A Comparative Study On Data Journalism Of CaiXin "Figures Say" And The Guardian "Datablog"

In recent years,big data and cloud computing have become a driving force for the development of a wide variety of fields.They also account for the emergence of data journalism,when it comes to news.When finally presented to the audience,data journalism,the new form of news reporting is quite different from traditional forms.Owing to different settings,data news reporting also varies in China and foreign countries.Studying data journalism in different media ecosystems and revealing the differences quantitatively through news reports will contribute to the development of China's journalism,which is relatively weak in the field of data journalism.The present study selects news reports in the same period from The Guardian “Datablog” and Caixin Online “Figures Say” and establishes multiple indicators for a comparative quantitative research.The findings reveal that concerning data input,“Datablog” emphasizes on the professionalism and clarity of channels,and the detailed processing of data,and incorporates more diverse technologies;“Figures Say” lacks transparency in data input and has significant limitations concerning channels.Meanwhile,the “2016 U.S.Presidential Election” is selected as a theme for case study in the present study,whose findings show that in terms of visualization presentation “Figures Say” has leveraged H5 technology,but is less favourable than“Datablog” in the uniqueness of topic selection and the collection and processing of election data.According to the conclusion of the study,reasons for those differences between The Guardian “Datablog” and Caixin Online “Figures Say” include different levels of information disclosure in China and foreign countries,the historic disparity between Chinese and foreign media,cognitive differences of data news,different facilities and visual tools,and the gap in the professionalism of media practitioners.