ERIC Number: EJ1382420
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1740-4622
EISSN: EISSN-1740-4630
Not "Just the Facts": Challenging Assumptions in Cross-National Data Journalism
Communication Teacher, v37 n2 p100-105 2023
Access to online data sets and free, data-visualization software programs that don't require coding skills has given journalism students the ability to produce charts, maps, and graphs quickly. Maps that used to require weeks of software training and expensive programs to create can now be produced in less than an hour. However, students must learn to question their own biases when using these powerful tools--particularly when reporting on the unfamiliar. Working in an international context illuminates these assumptions and helps students learn the need to challenge their inherent biases habitually in using data to visualize "the other." Courses: This lesson is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate classes that teach skills such as reporting, digital storytelling, international reporting, global journalism, and data visualization. The international focus broadens students' critical thinking about ethics and representation. Objectives: This lesson introduces students to data analysis and visualization using a blend of skills acquisition and ethical questions meant to stimulate cross-cultural critical thinking. It helps students explore the power of data to reinforce or challenge assumptions and reinforces the idea that data are not neutral. Students learn the importance of contextualizing data and building understanding before analyzing or visualizing. This lesson also aims to help students challenge stereotypes they might have about one another's cultures. By working in cross-national teams, they learn to explore biases and question assumptions as they create the visualization together.
Descriptors: Journalism, Access to Information, Computer Software, Visual Aids, Charts, Maps, Graphs, Social Bias, Data Use, Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Story Telling, Critical Thinking, Cultural Awareness, Ethics, Cross Cultural Training, Thinking Skills, Stereotypes, Teamwork, Intercultural Communication, Cooperative Learning, Intergroup Relations, Institutional Cooperation, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, English, Perspective Taking, Partnerships in Education, Videoconferencing, Synchronous Communication, Journalism Education, Spreadsheets, Foreign Countries, Teaching Methods
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Tunisia; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A