Data-Driven or Data Illusion: A Critical Inquiry of Data Journalism Practitioners, Practices and Problems in China

This study investigates occurrences of data journalism in Chinese media in order to build a profile of data journalism practitioners, examine their practices and understand the main problems that pose constraints to the development of this evolving form of journalism in China.A combined study of in-depth interviews of Chinese practitioners and a content analysis of 268 samples show that while data journalism is being enthusiastically practiced as an innovation in Chinese newsrooms, it is only at a cursory level with limited scope of coverage and depth of analysis.Despite the hope of using data to tell more compelling stories and avoid news censorship of the government, the absence of an open data culture in China results in limited access to public data and the scarcity of quality data.This, along with a low level of data literacy among practitioners and doubts about its sustainability, all raise questions about the further development of data journalism in China.This new form of quantitatively oriented journalism is still in its infancy and is not comprised of the mainstream journalism practices in China.Pioneering interest coexists with skepticism and uncertainties about its development path.