Northwestern Qatar hosts webinar on influence of data on journalism amid pandemic

Doha: In the midst of conflicting information that accompanied the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, data and science have played a critical role in advancing fact-based coverage, said Pulitzer Center journalists during a Northwestern Qatar webinar on science journalism.

Pulitzer Center journalists Eliza Barclay, Charles Piller, and Youyou Zhou discussed how data analysis and data visualization in newsrooms have resulted in well-informed reporting of the pandemic. Piller, an investigative reporter at Science Magazine, said that the pandemic has transformed science journalists’ role “from being merely translators whose job is to convey scientific information uncritically to being impactful storytellers who are mobilizing publics through compelling, science-grounded reporting.”