OWNI erected its tent at the Chaos Communication Camp this year for five days. Where? In an ancient Soviet military base, complete with airplanes and an open air museum. 3,500 hackers were expected for what is known to be the largest assembly of the kind in Europe. Here’s a collection of the best of OWNI’s interviews from these five days in the heart of hackerdom.
Birgitta Jónsdóttir: “Keep the freedom of information what it should be: free.”
The Icelandic deputy Birgitta Jónsdóttir is the backbone behind the Icelandic Media Modernization Initiative (IMMI), a resolution that aims to make Iceland into a paradise for freedom of expression.
Macro: “I hope that being part of a hackerspace will no longer be so underground.”
Created in 1995 in Berlin, the C-Base was one of the first hackerspaces in the world, even if it has begun to think of itself as more of a makerspace. 350 members strong, it hosts CCC events and artistic performances. We look under the tent with Marco, their current “chief.”
Telling Stories With Data – By Adam, Jessica, Joan, Karrie, and Nicholas
Sunday, October 23, 2011 in Providence, Rhode Island(at VisWeek 2011)
While visualization is an excellent tool for discovery and analysis, it is also a powerful medium for communication. The best information graphics do more than just present numbers: they tell a story, engage and convince their readers, invite them to make a personal connection to the data, and help them tell stories of their own.
This VisWeek 2011 workshop will examine the construction of narratives with visualization. We plan to draw participants with interests in visualization, social media, journalism, and storytellers.
Last year, at VisWeek 2010, the first workshop on ‘Telling Stories with Data’ took place in Salt Lake City. This workshop brought together dozens of visualization researchers, journalists, humanities scholars, and tool builders to talk about how data has the potential to promote increasingly sophisticated and data-literate conversations to the world at large. [Read more…]
Some people think that the future of journalism is uncertain. At the DJB we believe that it is exciting, more data-friendly and a scary bit challenging.
It’s not taking a big risk to say that most of it will happen online, but what is really interesting to witness is the very making of it…
Every Wednesdays, around midnight, while most people are scrabbling the internet or scrolling down their Facebook page in an hypnotic manner, hoping to fall asleep, a Twitter community actually works toward the future of online journalism.
#Wjchat is a weekly online conversation for web journalists which tackles all things content, technology, ethics, & business of journalism on the web.
While it doesn’t seem like the most interesting thing at first, a Twitter search for the hashtag #wjchat and a look at their profile will show you that 2,300 people already follow their tweets and that hundreds of them are posted every week on topics such as “innovation, culture and engagement”, “multi-media and visual storytelling”, or even “jobs and internships”.
Last week #wjchat was about the future of online journalism, hosted by the Chicago’s Tribune very own data guru, Brian Boyer. You can find out about what he does here.
Brian is also the person in charge of the very exciting PANDA project, winner of this year’s Knight News Challenge, and is said to revolutionise data journalism in a very practical way. (more on the PANDA project here)
You can follow #wjchat discussions in many ways but our favourites are via Tweetchat and on Google+.
And like everyone else, #wjchat is also on Facebook.
Dozens of people from around the globe joined the discussion last week. The archive of the #wjchat discussion is available on their website but we made a compilation of the best tweets that were posted that day. Enjoy and keep the discussion going in the comments!
2011-07-21T00:09:26Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
A preface to tonight’s chat: “Take a set of encyclopedias and ask, ‘How do I make this digital?’ You get a Microsoft Encarta CD.”… #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:10:18Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
“Take the philosophy of encyclopedia-making and ask…” #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:10:30Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
“‘How does digital change our engagement with this?’ You get Wikipedia.” –Craig Mod
2011-07-21T00:11:21Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
So! Journalism is a myopic business. We need to be more speculative, we need to think way beyond existing technologies. #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:12:00Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
Someone’s gonna make the future, and it might as well be us. With that in mind, let’s begin! #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:13:21Z wjchat (wjchat)
Q1 If Twitter is the telegraph that we’ll all laugh at when we’re old what’s the future? Crazy ideas, please. #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:17:42Z TheChalkOutline (Scott Schwebke)
Another crazy idea- Computer programs that will be able to predict tomorrow’s news based on yesterday’s events #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:21:45Z rynk (Stephen M Rynkiewicz)
#wjchat Q1 Twitter is a telegraph with better hardware. The future device? Embedded in clothes, notebooks, refrigerator magnets.
2011-07-21T00:22:15Z wjchat (wjchat)
Q2 What are some examples of great digital-native journalism? @BrianBoyer will define “digital-native journalism” #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:22:17Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
Preface for Q2: It seems to me that we’re still doing print journalism, and shoehorning it onto the web. #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:23:12Z acnatta (André Natta)
Q2 data-visualization based pieces? #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:24:14Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
A2: I can name two — Politifact and Everyblock. Both relate newsworthy information in a web-native fashion. #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:33:09Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
I would like to take this opportunity to say STOP MAKING INTERACTIVE GRAPHICS. (usually, sometimes they’re awesome. sometimes.) #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:33:52Z gteresa (Teresa Gorman)
@brianboyer can you expand on that? What’s one that really works? #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:34:33Z webjournalist (Robert Hernandez)
@brianboyer Do you mean stop lame interactive graphics? Be more specific. #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:34:43Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
A counterexample to my previous statement: http://nyti.ms/3dLjAe #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:37:08Z schwanksta (Ken Schwencke)
@brianboyer Well, you (we) sometimes are. But it’s a big box! Perhaps: “Stop taking print graphics and adding animation” #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:39:44Z wjchat (wjchat)
Q3 Reinterpreting Mod’s piece: Wrong q: How do we change journalism to make it digital? Instead: How does digital change journalism? #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:39:45Z ivanlajara (Ivan Lajara)
I found this Arab Spring timeline by @guardian very useful http://bit.ly/pGsHbw #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:43:09Z FatFighterTV (FatFighterTV)
A3 More accessible, fluid, and more sources – which means you have to be more careful and know which ones to trust. #wjchat
2011-07-21T00:43:22Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
A3: When everyone with a mobile is a source, reporter, and publisher… I think a lot is gonna change. #wjchat
2011-07-21T01:14:00Z wjchat (wjchat)
LR3 What sources (books, blogs, anything) do you recommend for fellow future-makers? #wjchat
2011-07-21T01:17:37Z brianboyer (Brian Boyer)
LR3: Attend your local open-source user groups. Start a Hacks/Hackers chapter. #wjchat
2011-07-21T01:20:18Z wjchat (wjchat)
Q6 What do you see other mediums doing online that journalism can steal? Give examples (Tools, ideas, etc). #wjchat
2011-07-21T01:22:57Z knowtheory (Ted Han)
@wjchat #wjchat Steal the open source development model. engage users, foster their interest & support, and turn them into collaborators
2011-07-21T01:27:02Z wjchat (wjchat)
Q6B What technological advances that are coming are you most excited about harnessing for journalism? #wjchat
2011-07-21T01:29:35Z knowtheory (Ted Han)
@wjchat #wjchat q6b) better analysis and workflow tools. I want systems that help me understand big chunks of info.
2011-07-21T01:30:28Z roeberg (Roei Eisenberg)
A6B: Also, making Excel easier and more intuitive. We need to be able to crunch numbers w/o hassle. #wjchat
2011-07-21T01:33:05Z wjchat (wjchat)
Q7 So! You’re not a programmer? So what. What’s your role to help bring journalism into the future?
2011-07-21T01:34:53Z DLoxLA (D Lock)
A7: Find someone who is a programmer and team-up. #wjchat #sharingIScaring
2011-07-21T01:41:27Z knowtheory (Ted Han)
@wjchat #wjchat BonusQ) interested ppl should go checkout the @knightmozilla MoJo project and #moznewslab experimenting w/ new ideas
This is a blog post by Rufus Pollock, co-Founder and Director of the Open Knowledge Foundation.
OKCon, the annual Open Knowledge Conference kicked off today and it’s been great so far. For those not here in Berlin with us you can follow main track talks via video streaming:http://www.ustream.tv/channel/open-knowlegde
Below are my slides from my introductory talk which gives an overview of the Foundation and its activities and then looked to what the challenges are for the open data community going forward.
The last several decades the world has seen an explosion of digital technologies which have the potential to transform the way knowledge is disseminated.
This world is rapidly evolving and one of its more striking possibilities is the creation of an open data ecosystem in which information is freely used, extended and built on. [Read more…]
European public bodies produce thousands upon thousands of datasets every year – about everything from how our tax money is spent to the quality of the air we breathe. With the Open Data Challenge, the Open Knowledge Foundation and the Open Forum Academy are challenging designers, developers, journalists and researchers to come up with something useful, valuable or interesting using open public data.
Everybody from the EU can submit an idea, app, visualization or dataset to the competition between 5th April and 5th June. The winners will be announced in mid June at the European Digital Assembly in Brussels. A total of €20,000 in prizes could be another motivator if you’re not convinced yet.
All entries must use or depend on open, freely reusable data from local, regional or national public bodies from European member states or from European institutions (e.g. Eurostat, EEA, …).
Some starting points for you to get data are http://publicdata.eu or http://lod2.okfn.org. The organisers are focused on solutions that are reusable in different countries, cover pan-European issues and use open licenses for any code, content and data. Get all the info about the competition and on how to join here.
We are very eager to see what you come up with so share your work with us in the Data Art Corner or in the comments!
Now in it’s 16th year, the recently-renamed FutureEverything Festival will continue to showcase and illuminate creative technologies and digital innovation this coming May in Manchester, UK.
Befitting it’s role in leading Manchester’s recent Open Data revolution, FutureEverything will provide centre stage consideration of Open Data as part of it’s two day conference. Open Data is shifting the digital landscape in a manner comparable to the sea changes which followed in the wake of social media and FutureEverything 2011 offers the means to understand how it will transform the way consumers engage with brands, and the ways citizens engage in local government. The topics under consideration range from the enterprise that can be fomented with open data to what shape algorithm driven journalism will take. [Read more…]
Journalism.co.uk’s next News:Rewired event will take place on 27 May at Thomson Reuters’ London offices.
What’s it about?
news:rewired – noise to signal is a one-day event for journalists and communications professionals who want to learn more about the latest tools and strategies to filter large datasets, social networks, and audience metrics into a clear signal for both the editorial and business side of the news industry. [Read more…]
Picture: "Where does my money go?" by the Open Knowledge Foundation
The open data movement, with the US and UK governments to the fore, is putting a vast and unprecedented quantity of republishable public data on the web. This information tsunami requires organisation, interpretation and elaboration by the media if anything eye-catching is to be made of it.
Experts gathered at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia last week to discuss what journalistic skills are required for data journalism.
Jonathan Gray, community coordinator for the Open Knowledge Foundation, spoke on an open data panel about the usability of data. “The key term in open data is ‘re-use’,” he told Joel Gunter from Journalism.co.uk.
Government data has been available online for years but locked up under an all rights reserved licence or a confusing mixture of different terms and conditions.
The Open Knowledge Foundation finds beneficial ways to apply that data in projects such as Where Does My Money Go which analyses data about UK public spending. “It is about giving people literacy with public information,” Gray said.
The key is allowing a lot more people to understand complex information quickly.
Along with its visualisation and analysis projects, the Open Knowledge Foundation has established opendefinition.org, which provides criteria for openness in relation to data, content and software services, and opendatasearch.org, which is aggregating open data sets from around the world.
“Tools so good that they are invisible. This is what the open data movement needs”, Gray said.
Some of the Google tools that millions use everyday are simple, effective open tools that we turn to without thinking, that are “so good we don’t even know that they are there”, he added.
Countries such as Itlay and France are very enthusiastic about the future of open data. Georgia has launched its own open data portal, opendata.ge.
The US with data.gov, spend £34 million a year maintaining that various open data sites. Others are cheap by comparison, with the UK’s data.gov.uk reportedly costing £250,000 to set up.
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