Telling stories through data, with the BBC's Paul Lynch and Lauren Woodhead
Learn how to find, clean, interrogate and visualise the data that help us create more compelling journalism in this half-day of in-person workshops on campus
Join us, in person, to learn, practise and begin using the important skills of data journalism.
There is an abundance of data being released on a daily basis. Increaasingly the role of a journalist is shifting from hunting and gathering to sifting, processing, analysing and finding in that data the stories of greatest relevance to our audiences.
During this afternoon of workshops on Wednesday 17th May from 12.30pm to 4.45pm, you will learn what data is available and how to find it (including FOI requests and seeking information from other organisations), how to interrogate it and find facts or patterns in it, then use open-source tools to present and enhance the stories you tell.
Our speakers are Paul Lynch and Lauren Woodhead of the BBC's Shared Data Unit, whose data journalism output is shared with more than 1,000 news partners around the UK – recent data projects have ranged from the "postcode lottery" in menopause care to an investigation into the hundreds of sex offenders who have "gone missing" in the last three years.
Having cut his teeth on the Ripley and Heanor News in mid-Derbyshire, Paul travelled south to take up a role as chief reporter for the Northampton Chronicle and Echo in 2014. During his time there, Paul was awarded Johnston Press’s journalist of the year award twice – once for exposing the corruption at the heart of the town’s football club and a second time revealing the extent of historical abuse in a locally-formed religious sect.
Paul has also been a member of The i newspaper’s investigations unit, producing collaborative stories on cybercrime, the future of the NHS and the national PFI debt. He and the team were given a Mind Media Award for their work tackling the subject of suicide among military veterans, won the Drum Media award for editorial innovation in 2021 and scooped the Wincott Award for data journalism in 2022.
Lauren is a journalist, having joined the BBC Local News Partnerships team as a researcher in 2021. Before joining BBC News, she studied Politics & History at Durham University followed by Journalism at Cardiff University - where she discovered a love for council meetings and planning decisions. Lauren has written for the Sunday Times, the Global Legal Post and Shout Out UK.
This afternoon of workshops will take place in-person, on Newcastle University's campus in Newcastle upon Tyne on Wednesday 17th May from 12.30pm to 4.45pm. Brought to you by the Civic Journalism Lab at Newcastle University, the event is free and open to anyone, regardless of experience. However, registration is essential as we'll email you key information before the event begins.
REWIND: Collaborative, impactful journalism masterclass with Lucy Nash of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism
If you missed our last Civic Journalism Lab event – a masterclass by Lucy Nash of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism on working collaboratively to cfreate stories of real impact – fear not: you can play back a video of the hybrid session on our YouTube channel here. In fact, you’ll find all kinds of useful and thought-provoking content on our YouTube channel, from masterclasses on “TikTok for Journalism” and “Data Visualisation” to discussion panels on “Travel Journalism” and “Dealing with Online Abuse”.
J-LAB PODCAST: Are you a subscriber yet?
Our guest on the latest episode of the J-Lab podcast is Hannah Barnes, investigations producer for the BBC’s Newsnight programme. Hannah’s reports with science correspondent Deborah Cohen and her subsequent book about the rise and fall of the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) for children at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in north London are the result of intensive reporting, carried out across several years and based on more than 100 hours of interviews with Gids’ clinicians, former patients, and other experts. In our conversation, Hannah outlines her analytical, source-based methods, and offers advice on how to retain a questioning approach during reporting, while always treating contributors and interviewees with decency and respect. Listen here on SoundCloud or here on Apple Podcasts or here on Spotify for this latest in a series of episodes that explores the journalists and stories making the news today.
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