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.