What is “Computational Journalism”?

We’re delighted to announce that Cardiff University is launching a new Masters programme in Computational Journalism from September this year – jointly run by the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies and the School of Computer Science and Informatics.  But what IS computational journalism?

It’s not a term much in use in the UK – although it is more common in the US – but it refers to the combination of computing and journalism skills needed to develop content, web applications and sites, and new digital tools.

There has been a debate about whether or not journalists should code. The answer is that some should, and some shouldn’t. This course is aimed squarely at those who should.

Read here about one man’s journey from schoolboy coding to The Wall St Journal.

Or here about the launch of Vox.Com – built on an awareness of both technology and journalism.

Or here about how Trinity Mirror group in the UK built a new data journalism site in just eight weeks.

These are the kinds of skills and thinking increasingly in demand in today’s fast developing media. Many organisations have told us they can’t find enough graduates with the right combination of technical and editorial skills. We very much hope this new course will help to fill that gap. More details available here.