Data journalist
Finds and verifies public-interest stories in data, combining table analysis with documents, interviews and clear explanations of the findings for an audience.
On this profession page, you will learn:
Who is Data journalist
An unusual value in a table might reveal a story or simply a collection error. Data journalists first establish where the numbers came from and what they actually describe.Analysis guides further questions, documents and interviews. Calculations need to remain reproducible, alternative explanations require testing, and correlation must not be mistaken for cause. Published work combines human context, evidence and a clear account of the method so readers can assess its conclusions and limitations.
AI impact on Data journalist
Medium riskAI replacement risk
50%
Utility code and draft explanations need checking from source records to results. A tool does not establish data provenance or the public significance of a relationship.
Tasks at risk of automation
- Draft table-cleaning code
- Preliminary calculation explanations
Tasks that will remain human
- Checks findings against documents and source interviews.
- Prepares the story, graphics and an explanation of limitations.
Key skills of Data journalist
Work schedule and conditions
Works in a newsroom or investigative team, alternating computer analysis with interviews. Obtaining data and checking calculations may take longer than writing the finished story.
What a Data journalist does
- Finds datasets and checks their provenance and completeness.
- Cleans tables and records reproducible calculations.
- Checks findings against documents and source interviews.
- Prepares the story, graphics and an explanation of limitations.
Benefits of the Data journalist profession
Checkable reasoning
Saved data and calculations make the path to a conclusion explainable and allow it to be checked again when new questions arise.
Overlooked stories
Comparing many records can reveal a pattern that individual cases obscure and guide subsequent reporting, interviews and requests for information.
Disadvantages of the Data journalist profession
Incomplete datasets
Missing records or changed methods can limit conclusions, while cleaning and checking tables may take longer than writing the entire article.
Misleading precision
Numbers may suggest more certainty than a source supports, requiring careful explanation of errors, coverage and alternative interpretations of the findings.
How to become a Data journalist
Begin with a small, checkable table and a reporting question it might answer.
1. Study
Combine journalism with statistics, spreadsheets, analytical programming and data visualisation.
2. Practice project
Investigate one question using open city data. Produce a short article, sources, a cleaned table and a record of every calculation.
Provide calculations and cleaning steps so someone else can reproduce your findings.
Vocational training
Visualization for Data Journalism
Coursera