Data Journalist

As a data journalist on the data team, you will have the opportunity to create visuals and conduct analysis that support high-impact stories across The Daily. You will learn how to use D3.js and data-cleaning tools such as Python to make a variety of visuals that bolster an argument, spanning from a simple bar graph to a complex treemap. You will have the ability to both propose story ideas and implement the visualizations for those stories. In addition, you will have the chance to create in-house tools and workflow processes for data visualization the entire Data Team can use.

Please note that each of the four web team roles have a separate application, so if you are applying for multiple, you must fill out each form individually.

Welcome to The Michigan Daily web team! We’re working hard to build the digital-first future of The Michigan Daily. To learn more about us and our projects, check out our website!

Open house on Thursday, January 25th at the Student Publications Building (420 Maynard) on the first floor!

Applications are due January 31st at 11:59 pm.

What we do
The web team’s projects can largely be split into two buckets: product and editorial. Products include designs for the new website and special projects like The Rivalry Edition or The Love Notes. Our editorial responsibilities include providing data analysis for reporters, creating graphics for stories, and writing data-driven articles. We also have a mobile app (released on the App Store and Google Play) that we are constantly working on improving!

Technologies
The newsroom is a unique environment to experiment with technology, and we have a lot of exciting opportunities to do so. We use (and plan to use) modern technologies including (but not limited to):

• Web frameworks like React.js and Svelte and modern web tooling (SCSS, Parcel, etc)
• Data analysis with Python (pandas, numpy) and R
• Visualization tools like D3
• Modern mobile development technologies like React Native
• Cloud technologies like AWS

If you are experienced with or would like to learn more about any of these, you should join the web team!

Subteams
The following subteams work in tandem to comprise The Daily web team: product design, web projects,and data.

• The product design team creates designs for both the main michigandaily.com website as well as all of our special products.
• The web development team works on internal newsroom tools and special projects, such as Games and the mobile app.
• The data team works on data-driven stories and visualizations to be published in The Daily.