Data Journalism Handbook is released in Chinese / 數據新聞手冊中文版發佈

A Chinese-language version of The Data Journalism Handbook, an open-access, crowd-sourced, online reference guide to the emerging field of data journalism, is now available online.

The first edition of the handbook was released in English in April 2012, and the task of translating it into Chinese was initiated soon afterward by Cui Anyong, then studying for a master’s degree in new media and communications at City University in Hong Kong. Cui, a computer programmer, data miner and website developer currently working for Alibaba in Hangzhou, coordinated a team of 30 volunteer translators from Mainland China. He was helped by Li Mu, a research assistant at Hong Kong University’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre, and by the European Journalism Centre.

JMSC Director Yuen-Ying Chan calls data “a new frontier of journalism.” She says that data journalism “is developing quickly in mainland China despite the tight government control of news media,” and that the 70-page Chinese-language edition of the handbook will “reach out to the Chinese reading public—not just in China, but globally.”

The Data Journalism Handbook, described as a “free open-source reference book for anyone interested in the emerging field of data journalism,” emerged from the 2011 Mozilla Festival in London, where, in 48 hours, dozens of developers and journalists collaboratively composed the first draft of a step-by-step guide to this new field. The handbook is an ongoing initiative of the European Journalism Centre and the Open Knowledge Foundation.

Data journalism is a multidisciplinary field integrating data collection and analysis, graphic design, programming, and news writing to deliver stories in a visually compelling way. In the digital era, journalism has evolved from traditional story-telling to the the inclusion of data and visualisations that make complex stories more understandable.

Tim Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web, is quoted in the handbook as saying: “Data-driven journalism is the future. Journalists need to be data-savvy. It used to be that you would get stories by chatting to people in bars, and it still might be that you’ll do it that way sometimes. But now it’s also going to be about poring over data and equipping yourself with the tools to analyze it and picking out what’s interesting.”

The handbook includes sections on such topics as “How to Hire a Hacker” and “How to Build a News App,” along with advice and anecdotes from experienced data journalists. It also provides case studies from organizations and publications as varied as the New York Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times, the BBC, the Wall Street Journal, the Australian Broadcasting Company, and Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat.

With the new Chinese-language edition, “Perhaps it won’t be long before case studies come from China,” says Darcy Christ, technical advisor for the OpenGov Project at the JMSC. “China’s media landscape is very complex, and there are lots of opportunities to tell stories using these journalism tools and techniques.”

The Data Journalism Handbook is available here in Chinese and in here in English, and has also been translated into other languages.

數據新聞手冊是一本自由開源、以眾籌模式完成的網上參考指南，向讀者介紹數據新聞這一新興領域。數據新聞手冊的中文版現已可以在網上閱讀。

該手冊的第一版為英語，於2012年4月發佈。然後由香港城市大學傳播系研究所崔岸雍開始中文版翻譯項目。崔岸雍是一名計算機編程員、數據挖掘員及網站設計師，目前在杭州的阿里巴巴任職。香港大學新聞及傳媒研究中心（JMSC, HKU）的研究助理李暮，以及歐洲新聞中心亦進行了協助。

JMSC總監陳婉瑩教授將數據稱為「新聞業的新前線」。「儘管大陸對新聞機構審查嚴格，數據新聞在大陸仍然發展迅速」。 陳教授指出，這本70多頁的中文版數據新聞手冊的受眾「不僅僅限於中國讀者，而是全球的中文讀者。」

這本「自由開源的參考書」面向「任何對數據新聞這個新興領域感興趣的讀者」，是2011年倫敦Mozilla Festival的心血結晶——在48小時內，數十名開發員和記者協作完成了數據新聞入門手冊的初稿。這本手冊獲得了歐洲新聞中心和開放知識基金會的持續支持。

數據新聞實踐需要數據收集、數據分析、圖形設計、編程以及新聞報導等多項技能。在數據時代，新聞行業已經從傳統的新聞采寫發展到運用數據分析及可視化，生動有趣地展現複雜的新聞故事。

數據新聞手冊摘錄萬維網創始人Tim Berners-Lee的引言稱，「以數據驅動的新聞代表著未來。新聞工作者需要精通數據。過去你可能通過在酒吧和人聊天獲取新聞故事素材，儘管現在這種方式有時可能仍被採用，但目前你同樣要鑽研數據並借助數據工具進行分析和篩選出令人關注的信息。」

本參考手冊既包括指導性章節，如“如何僱傭一個黑客”，“如何創建新聞APP”，也包括經驗豐富的數據新聞記者的建議和經驗之談。本手冊還提供了紐約時報、衛報、金融時報、英國廣播公司、華爾街日報、澳大利亞廣播公司，以及芬蘭Helsingin Sanomat 等媒體機構的實際個案研究。

中文版新聞數據手冊發布後，「也許過不了多久，我們就會看到中國的數據新聞案例研究」，香港大學新聞及傳媒研究中心開放政府項目的Darcy Christ 說道。「中國的媒體環境非常複雜，這同時也為新聞從業者​​創造了機會，使用手冊裡的工具和技術來講述故事。」

數據新聞手冊目前有中文版、英文版，以及其他語言版本。