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.
Speaker presentations: More from Sarah Hartley on hyperlocal and community media
At our news:rewired session on local media, Sarah Hartley, launch editor of the Guardian’s new local sites, gave a fascinating overview of which players are involved the local media scene.
Going Local
The success of volunteer-driven local media depends on a platform for marginalised voices and good human relations, delegates were told.
Signal and Noise: Some quotes from news:rewired speakers
Some of what the news:rewired speakers said about the opportunities available in journalism today
Local media 2010: predictions
The news:rewired team caught up with the Times Online web editor, Joanna Geary, The Guardian Local’s launch editor Sarah Hartley, and The Lichfield Blog’s Philip John to hear their predictions for local media in 2010