Open AccessINDEPENDENCE THROUGH DATA JOURNALISM
Author(s) -
Avner Kantor,
Sheizaf Rafaeli
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
selected papers of internet research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2162-3317
DOI - 10.5210/spir.v2021i0.12191
Subject(s) - cognitive reframing , journalism , independence (probability theory) , public engagement , citizen journalism , target audience , audience response , audience measurement , perspective (graphical) , meaning (existential) , storytelling , set (abstract data type) , public relations , psychology , sociology , political science , computer science , media studies , social psychology , advertising , world wide web , business , philosophy , mathematics , artificial intelligence , law , psychotherapist , linguistics , operating system , narrative , programming language , statistics
Data journalism (DJ) fosters audience independence. It encouragescontent exploration through visualizations, storytelling, and direct access to data sources.DJ assists the audience to be well informed, cognitively active, and contribute to thepublic sphere. Achieving this objective indicates the audience's independence. Howindependent is the audience of DJ? This question is answered based on the level ofengagement of the audience. A low level of engagement prevents the audience from helpingeach other to interpret the dominant meaning and to identify its deficiencies. When theaudience is engaged, they are able to reframe the message from a new perspective,challenging their understanding of the message. By analyzing the audience engagement levelsand comparing different types of journalism we gain insight into audience behavior. We founda significant correlation between DJ audience engagement and time. This trend may beexplained by the steep learning curve of DJ, which requires a special set of skills, inaddition to the willingness to analyze and discuss interpretations with others. On the basisof the trend, we can conclude that over time, the audience became familiar with DJ andadopted it. Results could contribute to the realization of the internet's original promiseto make the general public independent by providing free access to information.