plotcon nyc: new data viz in data journalism

NOVEMBER 15-18, 2016

#plotcon

New Data Viz in Data Journalism

Matthew Conlen@mathisonianhttp://mathisonian.com

About Me● Ph.D. student at University of Washington under

Jeffrey Heer○ Computer Science & Data Viz

● Working with FiveThirtyEight since their move to ESPN in 2013○ Computational Journalist

This Talk● Walk through examples of innovative and

successful data journalism pieces

● Show a range of useful open source tools for creating them

But first...

Data Journalism

Data Journalism

Data Journalism

Problems!● Varying degrees of expertise in predictive

modeling

● Numeracy issues

● Failure of polling, predictions, design, or understanding?

Predictions

Predictions

Predictions

Predictions

Predictions

Data Journalism

Data Journalism

Data Journalism

Okay, enough

Election Successes

Election Successes

Uncertainty

Uncertainty● As displayed by response to election graphics,

lots of work to do here

● Real world data is often messy and imprecise. Especially when polling or sampling is involved.

Uncertainty

https://medium.com/hci-design-at-uw/hypothetical-outcomes-plots-experiencing-the-uncertain-b9ea60d7c740

Uncertainty

Uncertainty

Simulation

Simulation● Great tool for displaying complex mathematical

processes

● Patterns are more important than equations

● Computation can be done in the client and visualized realtime

Simulation

Simulation

Simulation

Boutique Data

Boutique Data● Cheap sensors are making it easier than ever for

reporters to collect their own data sets

● Expect to see more of this in the future

Boutique Data

https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/4ybkmk/heart_rate_during_conference_presentation_oc/

Boutique Data

Boutique Data

Boutique Data

Related

Related

Pen and Paper

Pen and Paper

Pen and Paper

Pen and Paper

Pen and Paper

Pen and Paper

Be careful...

A reminder● It’s easy to get lost in numbers

● Remember you are dealing with real people and real issues

● As technology improves it grows in importance that we consider the impact of what we do

Tampa Bay Times

The Marshall Project

Josh Begley

Josh Begley

Other Wins

Crosswords

Tennis

Tennis

Tennis

Tools

Binderhttp://mybinder.org/

Binderhttp://mybinder.org/

Binderhttp://mybinder.org/

Binderhttp://mybinder.org/

Chartbuilderhttps://quartz.github.io/Chartbuilder/

Mr. Data Converterhttps://shancarter.github.io/mr-data-converter/

mapshaperhttp://www.mapshaper.org/

mapshaperhttp://www.mapshaper.org/

Data Prooferhttp://dataproofer.org/

Election Toolshttp://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster

Election Toolshttp://elex.readthedocs.io/en/stable/

Terrapatternhttp://www.terrapattern.com/

Terrapatternhttp://www.terrapattern.com/

Webrecorderwebrecorder.io

Thanks!