In an effort to promote and sustain accurate, data-driven reporting this election cycle, the Society of Professional Journalists partnered with Google to explain tools geared toward local journalists.
A variety of lecturers discussed security, analysis and big data Thursday to an audience of journalism students and local reporters. The speakers introduced attendees to new ways of using technology to tell stories, while also cautioning them about the security risks inherent to navigating life in a digital age.
Lecturers recommended a wide range of tools, from map-making programs to statistical analysis apps which exist for free within the Google system, and gave tutorials on using those extensions. They also supplied attendees with free versions of Google’s Advanced Protection Keys, and introduced strategies for journalists to protect themselves and their sources.
In a climate becoming increasingly hostile to journalists and free speech, event coordinator Dan Petty said trainings like this one are intended to help journalists cover politics and elections.
“We are in a unique and challenging moment for quality journalists,” Petty said. “Google News Initiative is an effort to elevate and sustain quality journalism.”
SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to informing citizens, works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists and fights to protect First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.
The training was made possible by a grant from the Google News Initiative, an organization that aims to help journalists transition safely into an age of digital reporting.
