ProPublica’s data journalism: how multidisciplinary teams and hybrid profiles create impactful data stories

Despite growing interest in the emergence of technologies in journalistic practices, especially from the production perspective, there is still very little research on organizational structures and professional culture in relation to the deployment of these technologies. Drawing on six interviews and observation in staff meetings, this study aims to explore the nuances behind the professional roles of data journalists and how these relate to structural aspects of news organizations. The study focuses on the case of ProPublica, a news organization internationally renowned for its global excellence in data stories. This work considers boundary‐making in the context of journalism and focuses on new professional roles in the news industry to produce a hybrid ethnography study based on qualitative data collected immediately before the Covid‐19 pandemic hit the United States. The findings reveal the importance of hybrid profiles at ProPublica. While some journalists have had to expand their knowledge to learn more about new areas, such as coding and design, some non‐journalistic professionals have had to develop writing skills, and this blurring of traditional boundaries forms an important aspect of ProPublica’s professional culture. The structure of the organization, divided into two teams engaged in cross‐sector activities, helps to promote data skills and collaboration with other journalists, which also serves to mitigate any individual lack of experience on certain topics. The article concludes by suggesting that the growing importance of these new professional roles has broader implications for the development of data skills in the newsroom, and also discusses the limitations that can arise from the increasing overlap between journalistic and non‐journalistic roles

Out-of-the-box versus in-house tools: how are they affecting data journalism in Australia?

The proliferation of data journalism has enabled newsrooms to deploy technologies for both mundane and more sophisticated workplace tasks. To bypass long-term investment in developing data skills, out-of-the-box software solutions are commonly used. Newsrooms today are partially dependent on third-party platforms to build interactive and visual stories – but the business models of platforms are predisposed to changes, frequently inducing losses of stories. This article combines in-depth interviews and an ancillary survey to study the status quo and identify future challenges in embracing out-of-the-box and in-house tools, and their impact on Australian data journalism. Results indicate a dichotomy between commercial and public service media organisations. Commercial outlets are heavily reliant on out-of-the-box solutions to develop stories, due to a lack of skillsets and a shortage of skilled labour. By contrast, public service media are developing their own in-house solutions, which reflects their desire for the continuous digital preservation of data stories despite the challenges identified

Overweight and Class I Obesity Are Associated with Lower 10-Year Risk of Mortality in Brazilian Older Adults: The Bambuí Cohort Study of Ageing

Background: Prospective studies mostly with European and North-American populations have shown inconsistent results r

Medios nativos digitales de Latinoamérica: Un panel de expertos

Informe de un seminario sobre medios nativos digitales en América Latina, organizado por el grupo de investigación Digidoc de la UPF, en el marco del proyecto de investigación doctoral Cibermedios nativos latinoamericanos como agentes de renovación del campo periodístico. El seminario, celebrado en junio de 2022, consistió en una serie de tres presentaciones continuas, realizadas por expertos, y una segunda parte de preguntas, deliberación e intercambio de experiencias entre los organizadores, los expertos y los asistentes. En la primera parte se abordan aspectos de la evolución histórica de los medios nativos, sus características distintivas y las posiciones liminales que ocupan entre los medios tradicionales y los medios alternativos. También se aborda el uso comparado de las redes sociales entre periodistas en Latinoamérica, así como los tipos de branding en redes sociales de los medios nativos. Finalmente, se presentan estudios de casos acerca de medios de Brasil, enfocados en poblaciones periféricas, con base en el trabajo participativo y colaborativo. En la segunda parte se intercambian preguntas y deliberaciones acerca de las percepciones periodísticas sobre la objetividad, los cambios en los usos de las redes sociales, el tratamiento de las emociones y la participación de las audiencias. Se incluye al final listado de referencias bibliográficas de los participantes relacionadas con medios nativos digitales

Acetonitrile as adjuvant to tune polyethylene glycol + K3PO4 aqueous two-phase systems and its effect on phenolic compounds partition

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) have been proposed as platforms for the purification of biomolecules, and the application of adjuvants to tune the properties of ATPS phases and their ability to extract and separate biological products investigated. This work addresses, for the first time, the use of acetonitrile (ACN) as adjuvant in ATPS composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) of different molecular weights (from 400 to 20,000 g·mol−1) and potassium phosphate. The effect of ACN concentration (at 0.25, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 wt%) in the liquid-liquid equilibrium is here studied by measuring the phase diagrams, the composition of the phases in equilibrium and their Kamlet-Taft parameters. The results obtained demonstrate that the ACN presence increases the biphasic region of PEG-K3PO4 ATPS and its distribution between the coexisting phases is dependent on its concentration and ATPS composition. The difference in the dipolarity/polarizability of the coexisting phases is significantly affected by the presence of ACN in the ternary mixture. The partition of two phenolic compounds – protocatechuic acid and gallic acid – was studied, showing that ACN improves the partition of these molecules to the salt-rich phase, and that the system selectivity can be significantly improved by changing the concentration of the phase forming compounds.publishe