7 Responses to “Coders meet journalists; journalists meet coders”

1. links for 2010-04-28 « Onlinejournalismtest's Blog Says:
   
   April 28th, 2010 at 3:03 pm

   [...] Coders meet journalists; journalists meet coders | Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog If you do decide to download RoR to have a proper play, Dave recommends building a blog – the format of which is easy to understand for a journalist – and following this online tutorial on the Ruby on Rails blog. (tags: datajournalism ruby rails ritp) [...]

   
   
2. Judith Townend Says:
   
   April 29th, 2010 at 2:26 pm

   An update. Dave Goodchild (@buddhamagnet on Twitter) who generously gave up his time to teach us on Tuesday night, has emailed me some additional thoughts on how the event could develop:

   The moment I saw the tag ‘rubyinthepub’ I was hooked. As a developer fascinated by both computer and human language and the interface between the two, whether on a technical or cultural level, the idea of getting journalists and developers together intrigued me.

   The first tentative meeting took place in Islington, in a pub with spotty wifi and a small but engaging turnout, including the instigators of the event, Joanna Geary of The Times and self-proclaimed ‘relapsed blogger’ James Ball. We didn’t have much of an agenda, we just set up the laptops, found out what people wanted to know and got moving. Harnessing the power of Twitter and framing the conversation around the #ritp hashtag (which also provided a back channel for feedback and the dissemination of information), greater interest was generated and by the time the second event rolled around we had a decent level of buzz going on. I turned up at the Shooting Star in Spitalfields and was a little taken aback – one side of the pub resembled the blogger’s lounge at South By Southwest and the hubbub signified excited minds at work.

   It could have proven difficult to manage – after all, there were a lot of people and laptops jammed in to a relatively small area, and many of the journalists present had never programmed in any real sense. But the mindset (curious, interested in data, engaged with the culture) and grievances (trying to break down barriers, impatient with the old guard) of both sides emerged as being remarkably similar. In a way, we’re all trying to find solutions to the same problems. On the journalism side, frustration with an 
   often technically impotent and reactionary old school, and a sense that technology is either too difficult or too expensive. On the hacker side, impatience with top-heavy methodologies and obstructive processes. A significant proportion of journalists are excited by the new wave of tools and technologies, and programmers delight in demonstration and explanation. 

   The thing is, the programmers who turned up to the event were hackers. Not simply day job programmers, but creative thinkers and toolbuilders. The kind of programmers it is useful for journalists to understand, because they’re the kind of people that built Twitter and who exert an influence on the changing media landscape.

   It will be interesting to see what happens next. Whether projects emerge, sustainable collaborations happen. On leaving, I remarked to a fellow developer that one of the primary aims of the experiment should be demystification on both sides. Clear thinking, collaboration and a rush towards the future.

   Oh, and great beer of course.

   
   
3. canadada Says:
   
   April 30th, 2010 at 3:37 am

   You all might want to check this out …

   http://meetup.hackshackers.com/about/

   
   
4. Judith Townend Says:
   
   April 30th, 2010 at 9:00 am

   Indeed, thanks! It does look great and I recently signed up. & Aron, who came to the UK meetup is involved in the site: http://hackshackers.com/about/

   
   
5. links for 2010-04-30 Says:
   
   April 30th, 2010 at 2:04 pm

   [...] Coders meet journalists; journalists meet coders | Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog Judith Towend at journalism.co.uk talks about Ruby in the Pub, a meeting of developers and journalists. "The evening was also a meeting of cultures; as journalists explained their various work brick walls and developers explained the differences between various coding languages and platforms." It's really important for journalists and developers to work together. I've spent a lot of my career with feet in both camps, being a working journalist while testing new technology on the fly. It has been a rare position. There are misunderstandings in both camps, but hopefully, this type of cultural exchange can change that. [...]

   
   
6. Developers and journalists forging common ground | Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog Says:
   
   May 17th, 2010 at 11:13 am

   [...] Back in March of this year, a small group of developers and journalists met in a pub in Islington to explore this overlap between coding and journalism in an intensely pragmatic fashion – the former teaching the latter the rudiments of web programming over a few beers. Ruby In The Pub was born. [...]

   
   
7. Linkdump: some more programmer-journalist resources | misener.org Says:
   
   August 3rd, 2010 at 1:42 am

   [...] Coders meet journalists; journalists meet coders by Judith Townend: [...]

   
   

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