Data for Journalists: A Practical Guide for Computer-Assisted Reporting

by Brant Houston

Now in its sixth edition, Data for Journalists is a straightforward and effective guide to using data for news stories.

This concise textbook addresses all the key basic skills that data journalists need, including how to find and scrape data, how to build a database, how to visualize data, and how to use spreadsheets and database managers – before launching into coding and more advanced analysis. Alongside step-by-step instructions on beginning data analysis, Houston discusses why these digital tools should be an integral part of reporting in the present day. Thoroughly revised and updated, this sixth edition features a new chapter on data visualization as well as new material on using free software such as Google Sheets and Datawrapper.

Emphasizing that journalists are accountable for the accuracy and relevance of the data they acquire and share, particularly if artificial intelligence is involved, this is an ideal core text for courses on data-driven journalism and computer-assisted reporting.

Genres: Journalism, Nonfiction

249 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 5, 2026

About the author

Brant Houston is the Knight Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign where he teaches investigative and advanced reporting. He is the coauthor of “The Investigative Reporter’s Handbook” and author of “Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide.” Houston is chair of the board of directors of the Investigative News Network, a consortium of more than 50 nonprofit newsrooms in North America, and a co-founder of the Global Investigative Journalism Network.

He also is board president of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and serves on several other nonprofit journalism boards. Before becoming the Knight Chair, Houston was executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) for 12 years. Houston was an investigative journalist for 17 years before he joined IRE and won awards while at The Hartford Courant and at The Kansas City Star where he was part of the newsroom staff that won the Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of a hotel building collapse that killed 114 persons in 1981.

Reviews

[Renjith R · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as part of my research. First few portions was useful for me and the latter part is just used for reference. I think, this gives a general awareness about data handling and interpretation. For a person who knows nothing about data processing may benefit much from it.

[Meri Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the information is really helpful, but it's starting to get out-of-date, and it's riddled with typographical errors.