Data journalism 2.0: Online course in Spanish will teach how to create and manage data journalism teams

Data journalism has been a top priority for many newsrooms around the world over the past decade. Lately, however, editors have incorporated data not only into special projects, but also into daily coverage and breaking news. Newsrooms now need data teams to be more dynamic and more productive than ever before.

That’s why the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas is teaming up with veteran instructor Sandra Crucianelli, a pioneer in data reporting in Latin America, for a new special online course.

“Data Journalism 2.0: How to create and manage a dynamic and productive data journalism team,” will run from April 17 to May 14, 2023.

Don’t miss this opportunity! Read instructions on how to register and sign up today!

In this course, which is taught in Spanish, you’ll learn how to create a data unit at your news outlet or how to create a new media outlet based on large amounts of data.

“My wish is that students take away from the course the necessary tools to not only form a team, but also to lead it,” Crucianelli said. “These skills are best developed when knowledge comes less from theory and more from practice and experience.”

There are four weekly modules for the course, each focused on a specific topic:

• Module 1 will review why you should create a data unit, and who should do it. This includes taking a close look at the profiles of data unit members.
• Module 2 covers the tools of data journalism, including spreadsheets, databases, collaborative platforms for working remotely, programming languages and more.
• Module 3 looks at how your data unit will function, including day-to-day operations.
• Module 4 considers how the data unit will fit into the wider newsroom, including promoting data journalism in the editorial calendar.

This is a big online course (BOC), which means the lessons will be more advanced and the course will be limited to a few hundred students, instead of thousands as in the MOOCs (the massive open online courses) that the Knight Center offers. There will also therefore be more room for interaction between students and the instructor.

Unlike the MOOCs, which are free and attract thousands of people, BOCs cost US $95, including full access to the course and a certificate of completion for those who meet course requirements. There is no formal academic credit associated with the certificate.

Crucianelli is a veteran journalist from Argentina specializing in data and investigative reporting, and a very popular instructor of Knight Center courses. In the last two decades, she has trained thousands of journalists from all over Latin America, both in person and online. Currently, Crucianelli is the coordinator of the data intelligence unit at Infobae, a news organization based in Argentina that has established itself as the leader in Spanish-language audiences worldwide.

As a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), she was part of international teams of reporters in award-winning investigative projects like the Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files and FinCEN Files. Crucianelli has taught courses for the Knight Center since 2003, including six MOOCs focused on data journalism, covering elections and understanding artificial intelligence.

Crucianelli said this course will be different from the previous MOOCs she taught for the Knight Center in that it will focus on forming a data journalism team that can be responsive to the quick and frequent demands from the newsrooms, as well as how to carry out data reporting work.

“There has never been a Knight Center course with these characteristics in Spanish before,” she said.

Additionally, Crucianelli said students will benefit from more personalized communication.

“There will be weekly video conferences in real time, where the participants will be able to interact and we will be able to share tools as well as clear up any doubts that may arise,” she said. “Being a smaller class size than in MOOCs, the attention that the instructor can offer the participant is more intensive.”

Crucianelli will teach the course using video conferences, lectures, exercises, discussion forums and quizzes. In addition to the activities taking place on the platform, there will be weekly live events.

This course is for journalists, editors and communication professionals. All you need is a computer with internet access.

Like all Knight Center courses, this BOC is asynchronous, meaning students can complete the activities on the days and at the times that work best for their own schedules. However, this time the instructor will include special classes live to create more opportunities to interact with students. Those live activities are not mandatory and will be recorded and the videos will be available to all students.

So, don’t delay in starting your own data journalism team or project. Register today for this exciting course!