While journalists have long made use of data in breaking news and investigative reporting, media outlets are increasingly using data visualization as a tool to convey information to the public. Compelling graphics not only make the fact-finding aspects of journalism more transparent, they are also an essential part of the investigative process. Data journalists in particular rely heavily on exploratory data analysis.

In this panel discussion, we heard from three data journalists who have used analytics to shed light on some of the most important issues of our time: Anna Flagg’s investigation of the spurious connection between immigration and crime for The Marshall Project; Andrew Ba Tran’s opioid crisis reporting for The Washington Post; and Northeastern University’s Aleszu Bajak’s work on the spread of COVID-19 misinformation.