1st Edition

Data Journalism and the COVID-19 Disruption

Edited By Jingrong Tong Copyright 2025
266 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

266 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

266 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Data Journalism and the COVID‑19 Disruption offers an international, multidisciplinary account of how and to what extent the COVID‑19 pandemic has been a blessing for data journalism. Bringing together insights into current developments in data journalism during (and since the onset of) the COVID‑19 pandemic from world‑leading data journalism practitioners and academics, this book draws on... Read more

Introduction

Part 1 Data journalism practices: Achievements, changes and challenges

1 Four shifts in data journalism practice during the COVID-19 pandemic                                  

Ashley Kirk

2 Communicating uncertainty in data journalism during the Covid-19 pandemic                              

Paul Bradshaw

3 Data journalism and investigative news reporting practices during the pandemic: The case of Zimbabwe and South Africa                                                                                                  

Allen Munoriyarwa and Sarah Chiumbu

4 Beyond the numbers: Spotlight on data and citizen journalism during Australia's Covid-19 crisis

Kim Doyle 

5 The ethics of data journalism in a pandemic

Nathan Sparkes

Part 2 Data journalism and the newsroom

6 Automating the COVID-19 story in the newsroom                             

Carmen Aguilar García

7 Data journalism practices during COVID-19 in the main Spanish newspapers: Features of data-driven stories and the influence of the pandemic on newsrooms

Alba Córdoba-Cabús and Pedro Farias-Batlle

8 Longitudinal reporting and the COVID-19 pandemic: The need for integrated newsroom data practice

Joanna S Kao and Susan E McGregor

Part 3 Data journalism and its audiences

9 Factors influencing audience engagement with COVID-19 data visualisations: A case study

Jingrong Tong

10 The audience turn in data journalism: How do data journalists conceptualize and perform audience engagement?

Lindita Camaj, Jason A. Martin, and Gerry Lanosga

11 Trustworthiness, accuracy, and transparency: The audience’s perceptions of errors in data journalism

Mathias-Felipe de-Lima-Santos and Marília Gehrke

Part 4 Data journalism, data, and external entities

12 From restrictions on freedom of expression and access to COVID-19: Open-source data in investigative Arab journalism

Miral Sabry AlAshry

13 Shaping data journalism in times of crisis: Critical perspectives on the potential role of the state

Shangyuan Wu

14 Data journalism and public health during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: Opportunities and challenges to improve pandemic preparedness and research

Angel N. Desai, Sangeeta Bhatia, Anne Cori, and  Britta Lassmann

Conclusion

Biography

Jingrong Tong is Senior Lecturer in Digital News Cultures at the University of Sheffield. She is the author of Data for Journalism: Between Transparency and Accountability and seven other books. Her current research focuses on media freedom, the impact of digital technology on journalism, and social media communication of social issues.