Review and Evaluation of Systems Supporting Data Journalism

Abstract

In recent years, a new form of journalism has developed a strong dynamic: journalism based on data. The success of the move is so great that technologies and applications that support it have begun to emerge. Although technologies are in a period of mature productivity, their evaluation is an area lagging in development. It is a fact that lack of evaluation based on a reliable methodology is evident in the literature. Finding a suitable methodology for this purpose is particularly important in order to (a) evaluate systems supporting data journalism resulting in a specific ranking of potential, and (b) make it easier for the user to choose the application that best suits his / her requirements and cognitive level. A comparative evaluation of 9 applications related to the visual imaging component was attempted with usability and functionality criteria. The aim of this study is to provide a quick evaluation method, open to proposed improvements and further refinement, in order to establish a framework for qualitative assessment of data journalism applications.