Data journalism, starting on the ground
Data journalism need not begin with code or a specialist department. Begin by reading numbers carefully, making fair comparisons and examining public records around you. A spreadsheet and a disciplined question can reveal a story that a large figure alone would conceal.
The essentials
Watch five traps. Percentage points differ from percentage change: a margin falling from 15% to 10% loses five points, around a third of its starting value. Read a poll alongside its uncertainty. Recalculate changes between opposing blocs rather than guessing the balance. Examine how words frame the same data, and give large numbers a meaningful scale.
Compare a figure with population, budget or a previous period. Check that the units, definitions and time frames match before drawing a conclusion. Precision in the printed number is not the same as accuracy in what it is said to mean. A calculation must be reproducible from its source.
Look at censuses, approved and executed budgets, audit reports, procurement records and public datasets, including those of the World Bank or Afrobarometer. Start with simple operations: sort, compare two columns, calculate a change. The reporting method matters more than technical complexity, and the result still needs context and explanation.
Take it to the field
Beside every figure, record the source, period, unit and comparison base. Recalculate it. If the reader cannot understand what is being counted, the number’s apparent precision will not help them understand the story.
Your turn
Download or photograph a local or ministerial budget. Compare two columns: two years, or planned spending against actual spending. Write the short news item revealed by the comparison, identifying the source and relevant limits.