Schnitzel, pomp and ceremony — The Data Journalism Award 2016 minds its Ps and Qs
Spending a Thursday night at one of the most impressive buildings in Vienna, getting served some of the tastiest things this city has to offer (Schnitzel and Apfelstrudel) were pretty special. But it got even better when good journalism came into the limelight finally getting the honour it deserved.
Last night was the night for some of the best journalists from around the globe in this growing speciality. Each of them individually contributed something great, namely a ground-breaking piece of data journalism. Out of 64 finalists the 11 winners were announced at the Data Journalism Award competition organised by the Global Editor’s Network. Among them prestigious names such as BuzzFeed News or Al Jazeera America.
BuzzFeed’s “Spies in the Skies” revealed the scope of the FBI’s and the Department of Homeland Security’s aerial surveillance using secretive aircraft. Al Jazeera America’s “Amtrak train sped into deadly crash curve” published the reconstructed course of a deadly accident within hours after it happened, demonstrating how big data can be used for breaking news.
Aside from the big players, the DJ jury under Paul Steiger, Chairman of ProPublica’s Board of Directors, also recognised the work of a number of small newsrooms. Among them the Spanish Civio Foundation, whose Medicalmentalia enables the public to compare options for healthcare as well as Excesses Unpunished, an investigative series developed by Convoca (Peru), that helps users to explore data about the country’s failure to control the environmental and other damage caused by its crucial mining industry. “We are not a traditional media outlet, so this award is very, very important to us” said Eva Belmonte from the Civio Foundation.
The Public Choice Award went to Public Radio International, for creating a news app that simulates the scale of the damage of the Syrian war in the user’s own country. Over 2300 votes were cast in total for the Award.
Other winners included:
The Panama Papers for the global investigation of the scandal. It involved more than 370 reporters in some 80 countries. The effort was triggered by a leak to Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung and involves 210,000 offshore companies.
FiveThirtyEight which produced articles on themes ranging from politics and racism to sports and crossword-puzzle scandals. They also tackled how shifts in party preference and turnout by different demographic groups would affect the 2016 presidential election.
Quartz launched an online tool that lets readers freely reuse previously published Quartz charts and data — or make their own charts. Not only does the site inform readers, it helps readers to inform others.
IndiaSpend (honourable mention) uses low-cost, networked sensors to detect levels of deadly particles in the air. They aim to help individuals in the world’s second most-populous country. Its goal is to mobilize efforts to reduce pollution which comes from sources ranging from forest fires to industrial plants in India.
La Nacion built datasets from scratch, pushing the boundaries of information in Argentina where access to official records is limited. At the ceremony they provided one of the best quotes of the GENSummit: “Data journalists don’t go for money, they don’t go for power, they go for energy and passion and they get prizes, thank you!”
The Data Visualisation of the Year (small newsroom) award was not attributed this year as the jury was unable to reach a majority choice in this category.
Each winnner takes home a 1000 euro award, the honourable mention a 500 one. We stayed with the food.
