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In 2020, data journalists reported on complex, dynamic issues like COVID-19 and the U.S. presidential election, publishing articles that used data to visualize a narrative and articles that explicitly instructed audiences on how to interpret data and data visualizations. Data journalism may very well be instrumental in developing the public's familiarity with and literacy in data and data visualizations, but it remains unclear how to define or measure literacy cultivated by data and visual journalism. It also remains unclear how best to support data journalists in teaching their readers. Moreover, data journalists frequently report on polarizing topics involving data that is subject to widespread disagreement. This raises the question of how to teach data and data visualization literacy while considering opposing values and ideologies among audiences. I outline existing definitions of data and data visualization literacy, and propose some future directions for how data journalists could support this literacy among their readers and partner with educators.
Cai et al. (Wed,) studied this question.