data journalism than an infographic with dozens of meaningless numbers. The key ingredient is asking questions to our data just as if we were interviewing it.

It’s easy to lie with data, but it’s even easier to lie without it

 

In brief, data journalism is a form of journalism where your interview subject is data. This means that a data journalism story is often platform independent.

Your output can take on the form of a map, video, chart, written article and even social media posts. This allows you to be very creative with your output and not be constrained by a specific medium. This cross-platform approach is a very important part of digital content creation. 

Data-led stories have the power of reaching and engaging with new audiences by making sense of the data-rich world that we live in. It is important to remember that data journalism is not about using shiny new technologies, rather it is about using technology to help extract contextual information for your readers.

datajournalism

5 Myths About Data Journalism 

We asked a few journalists from our newsroom to share some of the biggest myths about what data journalists do. Here’s what they had to say:

‘Data journalism isn’t personal’

More than anything, data is about stories that play a direct role in people’s lives. Many data stories have the ability to not only tell individual stories but also contextualise a story by placing a person in his or her neighbourhood or country

‘Data journalists are not real journalists; they’re only interested in numbers, not telling stories’ 

Data journalists do more than just sift through mountains of data and identify trends. They can often provide a creative perspective to a story which allows them to engage with new audiences. 

Data is about stories that play a direct role in people’s lives

 

‘Data journalism is for programmers and designers’ 

While it’s true that data-driven stories can benefit from people with technical and design skills, most of the work stems from an editorial understanding of a subject. As long as you have an eye for a story and are willing to collaborate with others, you can become a good data journalist.

‘Data journalism is all about making charts and infographics’ 

An infographic or chart without an underlying story is not data journalism. A data journalism project should involve the uncovering of a story from a dataset.

‘Data journalism is expensive and time-consuming’ 

Within Al Jazeera we’ve produced award-winning data journalism projects with a mobile phone, camera and computer (as will be demonstrated in our case study below). While, longer-term investigative projects may take time and resources to develop, there are many daily stories that newsrooms are producing that involve analysing and presenting data.

Data journalism 2

 

Searching for Facts 

The spread of misinformation online has created a huge problem for news consumers. Building your audience’s trust in your data stories requires that you treat your data sources like every other source of information. Your data must be verified for accuracy and truth. 

Tips for sourcing reliable data: 

1. Use trustworthy sources 

Finding good data sources can be difficult. However, it’s always better to build upon an incomplete data source that you can trust rather than blindly using a complete dataset that you cannot. 

2. Cross-reference datasets 

Always cross-reference your data with news stories, reports or other data. This will save you a lot of time and effort once it comes to cleaning and analysing your data. 

Data-driven stories can, more objectively, be validated and confirmed

3. Watch out for missing or outdated values 

Just as information becomes outdated, so too does data. Always try to find the most relevant and up-to-date dataset to ensure that your story best represents the current facts.

4. Understand the data collection methodology 

People are often responsible for gathering raw data. To avoid unnecessary errors, always ask yourself, How was this data collected, and what does it actually represent? 

5. What are the consequences of getting it wrong? 

Data-driven stories have a big advantage over traditional stories in that they can more objectively be validated and confirmed. If you’re uncertain about a dataset, speak to the people or organisations who produced it. To help build credibility and transparency among your readers, it’s a good idea to open-source your raw data. This will allow others to build upon and add authority to your work. 

Remember: it’s easy to lie with data, but it’s even easier to lie without it.

 

This article has been adapted from the AJMI Data Journalism Guidebook

 

Related Articles

How to produce data-based stories

Follow our four steps to successful data journalism - from the story idea through to publication. Part two of our special series

Mohammed Haddad
Mohammed Haddad Published on: 23 Mar, 2023
COVID-19: A lesson of data journalism significance for Arab world

The coronavirus pandemic has not only accelerated the growth of digital transformation, but it has also brought profound transformations in the journalism field, especially awareness over the importance of data journalism. The role of data journalists in interpreting and mediating between public and scholars has posed the old and new question: Was the Arab journalism up to this challenge?

Mahmoud Barakat Published on: 5 Jul, 2021
Getting started on your data story

In the third and final part of our special series of articles on data journalism, we look at how to work as a team and get started on a data-driven story

Mohammed Haddad
Mohammed Haddad Published on: 30 Mar, 2023
Challenges of Unequal Data Flow on Southern Narratives

The digital revolution has widened the gap between the Global South and the North. Beyond theories that attribute this disparity to the North's technological dominance, the article explores how national and local policies in the South shape and influence its narratives.

Hassan Obeid
Hassan Obeid Published on: 14 Jan, 2025
How to use data to report on earthquakes

Sifting through data sounds clinical, but journalists can use it to seek out the human element when reporting on natural disasters such as earthquakes

Arwa
Arwa Kooli Published on: 19 Sep, 2023
Investigative Journalism: Handling Data and Gathering Evidence

Data is only one part of the investigative story. In Part 5 of our series on investigative journalism, we look at different methods of gathering evidence

A picture of the Al Jazeera Media Institute's logo, on a white background.
Al Jazeera Journalism Review Published on: 9 Feb, 2023
Daughters of Data: African Female Journalists Using Data to Reveal Hidden Truths

A growing network of African women journalists, data scientists, and tech experts is amplifying female voices and highlighting underreported stories across the continent by producing data-driven projects and leveraging digital technologies in storytelling.

Nalova Akua
Nalova Akua Published on: 23 Jul, 2024

More Articles

Monitoring of Journalistic Malpractices in Gaza Coverage

On this page, the editorial team of the Al Jazeera Journalism Review will collect news published by media institutions about the current war on Gaza that involves disinformation, bias, or professional journalistic standards and its code of ethics.

A picture of the Al Jazeera Media Institute's logo, on a white background.
Al Jazeera Journalism Review Published on: 21 Jul, 2025
From "Death Announcement" to "Eulogy": The Obituary as a Journalistic Genre

Obituaries for influential public figures have become a recognised journalistic genre, handled by seasoned reporters in major media outlets. How did this practice evolve, what defines it professionally, and how ethically acceptable is writing obituaries in advance?

Mahfoud G. Fadili
Mahfoud G. Fadili Published on: 17 Jul, 2025
Canadian Mainstream Media’s Orientalist Stance Towards Palestinians

Canadian mainstream media manufactures consent to support Israel through biased language, withholding historical context, and conflating any criticism of the Israeli state with antisemitism. When the Canadian mainstream media covers the question of Palestine, they usually frame it as a religious issue and withhold the historical and socio-political context.

Sarah Samuel
Sarah Samuel Published on: 14 Jul, 2025
Digital Dependency: Unpacking Tech Philanthropy’s Grip on Local News in the MENA

AI-driven journalism initiatives in the Middle East, often backed by philanthropic media development projects, are reshaping local newsrooms under the influence of global tech giants. These efforts, while marketed as support, risk deepening power asymmetries, fostering digital dependency, and reactivating colonial patterns of control through algorithmic systems and donor-driven agendas.

Sara Ait Khorsa
Sara Ait Khorsa Published on: 3 Jun, 2025
News Fatigue and Avoidance: How Media Overload is Reshaping Audience Engagement

A study conducted on 12,000 American adults revealed that two-thirds feel “exhausted” by the overwhelming volume of news they receive. Why is the public feeling drained by the news? Are audiences actively avoiding it, and at what psychological cost? Most importantly, how can the media rebuild trust and reconnect with its audience?

Othman Kabashi
Othman Kabashi Published on: 25 May, 2025
Journalism Associations' Fragmentation Weakening Press Freedom in Cameroon

Cameroon's fragmented media landscape has weakened collective advocacy, allowing government repression of journalists to go largely unchallenged. As press freedom declines, voices like Samuel Wazizi's are silenced, while disunity among journalists enables impunity to thrive.

Njodzeka Danhatu
Njodzeka Danhatu Published on: 20 May, 2025
Weaponized Artificial Intelligence: The Unseen Threat to Fact-Checking

How has artificial intelligence emerged as a powerful tool during wartime, and what strategies are fact-checkers adopting to confront this disruptive force in newsrooms? The work of fact-checkers has grown significantly more challenging during the genocide in Palestine, as the Israeli occupation has relied heavily on artificial intelligence to disseminate misinformation.

Ahmad Al-Arja
Ahmad Al-Arja Published on: 18 May, 2025
Fact-Checking: The Last Line of Defense Against Occupation Propaganda in Palestine

Manipulation of information, intensive propaganda campaigns, and widespread disinformation were key features of the "narrative" battle that accompanied the war on Gaza. From the very beginning, the occupation sought to provide media cover for potential war crimes, but the work of fact-checkers exposed the foundations of its propaganda.

Khaled Attia
Khaled Attia Published on: 7 May, 2025
Verifying Information Is Not Just a Technical Process

From Context Manipulation to AI-Driven Digital Campaigns, Fact-Checkers Strive to Adapt to New Strategies and Methods of Fake and Misleading News Aimed at Constructing “Alternative Narratives.” On International Fact-Checking Day, colleague Hassan Khodary presents the experience of Sanad, Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency, with a particular focus on its work in tracking the falsehoods within the Israeli narrative surrounding the genocide against Palestine.

 Hassan KHodary
Hassan Khodary Published on: 7 Apr, 2025
Journalist Testimonies on Western Media Coverage of the Gaza War: The Other Narrative

In this article, we compile testimonies from journalists who have criticised their own media institutions as documented in reports, letters, or interviews. Most spoke anonymously out of fear of repercussions—because freedom of expression appears protected only until it reaches the borders of Israel. At that point, constraints emerge, editorial policies shift, and the system of double standards is activated.

Al Jazeera Journalism Review
Al Jazeera Journalism Review Published on: 29 Mar, 2025
Systematic Bias: How Western Media Framed the March 18 Massacre of Palestinians

On March 18, Israel launched a large-scale assault on Gaza, killing over 412 Palestinians and injuring more than 500, while Western media uncritically echoed Israel’s claim of “targeting Hamas.” Rather than exposing the massacre, coverage downplayed the death toll, delayed key facts, and framed the attacks as justified pressure on Hamas—further highlighting the double standard in valuing Palestinian lives.

Mei Shigenobu مي شيغينوبو
Mei Shigenobu Published on: 18 Mar, 2025
I Resigned from CNN Over its Pro-Israel Bias

  Developing as a young journalist without jeopardizing your morals has become incredibly difficult.

Ana Maria Monjardino
Ana Maria Monjardino Published on: 2 Jan, 2025
Is Pakistan’s Media Ignoring Climate Change?

Pakistan's media, despite its wide reach, largely neglects climate change in favor of political and economic issues, leaving the public under-informed about the causes and consequences of climate-related disasters. As a result, many Pakistanis remain unaware of the growing threats posed by climate change, which has devastating effects on the country's economy and population, as seen in the catastrophic floods of 2022.

Faras Ghani Published on: 3 Dec, 2024
What Explains the Indian Media’s Silence on Muslim Lynchings?

A review of why the Indian media is biased in its coverage of cow vigilantes' lynchings, highlighting how the killing of a Hindu boy by such vigilantes sparked widespread outrage, while the lynching of a Muslim man over similar allegations was largely ignored, reflecting deeper anti-Muslim bias under the ruling BJP government.

Saif Khaled
Saif Khalid Published on: 11 Nov, 2024
Corporate Dominance and the Erosion of Editorial Independence in Indian Media

Corporate influence in Indian media has led to widespread editorial suppression, with media owners prioritising political appeasement over journalistic integrity, resulting in a significant erosion of press freedom and diversity in news reporting.

headshot
AJR Correspondent Published on: 3 Nov, 2024
MSNBC Deletes Interview with Journalist Criticising Western Media’s Bias Towards Israeli Narrative

MSNBC deleted an interview with journalist Jeremy Scahill after he criticised American media’s biased portrayal of Israeli actions in Gaza, condemning the framing of civilian casualties as "self-defence." Scahill argued that any discussion of Gaza’s leaders must address the broader context of occupation and longstanding injustices faced by Palestinians.

A picture of the Al Jazeera Media Institute's logo, on a white background.
Al Jazeera Journalism Review Published on: 27 Oct, 2024
Voting in a Time of Genocide

The upcoming U.S. presidential election occurs against the backdrop of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, with AJ Plus prioritising marginalised voices and critically analysing Western mainstream media narratives while highlighting the undemocratic aspects of the U.S. electoral system.

Tony Karon Published on: 22 Oct, 2024
A Half-Truth is a Full Lie

Misinformation is rampant in modern conflicts, worsened by the internet and social media, where false news spreads easily. While news agencies aim to provide unbiased, fact-based reporting, their focus on brevity and hard facts often lacks the necessary context, leaving the public vulnerable to manipulation and unable to fully grasp the complexities of these issues.

Ilya
Ilya U Topper Published on: 30 Sep, 2024
How to Bring more Balance to Western Media Coverage of Israel and Palestine

How can journalists accurately cover Palestine without becoming unbalanced or biased? Here are some concrete tools and techniques for reporters to keep in mind.

A picture of the author, Megan O'Toole
Megan O'Toole Published on: 16 Sep, 2024
Anonymous Sources in the New York Times... Covering the War with One Eye

The use of anonymous sources in journalism is considered, within professional and ethical standards, a “last option” for journalists. However, analysis of New York Times data reveals a persistent pattern in the use of “anonymity” to support specific narratives, especially Israeli narratives.

Mohammad Zeidan
Mohammad Zeidan Published on: 8 Sep, 2024
Monitoring of Journalistic Malpractices in Gaza Coverage

On this page, the editorial team of the Al Jazeera Journalism Review will collect news published by media institutions about the current war on Gaza that involves disinformation, bias, or professional journalistic standards and its code of ethics.

A picture of the Al Jazeera Media Institute's logo, on a white background.
Al Jazeera Journalism Review Published on: 5 Sep, 2024
Bangladesh: Why Were Foreign Correspondents Absent?

In the recent political upheaval in Bangladesh, many foreign journalists were reporting from nearby regions like New Delhi. In this absence, local journalists played an important role in conveying firsthand accounts of the events that unfolded to the world.

Anam Hussain
Anam Hussain Published on: 26 Aug, 2024
Analysis: Media Disinformation and UK Far-Right Riots

Analysis on the impact of media disinformation on public opinion, particularly during UK riots incited by far-right groups. A look at how sensationalist media can directly influence audience behavior, as per the Hypodermic Needle Theory, leading to normalized discrimination and violence. The need for responsible journalism is emphasized to prevent such harmful effects.

Anam Hussain
Anam Hussain Published on: 8 Aug, 2024
Challenges for Female Journalists in Crisis Zones of Cameroon

Testimonies of what female journalists in Cameroon are facing and how they are challenging these difficulties.

Akem
Akem Nkwain Published on: 30 Jul, 2024