Our Top 4 Data Journalism Sites

Why read about it when you can see the big picture? That’s part of the theory behind data journalism, which is a compact way of providing complex information in a bite-size (or maybe 1MB size) infographic. There’s no limit to creativity or complexity. Some data journalists embed animations within their central graphic; others are linked to forums or additional resources. This makes the topics not only more accessible to a wider audience, but often humanizes them, too. Here are the top four sites that consistently provide excellent and pioneering examples of data journalism.

4. New York Times.
Recently, the NYT has been providing a series of infographics on census data in the New York metropolitan region. While this is a fairly traditional use of data journalism, the infographics themselves are clean, load quickly, and are searchable by specific regions, right down to individual population tracts in Manhattan.

3. Los Angeles Times.
The paper’s interactive “homicide map” charts real-time murders by date and region in the larger LA metro area. The map allows visitors to click on individual homicides to see the name and age of the victim, along with a link to a forum where people can leave messages and add their comments. While a somewhat grim use of data journalism, it keeps murder, especially of people from lower socioeconomic classes, from becoming a forgettable statistic.

2. David McCandless.
This UK freelance journalist is the leading pioneer of data journalism. He’s authored a book and given a few TED talks about his endeavors, which are both funny and frightening. Especially intriguing are his choices of data, such as the comparison of total defense spending per capita by nation. It only takes a few seconds to realize that the biggest spenders aren’t who you’d expect.

1. Guardian UK.
The Guardian dedicates an entire section of its paper to data journalism, known as the “data store.” Here, you will find detailed infographics, applications, and a host of other wonderful data journalism tools. Let’s face it: the Guardian is leaps and bounds ahead of its competitors. Especially outstanding is the paper’s interpretation of the Wikileaks information. There’s a map of all the deaths in the recent Afghanistan war by region and casualty, which helps bring back the human dimension to the conflict. Bravo.

Do you have a company or individual you’d like to see added to the list?

Article first published as Top 4 Data Journalism Sites on Technorati.