ProPublica's Data Journalism: How Multidisciplinary Teams and Hybrid Profiles Create Impactful Data Stories

Abstract: Despite growing interest in the emergence of technologies in journalistic practices, especially from the production perspective, there is still very little research on organizational structures and professional culture in relation to the deployment of these technologies. Drawing on six interviews and observation in staff meetings, this study aims to explore the nuances behind the professional roles of data journalists and how these relate to structural aspects of news organizations. The study focuses on the case of ProPublica, a news organization internationally renowned for its global excellence in data stories. This work considers boundary-making in the context of journalism and focuses on new professional roles in the news industry to produce a hybrid ethnography study based on qualitative data collected immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the United States. The findings reveal the importance of hybrid profiles at ProPublica. While some journalists have had to expand th

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Veröffentlichungsversion ; begutachtet (peer reviewed) ; In: Media and Communication ; 10 (2022) 1 ; 5-15

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Mannheim
• (who): SSOAR, GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften e.V.
• (when): 2022
• Creator: de-Lima-Santos, Mathias-Felipe

Further information

• DOI: 10.17645/mac.v10i1.4433
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023041408092810415196
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:51 AM CEST