1. Understanding measurement data

A clear role for the Tow Center echoed by academic experts as well as publishers lies in educating journalists to navigate the chaos of data about online audiences, and in particular about journalism on the Internet. The NAA’s Randy Bennett argues that the most critical contribution the Tow Center can make is to enhance journalists’ generally thin understanding of the measurement and ratings world. Poorly imagined, of course, this reflex risks becoming a non‐response. One obvious and immediate goal might be to support journalism which exposes the contentiousness of Internet metrics and monitors ongoing reforms — for instance, the methodologically opaque “hybrid” measures now being unveiled. The broader objective, however, must be to help journalists to use data to think critically about the evolving journalistic landscape itself. “The question is how journalists can use the numbers to improve journalism by seeing how people use it,” Rosen explains, adding that the goal should be “to become data‐savvy enough to find where short‐term user interests and longer term (professional/societal) interests overlap.” When journalists use Internet data today, it tends to be in unsophisticated ways aimed at improving fairly simple metrics. The opportunity exists to marry data on traffic, citations, users, and text to generate sophisticated insight into how stories spread, agendas are set, and information on key topics is discovered and used by key audiences.