Directory
Resources
A living directory of the field's most useful handbooks, training, communities, and funders. We keep it short on purpose, and we keep it current. Something missing? Tell us below.
Handbooks & foundations
The Data Journalism HandbookThe field's foundational text (2nd edition, 2019), free to read online.GIJN Resource CenterThe Global Investigative Journalism Network's guides, tool roundups, and tipsheets.palewire guidesBen Welsh's First Python Notebook and a full suite of free, current data-reporting guides.The Data Journalism PrimerDan Nguyen's plain-spoken introduction to reporting with data.
Training & conferences
IRE & NICARInvestigative Reporters & Editors. The annual NICAR conference is the field's in-person hub.IRE TrainingOn-demand data-journalism videos, tipsheets, and NICAR-Learn from Investigative Reporters & Editors.The Data InstituteA free, intensive two-week workshop in data, design, and code for journalism, run by the Center for Journalism & Democracy and the Ida B. Wells Society.DataJournalism.comThe European Journalism Centre's free video courses and handbooks. A deep evergreen library, though little new since 2023.Datawrapper AcademyClear, opinionated tutorials on making honest charts and maps.
AI in the newsroom
Generative AI in the NewsroomNorthwestern's practitioner project on using LLMs reliably for document work.Paris Charter on AI and JournalismTen principles for AI in journalism, led by RSF and a commission chaired by Maria Ressa.JournalismAI (LSE Polis)Programs, an academy, and a global survey of how newsrooms actually use AI.Reuters Institute: AI & newsResearch and audience reports on AI and the future of news.Poynter AI ethics starterA template for writing your own newsroom AI policy.Nieman LabOngoing reporting on AI, business models, and what's changing in the industry.
Funders & fellowships
Press ForwardThe $500M+ initiative for local news: national open calls plus place-based local chapters.American Journalism ProjectVenture philanthropy that invests in nonprofit local newsrooms and their revenue teams.Institute for Nonprofit NewsMembership, fiscal sponsorship, NewsMatch, and the annual INN Index on the field.Knight FoundationA leading journalism funder backing local news, technology, and press freedom.Pulitzer CenterGrants and fellowships, including data-driven and AI-accountability reporting.Report for AmericaPlaces journalists in local newsrooms and cost-shares their salary. Smaller than its 2022 peak, but still funding first seats.ProPublica Local Reporting NetworkReimburses a reporter's salary for a year-long accountability project, with a ProPublica editor embedded alongside.IRE Fellowships & ScholarshipsPosition- and training-based support to get data staff in the door.
Where the field is
The guide can point you to the field, but the field is where the real answers live. These are the communities, memberships, and networks worth joining when you're standing up a data desk, roughly in order of day-to-day usefulness. Verified current as of July 2026.
Start here
The two or three joins that pay off fastest for a working data desk.
IRE & NICAR The membership home of U.S. data journalism: the NICAR-L listserv, thousands of tipsheets, cheap datasets, and the field's main conference. Membership News Nerdery A 3,000-member Slack for news technologists. The #helpme channel is genuinely useful when you're the only data person in the building. Free · request invite OpenNews & SRCCON The journalism-tech network behind the SRCCON unconference and Source, where newsroom developers share reproducible how-tos. Free
Membership your newsroom joins
Organizational memberships the outlet signs up for, not you personally.
Institute for Nonprofit News The trade association of nonprofit newsrooms: editorial collaboratives, back-office services, fundraising training, and NewsMatch. Org membership LION Publishers The membership org for local independent online news, with pro-bono legal help, tooling discounts, and dues forgiveness for the smallest outlets. Org membership GIJN A global network of nonprofit investigative and data organizations: free member benefits, a help desk, and the GIJN-L list. Free · orgs only
Broader professional homes
Wider than data, but useful once your desk owns products, strategy, or audience.
Online News Association The largest digital-journalism association: professional development, community programs, grants, and a big annual conference. Membership News Product Alliance A free Slack and community for news product people. Handy when a data desk owns dashboards, tools, or audience data. Free Hacks/Hackers Journalists and technologists, now organized more around AI-and-journalism events than local chapters. Check your city's chapter is still active. Free · event-driven
Affinity and niche networks
Less about data skills than hiring pipelines, mentorship, and belonging. Each runs a conference and a Slack or newsletter.
NABJ National Association of Black Journalists. Membership NAHJ National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Membership AAJA Asian American Journalists Association. Membership NLGJA The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists; opened its Slack to all members in 2025. Membership Indigenous Journalists Association Renamed from the Native American Journalists Association in 2023. Membership Uproot Project A free network for environmental journalists of color, incubated at Grist, with a Slack and early-career fellowships. Free
Find people on Bluesky
Bluesky has become the default journalist hub. Starter packs are curated follow lists that build you a data-journalism feed fast; they're user-maintained, so treat them as a starting point.
Suggest a resource
We keep this directory short and current on purpose. Know a tool, community, or guide that belongs here, or a link that's gone stale? Send it over.