#29 Guest Lecture: Knowing & Checking Your Data with Jennifer LaFleur

Demystifying Media at the University of Oregon

About Our Guest:
Jennifer LaFleur is a data editor for The Investigative Reporting Workshop and an instructor of data journalism at American University. Previously, she was a senior editor at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, managing data journalists, investigative reporters and fellows. She also contributed to or edited dozens of major projects while at Reveal, one of which was a 2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist.

She is the former director of computer-assisted reporting at ProPublica and has held similar roles at The Dallas Morning News, the San Jose Mercury News and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She is a former training director for Investigative Reporters and Editors and currently serves on the IRE Board of Directors.

Find Jennifer LaFleur Online:
Twitter

Show Notes:
01:26 - How did you get into the data space?
02:22 - What does data journalism bring to the table that other story forms do not?
04:54 - Barriers for professionals and students in doing data journalism
06:26 – Barrier to data journalism in the classroom
08:28 – Overcoming resistance to data storytelling among journalists
11:56 – Good examples of data-driven stories / approaches
15:36 – Data literacy among audiences
17:10 - How newsrooms can improve their data journalism game
20:32 – Tips to interrogate data
22:48 – Jennifer’s key messages to journalism students
23:34 – Why data-driven storytelling is growing

Read the transcript for this episode

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