Conceptualising Data-Driven Journalism and the Quest for Good Governance in Nigeria

Abstract

This chapter focuses on data journalism, a relatively new brand of journalistic practices that take advantage of the growing availability and application of digital data and computational tools for news production. Although this brand of journalism has been on in some advanced democracies, it is still a relatively new development in Africa, especially Nigeria. Journalists still rely mostly on eyewitness reports and interviews to write their stories, thus leading to lack of depth in media reportage of critical issues. This chapter explores the nature of data journalism conceptualised as a social science pragmatic approach to news gathering and reporting, tracing its history and inherent strengths and weaknesses. It examines the windows of opportunities it provides towards guaranteeing transparency and accountability in Nigeria's nascent democracy. It concludes that, though data journalism complements the conventional investigative reporting to enhance good governance system in Nigeria, strengthening other institutions of government such as the police, judiciary, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) becomes imperative in entrenching accountability and transparency in Nigeria.

Citation

Samson Owolabi, T.O. and Adeniran, R. (2023), "Conceptualising Data-Driven Journalism and the Quest for Good Governance in Nigeria", Dralega, C.A. (Ed.) Digitisation, AI and Algorithms in African Journalism and Media Contexts, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 125-138. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-135-620231008