There is a notion among some people that data journalism is scary. For them, excel sheets full of numbers, and charts and graphs with colours and lines and legends, can be overwhelming. When the Data Point section was first introduced on op-ed, it was a small square space at the bottom right corner of the page. It merely had charts. With time, the section was expanded to include some text. Later, it was expanded further to include more explanatory text. Despite this, we know that some people continue to read Data Point with some apprehension. And so, when I joined the data team, I saw room for opportunity.
Data stories need not be relegated to paper; they can be brought to life through multimedia. I haven’t seen this being done extensively in India, except in financial publications. This is despite the fact that most young people consume news predominantly through videos and podcasts. This was an opportunity to not only reach a wider audience, but also help them better interpret the numbers and give them a reason to care about these figures by fleshing out the story, beyond the space restrictions of print.
There are two ways to do this: through audio and video. With the Data Point podcast series, I knew that rattling off numbers would push the audience away. As a podcast listener myself, I also knew that the audience would not like to hear my voice alone. So, we came up with a discussion-based format featuring up to three guests — experts on the subject of the data set being examined. While data show us facts, data stories do not always have the ability to draw conclusions or show us the nuances of a subject. For example, a Data Point looking at whether wealth or awareness play a greater role in diabetes incidences pointed to wealth. When this issue, and the corresponding data, were discussed with health experts and researchers on the podcast, we learned that because of changing diets and societal shortcomings (such as the availability of medical services or the kinds of work people do), the issue is much more complex.
The Data Point videos provide us an opportunity to provide context along with visuals. While in print we have text on the one side and charts on the other, on video, we show the chart while simultaneously explaining what it means. Some stories are complex and require extra attention and explanation. Solving this problem means walking the viewer through the data while telling a story and answering the questions, why is this important right now, and why does it matter to you?
Our latest video, for instance, looks at the recent floods in Chennai caused by the rainfall triggered by Cyclone Michaung. I took the story that one of my colleagues wrote for print and rewrote it for video. This means writing the story in active voice. It also means explaining the data the way I would to a friend, in a conversational, jargon-free style. And most importantly, it means showing viewers the data even as they listen to our explanation of it. With the flooding video, I showed the bar chart depicting rainfall patterns, but used arrows to show the viewer exactly which part of the chart I was explaining.
Platforms such as YouTube give us the chance to understand how people engage with our stories. We also get immediate feedback. While a majority of the comments focus on my American accent, which is beyond my control, it is heartening to know that people relate to the information. There were thought-provoking and nuanced comments under our recent video about the Indian Railways.
At a time when accusations of bias in the news is rampant, data journalism is extremely important. It is harder to argue about numbers than words. Through podcasts and videos, we hope that more people will be open to, and appreciative of, the power of data journalism.
sonikka.l@thehindu.co.in
