Computational Journalism: Fear the Law of the Hammer!

As you read this below, keep in mind a couple of things. First, I am planning on attending the computational journalism symposium at Georgia Tech on the Feb 22 -23 (see item #3 below) – and you should, too. Second, know I am a zealot – but a mutable one. I always believe whole hog. I paint with a big brush. I am unavoidably passionate and opinionated – until someone convinces me that I am wrong (and they often do).
So with that said, I tell you that I am concerned about the idea of Computational Journalism that will be presented at Tech. Hey, I think the idea of a SYMPOSIUM is great – we should constantly talk and debate around big issues. And one of the best outcomes I can see for the symposium is that COMPUTATIONAL journalism is denounced as a specious title for an important discussion.
Journalism is more than a craft, it is a calling (hear the zealot coming out?). And it plays an almost sacred role in our democracy. A unique melding of altruistic and commercial motivations, journalism keeps our society on track – even if only by helping us to realize we have gotten off course. Journalism is about a commitment to objectivity – although it is always impossible to achieve. Journalism is a quest for answers – although the answers are frequently as vexing as the questions. Journalism is a dedication to truth – although each person who tells a story has her/his own prism through which to view this illusive prize. Good journalism is hard, frustrating, messy, and rarely appreciated. And true journalism is never computed.
I looked up “computational.” Of course, I encountered the ambiguous “to compute.” Then under “compute” I found things like “to determine by mathematics,” and “calculate, tally, quantify.” Yep, that is what a computer does. But it is not what a journalist does.
Now, I know that the organizers of this conference aren’t suggesting that powerful new computational devices and services make the practice of journalism today as easy as summing rows of numbers. But through its priority in the symposium’s title, “Computation + Journalism,” they are displaying a dangerous bias toward the machine. Yeah, it is being held at Georgia TECH so we would expect an emphasis on the TECHNOLOGY. But we have to remember that the computer, no matter how small or powerful, is just a tool.
Early in my graduate education, I attempted to use a statistical technique I had just mastered on a tough question. A wise professor (thanks Dr. Tiemens) introduced me to the Law of the Hammer. It is easy. When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. That statistical routine was a tool that I knew. But I was only using it because I knew how to use it. It didn’t fit the task. I had a big hammer and I was just banging on everything. By focusing on the technology first, this Georgia Tech symposium comes dangerously close to the type of techno-fascination that inevitably yields to the Law of the Hammer.
Journalism has always been shaped by tools. The printing press, audio recording, videotape, radio, television, and even the internet influenced journalism, but those technologies didn’t fundamentally alter journalism. Why? Because the tool is always subservient to the user and the tool is never more important than the task. At “Computation + Journalism” in Atlanta, I will be in the audience playing the role of the gadfly encouraging the technologists to put down the hammer and focus on principles. We do that everyday in the Grady College of Journalism. That is how we ensure that Journalism 3G serves us tomorrow as well as Journalism NoG has served us in the past. See, we have a lot to talk about! See you in Atlanta!