DATA JOURNALISM EDUCATION: PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES IN AZERBAIJAN
Vafa Isgandarova · Pedagogy of the formation of a creative person in higher and secondary schools · 2022
Due to the development of technology as well as global web space, new trends and directions in the field of journalism are emerging as the nature and form of the media change.One of them is data journalism, which is already widely used in Western developed countries.Data journalism is an increasing form of investigative journalism.However, its implementation to the Azerbaijani media system is somewhat weak.At present, the traditional part of the Azerbaijani media rarely uses data applications.In contrast, new media organizations are increasingly using data journalism.Since the development of each field depends on its education, this article will discuss the nature of data journalism education in universities and the education level of data journalism in Azerbaijan, more precisely problems and perpectives.Generally, as a crucial field of media data journalism education appears to be a very young discipline in our country.Even in the journalism faculties of many universities, data journalism is not included in the curriculum.So far, digital journalism has been included in the curriculum of only two universities in Azerbaijan, namely ADA University and Baku State University.Although the audience is interested in this field, data journalism is not even taught as an elective in the other two educational institutions.In different years, different courses and organizations have conducted trainings and seminars on the promotion of data journalism.For instance, The Eurasian Cooperation Foundation and the Caucasus Research Resource Center and USA Embassy, Data Hub LLC with the financial support of the US Embassy in Baku, the Eurasian Cooperation Foundation and the Caucasus Research and Resource Center, also Mingachevir Media Center, Anadolu Agency and TIKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency) and other organizations organized distance and offline trainings on Data Journalism.In June and July 2021, GIPA and the US Embassy in Azerbaijan jointly organized distance data journalism training for journalists.Naturally, these measures are in the minority for such a difficult and necessary area.However, for the development of this field, it is planned to include data journalism in higher education institutions in the curriculum of both bachelor's and master's degrees in the near future.