In the framework of iMEdD’s cooperation with the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, iMEdD Lab held a cycle of workshops on Data Journalism, which formed part of the laboratory course “Aspects of the Internet – Critical Perspectives” offered by the University’s Journalism Laboratory, led by Assistant Professor Pantelis Vatikiotis, Director of Journalism Lab (J-Lab) at Panteion University.
The cycle of workshops on Data Journalism of two months in length (November 2022 – January 2023) was addressed to senior students of the Department of Communication, Media & Culture and its main objective was to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to understand, use and present data in the context of a news story.
During the meetings that were held at the University’s Computer Laboratory, participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with data journalism at a practical level, since they were introduced to a variety of types of data and methods for the collection, processing, composition, analysis and visualization of data, both using Python programming language and online tools.
The cycle of workshops provided an introduction for students to the programming and related libraries, techniques, technologies and applications that form an integral part of the Data Journalists’ toolbox.
Concluding, students worked in groups to produce news stories based on data about topics of their choice. The point was to make as far as possible full use of the knowledge acquired during this cycle of workshops, in order to produce data-driven original content. Kelly Kiki and Thanasis Troboukis, Instructors, were in constant contact with the groups throughout the preparation of the projects and provided advisory support both at a technical and at a journalistic level.
The meetings were completed upon the presentation of students’ projects at the iMEdD premises, followed by an open discussion.