Tong, J. orcid.org/0000-0001-6843-3177 and Zuo, L. (2021) The inapplicability of objectivity: understanding the work of data journalism. Journalism Practice, 15 (2). pp. 153-169. ISSN 1751-2786
Abstract
Data journalism is an emerging form of journalism, entailing the discovery of stories in data with the assistance of data algorithms. The burgeoning literature has largely interpreted the work of data journalism through the lens of objectivity. This paper, however, rejects the applicability of objectivity to data journalism. This inapplicability is the product of five factors: the extensive use of data and data algorithms in journalism; the difficulty in verifying data; the imbalance in data and data access; the uncertainty about if and to what extent data journalists can obtain sufficient knowledge of data contexts and algorithms; and their “design subjectivity” in the data processing process. Data reporting becomes a process of knowledge construction under the influence of these factors. The article argues that because of the social constructionist nature of data journalism, serving the public interest and democracy is a more appropriate principle than objectivity for data journalism. It suggests shifting academic attention from celebrating objectivity in data journalism to examining the epistemology of data journalists, the factors influencing data journalists’ formation of knowledge in reporting, their defence of cultural authority, and the democratic meanings of data reports in future research. Such understanding also has implications for data journalism pedagogy and practice.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journalism Practice. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Data journalism; data; algorithms; objectivity; social construction of reality; design subjectivity Data |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Journalism Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 15 Jan 2024 11:52 |
Last Modified: | 15 Jan 2024 18:10 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Informa UK Limited |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/17512786.2019.1698974 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:207545 |