The term “post-truth” was declared by Oxford Dictionaries to be its 2016 “International Word of the Year,” signifying the advent of a so-called post-truth era with rising misinformation and declining trust in media. Meanwhile, the “age of data” has seen a proliferation of big data alongside an increase in data-driven journalism, which is one critical way to make professional journalists distinctive with the production of fact-based, authoritative news. Using devised variations of one news report as stimuli, this experiment involves five test groups to determine whether data and data visualizations impact the perceived credibility of news. Results show that only when accompanied by visualizations does the use of data have a positive effect. Findings suggest the necessity and significant role of data visualizations in news production. The study also reveals that increased use of data components in the news does not always contribute to its audience’s perception of news credibility.

Using data collected in the assessment survey of a series of data journalism (DJ) training activities in Hong Kong, this study compares participants' learning activities. These participants consist of students, scholars and professionals from diverse academic backgrounds. The findings show that significant differences exist between learners with journalism-related backgrounds and those with science backgrounds. Compared with journalism majors, during the activities, science majors interact with others more and get more practice; they also gain more theoretical and practical outcomes alongside higher levels of learning enjoyment. Interviews with journalism majors indicate that lack of fundamental knowledge, time and support in practice brings difficulties to their DJ learning. Suggestions for an interdisciplinary approach to journalism education were also collected through interviews, which include more information on DJ, a deeper level of interdisciplinary interaction and more interactions with the industry. Survey and in-depth interviews are both used in this research to provide references for DJ students and instructors.

The prevalence of data journalism in recent years has challenged traditional journalistic norms as well as the relationship between journalism and other subjects, affecting journalism both internally and externally. While the practice of data journalism has become increasingly pervasive around the world, systematic research on data journalism is only just starting to receive scholarly attention. The multi-aspects of data journalism cause difficulties in attempts to define it critically and clearly, and the limited number of previous studies suffer from a lack of coherent connections bridging the field’s academic and professional dimensions. Through a concept explication, this article generates theoretical and operational definitions of data journalism via empirical analysis and meaning analysis.