As technology evolves, the way the journalists research and report stories changes as well. No story was considered reliable unless there was a live source from an expert to solidify the writer’s angle. Nowadays, journalists don’t have to rely solely on interviews with experts to write their stories, able to uncover a wealth of knowledge from emerging data markets across the web and beyond. Here’s a look at the trends and milestones in data journalism during 2012.

DIY Data Visualization

Let’s face it: a visual is a lot more interesting to look at than a written article, which is why more journalists are using infographics to help tell a story. Visual.ly is one popular site that allows users to create infographics for free, with a marketplace for journalists, graphic designers, statisticians and more to come together under one proverbial roof.  Another popular tool is Tableau, which offers a free version as long as you don’t need unlimited space, which is what the professional edition offers.

Quick & Clean Data

Having a good text editor is important for data journalism. Cleaning up large data sets and getting rid of typos and misspellings is important. If you have a Mac, Textwrangler is a great tool to use because it can edit a data set with thousands of records within a few seconds.

Data Literacy

Thanks to social media, we’re able to spread knowledge around the world a lot faster. Take the 2012 Olympics for example.  The Guardian was able to break down multiple perspectives of the Games with a combination of stats and visual graphics, empowering the reader with all the benefits of big data.

There was also Hurricane Sandy coverage. Instagram users in the eye of the storm were able to use the mobile photo-sharing tool to take pictures of their experiences and upload them for the entire world to see.  We were actually able to get a look at how the storm was impacting lives as it was happening, rather than waiting to see the aftermath, only proving how Instagram is not just a social site for users to upload pictures of their lunches and animals but also a way to get vital information out quickly. This year, Twitter made history during the presidential elections. Election Day was the most tweeted about event in U.S. history.

Open Databases

Data journalism is nothing without the most important factor: data. There are plenty of datasets that are freely available online that offer information on any and everything accessible to the public. Data.gov offers information from numerous small government agencies all over the country. You can also link to other countries, including Kenya, Canada and France to find information, oftentimes promoting social change.  The government’s decision in Ghana to open traffic data to the public has prompted a data journalism bootcamp where writers learn to leverage data to better their communities.

According to Steve Doig, Arizona State University journalism professor and data expert, data journalism is just another way to gather information and is no different from interviewing a live source. “It’s the equivalent of interviewing sources and looking at documents, instead except with data journalism you are essentially interviewing the data to let it tell you its secrets.”

See more on data journalism as a major trend for 2012 below, where you’ll find a clip of founding editor Mark “Rizzn” Hopkins’ interview with Kristin Feledy’s daily NewsDesk program.