Han arbejder undersøgende og digitalt
Chase Davis kombinerer den undersøgende og digitale journalistik. Han har været leder af digitale og interaktive projekter på New York Times og arbejder nu på Star Tribune, den største avis i Minnesota. Chase Davis har ved flere lejligheder være i Danmark og undervist journalister i digital journalistik, og han kommer på Spadestik med masser af konkrete input til os, der gerne vil arbejde undersøgende og digitalt.
Vi har sendt ham nogle spørgsmål på mail, og her kan i se spørgsmål og svar:
Why do digital, investigative journalism?
Because investigative journalism is among the most important things we do in our profession, and the future is digital!
In all seriousness, if something is important, we have a responsibility to make it interesting. More and more, that means figuring out ways to present our work in compelling ways on digital platforms.
That doesn't always mean creating big, fancy interactive presentations. But it does mean thinking critically about our audience, their needs, and how best to ensure that the important work we do reaches them in the right ways, at the right times.
Can you share a few tips about your best work, what works online, what doesn't?
First off, tell good stories. Digital or print, that's still the most important thing.
Second, listen to your audience. That doesn't mean basing your coverage decisions on what gets the most clicks. It just means trying to understand the needs of your readers, and making little decisions to ensure you're meeting them where they are.
For instance, when I was at The New York Times, we spent a lot of time looking at how readers interacted with our digital platforms on election nights. We looked at analytics, did surveys, even talked to readers directly about what they expected when they came to us looking for information on elections. And that feedback helped us decide where to invest our time and energy — creating new story forms, making results faster on mobile, etc.
What do you look forward to at our conference in Denmark?
Everything! I've worked closely with Danish journalists for more than 10 years, collaborating on projects, helping with training, and doing consulting work. I love visiting Denmark, I'm looking forward to seeing old friends, and I'm especially interested to see how you all are trying to sustain the critically important work of local news. We're all in this together, after all.
Bio
I am a journalist based in Minneapolis, where I work on projects related to digital strategy, data and interactive development with my hometown Star Tribune.
Most recently, I led the Interactive News desk at The New York Times — a team of developer/journalists that builds software to help The Times find and tell better stories. Among other things, I coordinated the team's work around the 2016 elections; expanded our efforts in collaborating with reporters and building newsgathering tools; and managed the talented folks famous for building some of the Times's most innovative story forms, products and coverage experiments.
I also teach a course in advanced data journalism at Mizzou (University of Missouri) and co-founded the company Hot Type Consulting, which is best known for helping build and launch the Texas Tribune. Previously I worked as a reporter and editor at the Center for Investigative Reporting, The Des Moines Register and the Houston Chronicle.
