DATA JOURNALISM ON DEADLINE WHAT IT’S REALLY LIKE TO PRACTICE “SOCIAL SCIENCE IN A HURRY” My name is Ben Sometimes I go by @palewire All our slides are belong to bit.ly/dataondeadline Who am I? Who am I? Do you know? Who am I? Do you know? You don’t. But you should. I’m Philip Meyer. In 1973 I wrote the book “Precision Journalism,” crystalizing the ideas behind today’s “data journalism.” You don’t have to take my word for it. Read the new history of data journalism, “Apostles of Certainty.” I’m all over it. Why is Ben trotting out my esteemed image only to treat it like a debased meme? Because I once wrote the following: To cope with the acceleration of social change in today’s world, journalism must become social science in a hurry. IN THEORY IN PRACTICE We’re flattering him here, but one generous way to describe the situation is to say our boy Ben has developed a hypothesis. I admit it’s a stretch, but you might describe what our dunce has done as operationializing his research question I know what you’re thinking. Before anyone else is exposed to this flimsy work, we need some peer review Okay, so if so-called theory is true, you should be able to make predictions, right? Walt Whitman once said, “I like the scientific spirit—the holding off, the being sure but not too sure… … the willingness to surrender ideas when the evidence is against them: this is ultimately fine… …it always keeps the way beyond open—always gives life, thought, affection, the whole man, a chance… … to try over again after a mistake—after a wrong guess.” Walt Whitman didn’t have to put out a newspaper. Cool story bro. But if you’re really doing science, you work needs to be replicable. No corrections is good. What do you got for me today, though?