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Channel 4 News: ‘Liveblogging isn’t replacing other content, it adds value’

Liveblogging enhances the journalistic process, according to Anna Doble, social media producer at Channel 4 News and a site editor for Channel4.com/news.
At Channel 4 News liveblogging sits alongside other content ‘adding value’ to the work carried out by the teams working on the television programme and on the website rather than replacing it.
Liveblogging allows for constant breaking news updates throughout the day as well as greater engagement with viewers.
Anna will be discussing these issues on the panel for the liveblogging session at news:rewired.

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Links: Session 3A – #opendata at a local level

Some of the biggest stories of the last few years such as MPs expenses and WikiLeaks have been driven by information discovered in spreadsheets.
At the other end of the spectrum there is a whole host of open data available to regional and local journalists seeking to unearth stories of interest to their communities.
Here ahead of the open data session at news:rewired we take a look at how data has been used by regional organisations and some of the open data sources available in the UK.

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#Sparktweets: Wall Street Journal visualising data in tweets

The Wall Street Journal has started using simple data visualisations in tweets using an online tool called Sparkblocks. Basic block shapes create the graphics in what are becoming known as “sparktweets”.
Zach Seward explains in his blog how the Wall Street Journal started using sparktweets to illustrate unemployment statistics and how developers battled to make the images both PC and Mac friendly.
Others have picked up on the trend which can be tracked with the use of the hashtag #sparktweets.

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Who’s signed up for news:rewired so far, and where from?

Using some simple tools used by data journalists to illustrate stories reporter Joel Gunter has made a couple of visualisations to illustrate who is coming to news:rewired – noise to signal.
A Wordle illustrates some of the groups and companies sending representatives to our event.
We have also mapped the locations some of our delegates to show the distances some people are traveling, including visitors from Romania, Norway and Portugal.

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10 things every journalist should know about data

Journalists need to know and understand data and statistics.
It is not just the preserve of the investigative journalist but can – and should – be used and understood by reporters writing for local papers, magazines, the consumer and trade press and for online publications.
From crime statistics, government spending, bin collections, hospital infections and missing kittens and data journalism is part of every journalist’s patch.
Sarah Marshall takes a look at the essentials journalists need to know and tools to help along the way.

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Links: Session 2B – social media strategy

The social media strategy session at news:rewired – noise to signal takes a closer look at how news organisations are using social media to report and engage with online communities.
How can journalists measure the impact of their online reputation?
This selection of resources shows examples of how political journalists broadcast their work online and interact with one another.
There are also guides to social networking policies, Twitter style, and Facebook news feeds.

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Announcing the final session: Is liveblogging rewriting journalism?

Liveblogging has been called the “death of journalism” to the “embodiment of its future“. However people feel about it, it is a big issue for online journalism.
From election coverage to civil unrest, to the arrest of Julian Assange, liveblogging has been used to cover fast-moving stories.
Different formats are used by a variety of news organisations from newspapers to broadcasters.
The final session of news:rewired will take a close look at liveblogging and what it means for online journalism, hearing from those who use the format every day.

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Links: Session 2A – developing the data story

We’re back with another collection of useful links and resources in the run up to news:rewired – noise to signal, this time looking at session 2A: Developing the data story. Speakers on the panel will include Michael Robinson, head of infographics, the Guardian and Federica Cocco, editor, OWNI.eu, with more speakers to follow. I’m going […]

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