My advice to new data journalists

Read widely, write a lot, learn to research, and start a blog

I receive a lot of emails from people (especially students) asking how to enter the world of data journalism. While I don’t consider myself particularly qualified to give this advice (I just started out in this world myself) people keep asking the question, and at some point, it makes sense for me to post the ideas online—both as a time-saving technique and so that people who are afraid to email/don’t have my address can receive the same information.

By now, I have responded to so many of these inquiries that I have a sort of automated mental template for my response when people ask for my advice. In keeping with a popular axiom about software development—if you’ve done something twice, it’s time to put it in a package—I think the time is right to expand on that template and put it online.