Academy News

When I saw a call for the African Data Journalism Academy on my Twitter feed in April, I instantly decided to apply. But this was open to journalists all over Africa! What were the odds of me being selected? Applying felt like throwing a stone in the ocean!

I had fallen in love with data journalism in 2021 when I was still at university, but I had never done anything that impressed me. Fast forward to June 2024 when I was selected to join the academy’s class of 2024!

We began our online classes in July. The introduction to data journalism was amazing. Laura Grant, who led the training, broke down every little thing, even the things you thought were self-explanatory. She skipped nothing and we can rewind and pause her teaching videos at any time. This is a big help to me as a studying and working adult.

Ever been in the situation where the maths teacher has taught you simple addition but in the exam, the question involves a whole breakdown of the Bodmas theory? Not here. No prize for guessing who was on a call with Laura the other day about data journalism. 

During the five-day bootcamp in Johannesburg, we learnt that the devil is in the details. Thorough, intensive and very educational, I think I had a whole lot of ‘whoa!’ moments.

I was surrounded by like-minded individuals, all equally passionate and driven. The bootcamp sessions provided opportunities  for deep connections and collaboration. I learned as much from my peers as I did from the facilitators, Laura and Alastair Otter, and  I began to realise my potential in this field.

Until the bootcamp I did not know that I should document my processes in a data diary, a safe place to keep all your analyses and formatting. Goodbye to the moments of panic whenever I had to repeat an entire process because I had accidentally deleted a vital column. Unlike in the past when I would get frustrated and just drop an entire visualisation, I can, with the skills learnt during the bootcamp, now easily trace my steps back.

My most significant moment of the bootcamp must have been when I learnt that I could scrape data from a PDF. If you have worked with PDFs, you will know the stress of having to manually input figures from tables.

Another exciting moment was when I realised that I have been overusing my favourite visualisation: the pie chart. I have learnt how and when it is appropriate to use pie charts.

Looking back, I realise how each step of the academy journey is helping shape me and my career. I feel more confident and equipped with the skills to tackle the complex issues I care about. This path has been one of growth – not just professionally but personally as well.

Hellen Kabahukya is a reporter at Solutions Now Africa and is based in Kampala, Uganda

Eleven journalists from six African countries met in Johannesburg from 29 July to 2 August 2024 for the first bootcamp of the African Data Journalism Academy, a programme that will run until November. The bootcamp, facilitated by Media Hack Collective’s Alastair Otter and Laura Grant, kicked off with an introduction to using data in journalism. Designed as a mix of theoretical and practical exercises, the five-day bootcamp extended to areas such as telling data stories, data visualization and making maps.

Guest speakers like News24 journalists Jeff Wicks and Kyle Cowan shared a case study, leaning on their data-driven work. Their presentation brought to the fore data analyses and visualization and exhibited how journalists, regardless of budgets, can deliver insightful, in-depth and aesthetically impressive articles.

Like the News24 journalists, InfoNile co-founder Fredrick Mugira cited some freely available online resources. Mugira, who joined the bootcamp virtually from Kampala, shared examples from the Great Lakes to discuss the links between data journalism and water and environmental reporting.

Google News Lab’s Ken Kiunga, took the participants through Pinpoint, a research tool used to sift through large documents. The ‘scraping session’ was one of the highlights for participants such as Rapport’s Marizanne Kok and Angeline Ochieng from Nation Media, Kenya. They both said they had previously spent hours manually trawling through large documents for data.

“I was shocked to realise how much there is to data journalism,” said Ochieng. “I now have practical skills to do pivot tables, to go through big documents for data. Many reporters in Kenya do not know how to scrape so we stick to summaries”. The problem is not country-specific, with journalists from Botswana, Uganda and beyond also noting the lack of data-informed reporting.

Prof Vukosi Marivate from the University of Pretoria tackled data science for social change during a session that straddled AI, African languages and data. His session also focused on the implications of the dearth of indigenous languages on the Internet. Marivate also unmasked the ugly side of social media networks. The academic’s session was “insightful and interesting”, Jacinta Mutura, a journalist at Kenya’s Standard Media, said afterwards.

The African Data Journalism Academy gathered the full complement of 12 trainees for an introductory meeting on Monday, 15 July 2024.

The virtual meeting brought together the participants, mid-career journalists from 10 cities in six countries.

The five-month programme will culminate with the awarding to successful candidates of the advanced certificate in data journalism by MICT SETA, the relevant South African training authority.

Those 12 were chosen from a list of more than 100 applications from 23 countries.

The Class of 2024 is made up of the following journalists:

• Angeline Ochieng, Nation Media Group, Kenya,
• Damilola Ojetunde, BBC Africa, Nigeria,
• Daniel Steyn, GroundUp News, South Africa,
• Ephraim Modise, TechCabal, Botswana,
• Hellen Kabahukya, Solutions Now Africa, Uganda,
• Ibukun Oguntola, Nigeria Health Watch,
• Jacinta Mutura, Standard Media Group, Kenya,
• Josephine Okojie, BusinessDay, Nigeria,
• Marecia Damons, GroundUp News, South Africa,
• Marizanne Kok, Media24, South Africa,
• Mischka Moosa, Good Governance Africa, South Africa,
• Sally Nyakanyanga, Green Rising, etc (Independent), Zimbabwe

The trainees come on board with varied expertise and a combined experience of 94 years in journalism, research and related sectors. Last week, they offered their take on data journalism and discussed their expectations from the academy that will end in November with each participant producing a data journalism story.

The first of six modules kicked off last week and an intensive five-day in-person bootcamp will start on Monday, 29 July 2024.

The course is run in partnership with the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.