Sisi Wei: data stories at The Markup and CalMatters

Sisi Wei is the Chief Impact Officer at CalMatters & The Markup, based in New York. Sisi founded the DEI Coalition For Anti-Racist, Equitable, And Just Newsrooms and was the Assistant Managing Editor at ProPublica. She has also won the  Gwen Ifill Award. Alberto chats with Sisi about her work and how she approaches telling stories with data. The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠,⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from Sisi and represents rthe temperature in NYC in June 2024

Garance Burke is a global investigative reporter for the Associated Press, with a focus on reporting around Artificial Intelligence. She wrote the chapter of the AP style guide around reporting on AI and leads a team which works with data to tell stories every day. She joins Simon and Alberto to discuss the implications for data journalism. The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠,⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from Garance and represents Bills brought before Congress around AI over time.

How does the Pulitzer Center create such great data journalism? Alberto and Simon are joined by Doménica Montaño, the Center's program coordinator for environmental investigations. Working with terrific data journalists like director Gustavo Faleiros and Kuek Ser Kuang Keng, the team produces groundbreaking data work. Doménica explains what it takes to make that work come to life. The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠,⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠, is ⁠⁠⁠based on tree cover in Brazil.

Dan Kopf and Nami Sumida join Simon and Alberto to discuss how the SF Chronicle tells data stories, such as Sumida's recent exploration of the city's Japantown (sub required) and the WW2 internment that nearly destroyed it. The team discuss what makes the Bay Area such a rich source of data journalism and how the Chron approaches it each day. The⁠ ⁠⁠music this episode,⁠ made with⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠, is ⁠US Berkeley’s in-state acceptance rate⁠.

Anna Brand is the Managing Editor for Data and Graphics at CNN Digital. She chats with Simon and Alberto about building a data journalism team at the news outlet, explains how it works and what inspires her. The⁠ ⁠music this week⁠⁠, made with⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠, is based on the data behind this CNN Digital story about Halloween candy.

It’s a different kind of podcast this week: Simon and Alberto talk about Alberto’s latest book, The Art of Insight, why data journalism is still a dream job and our approaches to working with numbers to tell stories. Find out what books got us here - and what we care about most, when it comes to data storytelling. The ⁠music this week⁠, made with ⁠TwoTone⁠, is based on snowfall in Central Park from 1869 from ⁠this dataset⁠, via weather.gov.

Attila Bátorfy is a data journalist operating in Viktor Orbán's Hungary, heading up ATLO and pioneering the field in the country as a teacher and practitioner. Find out why he believes Hungary is the country to watch for data storytelling. Music by ⁠TwoTone⁠, based on data about rising Hungary's falling population. You can hear the ⁠full (long) track here⁠.

The Guardian's Pamela Duncan and Ashley Kirk join Simon to talk about how data journalism has changed since he was there, how the news organisation works today and what is coming next. Music by TwoTone, based on data from this story about rising surface temperatures. You can hear the full (long) track here.

Alan Smith is a rare breed: he leads the FT's team of data reporters and designers, but has a background in the stuffy world of official statistics as former head of digital content at the UK's Office for National Statistics. Alan is also author of How Charts Work, a handbook on designing with data using the FT's principles. He chats with Simon and Alberto about his approach to data journalism and how to make numbers accessible for everyone.

This week we meet data journalist Eunice Magwambo, whose team has trained over 2,000 journalists in data journalism and visualisation and is part of a new movement of talented data reporters in the region. She talks about how data journalism in Africa is different, the appetite for data-led stories and the importance of sharing those visuals. You can find more of Eunice's work here.