A Quantitative Turn in Journalism?

Journalists are seeing an explosion of quantitative data about how readers interact with what they write. To date, much of the conversation about metrics and news has focused on the dangers of using metrics to guide news judgment or, on the other hand, the risks of…

Sensor Journalism and Water Pollution

A killer sensor journalism application, for many people who are optimistic about the field, would be to build a network of pollution sensors that send data back to newsrooms about what’s going on in the local environment.

New Tow Center Research Project Explores Use of User Generated Content by Television News

We are excited to announce a new Tow Center research project which will explore the use of User-Generated Content (UGC) by television news. While news organization have…

The Effects of Mass Surveillance on Journalism

Mass surveillance of the kind practiced by the NSA produces a chilling effect on journalism, because sources do not feel they can have a private conversation with a reporter. That’s the message of a group of scholars, journalists, and researchers…

Amateur Footage: A Global Study of User Generated Content in TV News Output

By Claire Wardle and Sam Dubberley

It is no secret that the use of social media has revolutionized newsrooms, changed journalists’ workflows and pushed news organizations to…

Tow Tea “Mapping the Experience” Takeaway

Google Fusion Tables are used to gather and visualize data tables. Fusion tables are one of the simplest tools available online to create interactive maps. For our first skills session of the year, I looked at mapping school attendance in New York City by…