{FROM OPEN DATA TO AI:

### Math-averse journalism student uncovers data love

By Athena Hawkins

Carolyn Parmer was utterly uninterested in functions and figures as a college sophomore. Scarred from high school math experiences she called “bad,” Parmer avoided all things numbers. But all that changed when she discovered data journalism.

What initially sounded like “a lot of numbers” turned into a love affair with data reporting, which she now considers a potential career.

The third-year journalism student said her firm antimath stance slipped after Christian McDonald, an assistant journalism professor, promoted a course called Reporting With Data in one of Parmer’s classes.

“McDonald’s presentation was so interesting. He was like, ‘Yeah, I still count on my fingers. I still use a calculator to leave tips at restaurants,’” Parmer said. “So I thought, ‘Maybe I can take this class.’”

“I was like, ‘OK, this is real. I’m going to network and meet people who have the jobs that I can now see myself doing,’” Parmer said. “It was a lot of, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing here. But I’m interested and hoping to get back next year!’”

“It was really cool to know that someone in the data journalism industry is passionate and doing work for a goal that I myself want to do,” Parmer said. “That also reassured me that your favorite podcast hosts, they’re still humans too!”

Skill sessions and panel discussions at NICAR confirmed what Parmer discovered at the University of Texas — data deepens rich reporting. After NICAR, Parmer practiced her newfound digital skills within a variety of reporting styles, including investigative work and music writing.

Parmer enrolled in Reporting With Data the next fall. In one semester, she learned how to code in the R programming language and marry data analysis with reporting techniques. She unlocked massive datasets and discovered newsworthy insights, ranging from the number of Harry Styles’ appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 list to the value of U.S. military equipment loaned to local police departments in Texas.

“As much as I love reading and writing, I found myself liking the black-and-white, logical side of numbers,” Parmer said. “It let me explore other interests I had pushed aside, because I assumed journalism was only about writing and talking to people.”

Parmer applied in November on a whim for NICAR, the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting. She found herself packing for the data journalism conference in Nashville, Tennessee a few months later.

“I think that’s what’s fun about data journalism,” Parmer said. “You can do these super long-form, investigative pieces about sexism and discrimination, or you can write about cheese.”

Students in Reporting With Data cleaned and analyzed datasets of their choice and reported a news story based on the findings for the final project. Projects in Parmer’s class took a peek at Broadway ticket sales, Austin MetroBike statistics and U.S. cheese storage figures.

“I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into, but I love this field,” Parmer said. “I don’t know exactly where it’ll go, but what’s comforting is that in data journalism, you get to figure it out as you go along.”