Public Lab Research note


Sensor Journalism Reflection

by TaylorKiss | October 07, 2014 17:10 07 Oct 17:10 | #11248 | #11248

In the ever changing world of journalism, trends come and go. As journalists, we are seeing an increasing trend of moving away from the more antiquated journalism methods, in conjunction with a huge push away from print and toward more multi-media, and computer based methods. This is also a time where we see the addition of new and exciting methods of journalism that have never been seen before, and at the forefront is Sensor Journalism, which allows a story to be told through data.
Sensor journalism has come onto the scene with the hopes of linking journalism to an almost infinite amount of data from the real world. From measuring air quality, to traffic speed, to the salinity of water,  sensor journalism will allow journalists access to massive amounts of data and information that wasn't previously incorporated or even attainable by those in the industry. Sensor journalism also aims to add a level of credibility and transparency to many news stories by offering a much deeper level of near concrete facts and information than ever previously possible.  

According to the Miriam Webster Dictionary, a sensor is defined as “a device that responds to a physical stimulus (as heat, light, sound, pressure, magnetism, or a particular motion) and transmits a resulting impulse (as for measurement or operating a control.” With literally thousands of different sensors at their disposal, journalists can now monitor and report in ways that have never before been imagined, which is a huge positive of the sensor journalism movement. A perfect example of how far the use of sensors can go is The Sensing City which we learned about in Lily Bui’s presentation. The city is being rebuilt to incorporate a massive amount of sensors which measure almost everything there is to measure within a city. This information will all be available to the public, which is one of the major pros of sensor journalism; making all of the gathered information open to the public, allowing them to have a better understanding of the world or in this case city around them. Going back to the previously mentioned aspect of transparency, sensor journalism allows people access to information that may not have been previously accessible, as was the case with the Beijing Olympics air quality information gathered by journalists in 2008. The fairly wide availability of sensors that can be both purchased or assembled by the average person allows for them to take certain matters into their own hands, and even compare the information they gather to the information provided to them by the government or other agencies. This provides a level of transparency that is vital when it comes to certain types of data such as air quality or arsenic levels, as well as journalism as a whole. Another positive aspect of sensor journalism is the type of stories that can be told through data gathered from some of the many useful sensors now at the disposal of journalist. Stories such as Beijing’s air quality, or the quality of drinking water in a given area, or even the average speeds of cars on a given road are easily relatable and applicable to the everyday reader. They are issues that really matter to the members of local communities, and even the country and world as a whole. These are the type of issues that can be changed with investigative sensor journalism, and open reader’s eyes with real numbers, real facts, and real applicable information. Sensor journalism allows for journalists to report information that they gathered themselves first hand, not information gathered from a third party source which has the potential to be unreliable or inaccurate. In turn, readers can put more faith and trust into the articles they read, and not have to question whether the information they are reading is actually fact. While the world of sensor journalism has a great deal of positive aspects, it also has quite a few negative ones, with the primary one being privacy. In order for journalists to gather the multitude of data that can be recorded by sensors, they must do quite a bit of observation. Many argue that these observations and recordings could be seen as a violation of privacy. In the case of remote sensing, a topic discussed by Lily Bui in her presentation, information and data can be gathered remotely through a variety of sensors, but often times these observations can be a little more intrusive than some people would like. Many websites such a Google Earth and Google Street View allow anyone with access to a computer to view someone’s home or neighborhood at any given time, and even your smartphone (which features multiple sensors) can keep constant tabs on your current location, access your camera and microphone, even the speed you’re moving. To many this is an invasion of privacy, but as we forge ahead into a world more dependent on the internet and technology than ever before, these are things we have to accept as normal. I personally feel that sensor journalism is a fantastic new addition to the ever changing world of communications. The massive range of information that can be gathered and used in such a wide variety of useful applications make it one of the best emerging forms of journalism today. The stories that can be told are those that affect the lives of every day readers, with transparent, open information gathered by the journalists themselves. Sensor journalism has the power to change how we live our everyday lives and how we interact with each other, which in today’s world is no small feat.


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