Blog Assignment 7

Chapter nine of Mark Briggs’ “Journalism Next” is all about data-driven journalism and digitalizing your life. As a database entry intern for a large graphic company, I understand the importance of this chapter right away. Event information, salary wages, transcripts; everything can be put into digital form nowadays. It is important that every industry understand the benefits of using digitalization in the workplace. For banks or schools, this may be a given, but what Briggs points out in chapter nine is that journalists can benefit as well.

Briggs mentions a few ways that journalists can use digitalization to organize information. All reports, whether opinion, news, political, or whatever it may be, can be divided and organized in a digital format. The most useful, Briggs cites, is a data spreadsheet. While many may see Excel program spreadsheets as a bunch of columns of numbers, these spreadsheets can serve as excellent organization tools. Dividing a story by categories such as event, source, address, city, company, and employees (CEO’s, managers, etc.) can help a reporter keep track of all of the information that goes into each individual story, and hold onto this information within an online program or external hard-drive.  Briggs mentions that by doing so, this helps to tell a story through data.

Including maps is also a great tool, and these maps can be organized and edited on an online database, as well, or in a program such as Excel. Briggs idea of including a map feature to a story is becoming increasingly important as much of a journalist’s initial work in a story can be done via mobile device. Most mobile devices are able to figure out where the device is, and mark that area. So when a journalist goes to a specific site, the phone or device will recognize this and keep track. This feature allows journalists to follow stories as they happen from changing geological areas.

Briggs tips from chapter nine are some of the most unexpected yet beneficial for todays journalists. Although many journalists may not recognize how important digitalizing information may be, creating and organizing databases of a report is going to become a vital part of the journalism industry as technology continues to grow and expand. I found this article from Mashable.com to be helpful when expanded upon Briggs idea of the benefits of database entry in the field of journalism. The article mentions that as journalism becomes more focused online and less in hard print, along comes a growing importance to protect the information gathered by a journalist by using database entry and spreadsheet programs such as Excel.