How Reporters Used Data Covering the World Cup

Posted Friday, July 11, 2014 3:00 pm

By: Tanveer Ali | Columbia Journalism Review

To start, we’re going to pay special attention to FiveThirtyEight, given their position as quantitative storytellers within the ESPN family. A LAUREL to FiveThirtyEight’s ability to analyze the sport without making predictions about the future. Benjamin Morris made the assertion that Argentina’s Lionel Messi is “impossible” in that he is the best player, with such an unlikely bunch of numbers that he seems to break the laws of statistics. Morris backs up that assertion effectively through a complex, technical analysis showing that Messi is unparalleled in everything from scoring with his weak foot to shooting from afar.

- See more at: http://www.cjr.org/data_points/how_reporters_used_data_in_cov.php#sthash.YHtrVXwt.dpuf

With the 2014 World Cup set to end on Sunday, this week’s edition of Data Darts and Laurels will focus on how journalists used data to explain everything from what’s going on in the games to fan behavior.

To start, we’re going to pay special attention to FiveThirtyEight, given their position as quantitative storytellers within the ESPN family. A LAUREL to FiveThirtyEight’s ability to analyze the sport without making predictions about the future. Benjamin Morris made the assertion that Argentina’s Lionel Messi is “impossible” in that he is the best player, with such an unlikely bunch of numbers that he seems to break the laws of statistics. Morris backs up that assertion effectively through a complex, technical analysis showing that Messi is unparalleled in everything from scoring with his weak foot to shooting from afar.

- See more at: http://www.cjr.org/data_points/how_reporters_used_data_in_cov.php#sthash.YHtrVXwt.dpuf

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How Reporters Used Data Covering the World Cup

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