98802 - Data Journalism Laboratory (LM)

Learning outcomes

The laboratory focuses on reading, analyzing, interpreting, and visualizing data, graphs, and surveys. It also addresses the forms and ways in which information, journalism, and communication make use of these languages, investigating their reasons and outcomes. At the end, the student: - understands and interprets data used in journalistic, promotional, and communicative contexts; - knows the advantages and limitations of these tools; - knows how to integrate data and graphs in the writing of journalistic and argumentative texts, and how to adopt appropriate forms of visualization and presentation.

Course contents

The course will cover these main topics:

• Principles of data visualization
• Polls
• Relationship between media and data
• Case studies of Italian and international data journalism

The course will feature hands-on workshops and interactive simulations. In the second part of the course students will be required to design and present a data journalism project on a subject of their choice.

Readings/Bibliography

Required reading:

• Lorenzo Pregliasco, Benedetti sondaggi. Leggere i dati, capire il presente, Add, 2022

Additional suggested reading:

• Carl T. Bergstrom, Jevin D. West, Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World, 2020
  
• Alberto Cairo, Come i grafici mentono, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2020
• Alberto Cairo, L'arte funzionale. Infografica e visualizzazione delle informazioni, Pearson, 2013
• Alberto Cairo, L'arte del vero. Dati, grafici e mappe per la comunicazione, Pearson, 2016
• Darrell Huff, How to Lie with Statistics, 1991
• Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps, 2018

 

More essays and articles will be provided during class.

Assessment methods

The assessment will be based on the presentation of group work, as well as some individual questions on readings and topics covered during class.

Office hours

See the website of Lorenzo Pregliasco