Journalism CFP: Data Journalism and Audience Engagement, Guest Editor: Jingrong Tong - University of Sheffield, UK

Data journalism came to prominence in 2008 and since then has been

significantly incorporated into daily reporting, especially during the

COVID-19 pandemic. Scholars and practitioners often celebrate data

journalism's potential to improve audience engagement (see Ilagan &

Soriano, 2019; de-Lima-Santos & Mesquita, 2021; Borges-Rey, 2020; Felle,

2016). The heavy use of interactive data stories presumably brings fun

and innovative ways of engaging audiences. Creative crowd-sourcing

methods, exemplified by the UK MPs Expenses Scandal (2009) and The

Counted (2015/2016), are believed to enhance public participation in

social and political issues. Data journalists also expect the

publication of datasets to increase trust in their work and encourage

audiences to explore the data and draw conclusions through their own

analysis. Despite these positive beliefs, it is uncertain if audiences

engage well with data journalism for two reasons. First, today's

audiences are active, elusive, and fragmented, which makes engagement

particularly challenging. Second, understanding data stories may require

levels of data literacy that audiences may not possess.

Please see the key dates below. If you are interested, please submit an

extended abstract of 500 words (in English), along with an

up-to-150-word bio, introducing your relevant expertise. Abstracts

should be sent to j.tong@sheffield.ac.uk

by *October 7, 2022*. Upon selection, scholars will be invited to submit

full papers of no more than 8000 words in length to the journal by

*March 31, 2023*. All submitted manuscripts are subject to a rigorous,

blind peer-review process. Papers must not have been previously

published and must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

*Key dates*

October 7, 2022 - Deadline for abstract submission

October 24, 2022 - Notification to authors

March 31, 2023 - Deadline for submission of full papers