What is Computational Journalism?

Computational journalism is an evolving field. Definitions include:

“What is computational journalism? Ultimately, interactions among journalists, software developers, computer scientists and other scholars over the next few years will have to answer that question. For now though, we define computational journalism as the combination of algorithms, data, and knowledge from the social sciences to supplement the accountability function of journalism.”

James T. Hamilton and Fred Turner, “Accountability through Algorithm: Developing the Field of Computational Journalism” (a report from Developing the Field of Computational Journalism, a Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences Summer Workshop, July 27–31, 2009), 2.

Computational journalism, “Broadly defined ... can involve changing how stories are discovered, presented, aggregated, monetized, and archived.”

Sarah Cohen, James T. Hamilton, and Fred Turner, “Computational Journalism,” Communications of the ACM 54 (2011): 66

In analyzing the dimensions of computation that could advance sense making in journalism, Terry Flew and coauthors note: “Automation alleviates activities such as data gathering and interpretation, number crunching, network analysis, sorting, and processing that would otherwise need to be done manually; algorithms allow operators to follow predefined steps needed to accomplish certain goals, identify problems, find suitable solutions in a large set of alternatives, and verify information in a reliable, consistent and efficient manner; and abstraction enables the qualification of different levels or perspectives from which an idea may be presented or new directions that may be explored.”

Terry Flew, Christina Spurgeon, Anna Daniel, and Adam Swift , “The Promise of Computational Journalism,” Journalism Practice 6 (2012): 159

Though computational journalism builds on and incorporates elements of computer-assisted reporting and data journalism, this new approach often involves larger data sets and more sophisticated algorithms. Recent advances in computational journalism center on reporting by algorithms, about algorithms, and through algorithms. Stories generated by computer algorithms include those by Narrative Science and Automated Insights, companies seen as leaders in “Automation in the Newsroom.” The Wall Street Journal and ProPublica have each done reporting that looks at the disparate impacts of private and government algorithms on different groups in society. Reporters are also using algorithms to mine for stories, as the Atlanta Journal Constitution did in using web scraping and machine learning to identify potential cases across the country of doctors involved in sexual misconduct. The papers and video from the 2016 Computation + Journalism conference at Stanford show recent computational advances in story discovery, telling, and distribution.

About the Class

Tuesdays, 1:30 - 3:20 p.m.

JSK Garage (Room 433), McClatchy Hall (Bldg. 120)

This course will explore the evolving field of computational journalism. Students will research and discuss the state of the field, and do projects in areas such as understanding the media ecosystem, stimulating media creation and assessing media impact.



Admission is by application.