Numbers rule our world, and the raw data they represent often disguise the real message. But do you deal with data and feel baffled by it?
Writers of any content increasingly have to tackle stories with numbers in them: they have to be able to see the story in the data. But more often than not, we focus on the words, not the numbers.
This tailored session will give you the tools and techniques you need to create, check or manage stories from data sources such as surveys and statistical reports. We will ask you to bring the accounts of a company that you would like to analyse, so that you can work on something relevant to you.
One day in-company training course covering:
- Examples of what works and does not work
- The skills and knowledge needed for data journalism
- Looking at sources, what they say and what can be made of what they say
- The tools of the trade: Spreadsheets - delegates will build a spreadsheet and analyse data from a given spreadsheet
- Sources of data: Finding and rating the data sources
- Techniques for extracting insight from data: Percentages, averages, modes etc found in data
- Techniques for presentation: Charts, graphs and tables
- Delegates will mine data provided to them and extract a story from the data for a specified audience
I thought it was fantastic. It was brilliantly explained and will be hugely helpful for future articles. I now feel much more confident in writing stories with numbers.
Journalist, Bauer Media