Alastair Reid's posts

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6 online tools for investigative journalism

Investigative journalism has long been the marker by which news organisations – and journalists – measure their worth.

“As a journalist your main tool is talking to people and asking the right questions of the right people,” said civic technologist and self-described “OpenGov and data journalism geek” Friedrich Lindenberg in a webinar on investigative journalism tools for the International Centre for Journalists last week.

“This is still true, but also you can ask the right questions with the right databases. You can ask the right questions with the right tools.”

Lindenberg listed an arsenal of tools the investigative journalist can equip themselves with. Here are some of the highlights.

DocumentCloud

Lindenberg described DocumentCloud as a “shared folder of documents”, offering different folders that can be used for various investigations, control over who can access which documents, the ability to annotate different parts of documents, search throughout and embed segments or entire documents.

Even better, DocumentCloud looks for “entities” – such as people, companies, countries, institutions – identifies them and makes them searchable, which is especially useful for legal documents that may stretch into hundreds of pages when you are only interested in a few key points.

DocumentCloud is run by IRE but Lindenberg encouraged journalists to contact him at SourceAfrica.net, where an open source version of the software is available.

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news:rewired videos are now available

Videos of all the main sessions from the most recent news:rewired are now available to view.

The videos, produced in conjunction with BlackRook Media, cover all the key talks and workshops at the event on Wednesday 23 July, including:

  • New forms of engagement
  • Chat apps in news
  • Facebook for journalists
  • Collaboration – beyond the newsroom
  • Spreadsheets skills
  • A ‘start-up approach’ to news innovation
  • The journalist’s social media toolbox
  • And more…

If you attended news:rewired or purchased a digital ticket you should have already received an email detailing how you can view all of the videos.

If you have yet to buy a digital ticket, giving you access to all of the videos, you can find more information here.

The keynote speech from David Ho, editor for mobile, tablets and emerging technology at The Wall Street Journal, is available for all to view here.

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Digital tickets now available for news:rewired

We’re happy to announce that digital tickets for the next news:rewired are now available, so even if you can’t make it to the conference itself you still have a chance to catch the talks and sessions from the day.

The event, at MSN HQ in London on Wednesday 23 July, brings leaders in digital journalism together to discuss their work, share advice and lead workshops in relevant areas.

As well as the networking opportunities and extra materials available on the day, there will be focused post-lunch workshops looking at mobile apps and tools for journalists; creating immersive, longform stories; and using analytics to understand the audience.

While these workshops will give delegates a practical, hands-on guide to the particular subjects, they will not be filmed, and will not be included in the digital ticket offering.

There is also a full day of training the day after the conference, with a choice of courses in mobile journalism with RTÉ’s Glen Mulcahy, data journalism with Conrad Quilty-Harper of Ampp3d, or creating a buzz on social media with BuzzFeed UK editor Luke Lewis.

The full agenda is now available, including:

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Why the Oxford Mail is experimenting with WhatsApp

Social media has changed the way news organisations deliver their stories to the reader, but with networks like Twitter and Facebook an article must compete with the growing buzz of digital conversation.

As a result, the Oxford Mail has set up a new service through WhatsApp, the private messaging smartphone application, to deliver the most important news straight to the reader’s pocket.

“It’s much more direct in turning around saying ‘come and read our story’,” Jason Collie, assistant editor of the Mail told Journalism.co.uk.

“Instead of hoping that yours is the one out of six or seven potential competitors that will be picked up by the readers.”

The WhatsApp service has been running for three weeks, since 2 June, and has amassed over 200 followers since.

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Announcing the agenda for the next news:rewired

We are now pleased to announce the agenda for the next news:rewired digital journalism conference, to take place in London on Wednesday 23 July.

The event, organised by Journalism.co.uk, aims to showcase the latest developments in the field and offer journalists a range of practical sessions and workshops.

For the first time, there will also be a range of optional sessions over an extended lunch period, where delegates can get some focussed guidance on a number of topics, or use the extra time to network and enjoy their lunch.

We can now provide details on the choice of sessions available on the day. You can also see the plan for the full agenda here.

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