Our Mission

The Stanford Computational Journalism Lab supports the evolution of computational approaches to public affairs journalism through research, teaching and the production of reporting.

What We Do

The CJ Lab surfaces problems faced by reporters to those focused on computational approaches to solving analytical challenges. Classes and projects at the CJ Lab focus on two research questions:

• How do you lower the costs of discovering stories through better use of data and algorithms?
• How do you tell stories in more personalized and engaging ways?

Answering these questions often involves turning unstructured information into structured data for analysis, a challenge pursued by many different parts of the Stanford campus, including:

• Computer scientists at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation
• Design-thinking experts at the d. school (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design)
• Social scientists and digital humanists in the School of Humanities and Sciences
• Virtual reality researchers in the Virtual Human Interaction Lab
• Media professionals teaching in the Stanford Journalism Program.

We’re part of the interdisciplinary ecosystem of journalism innovation at Stanford.

The ultimate goal of the CJ Lab is to produce students, algorithms and investigations that uncover and reveal stories that currently go untold.

Getting Involved

There are many ways to become engaged with the work of the Stanford CJ Lab, including projects, classes, tutorials, conferences and meet-ups.

If you are interested in following trends in journalism and computation, you can:

Subscribe to newsletters from:

• American Press Institute
• Nieman Lab
• GovLab
• Monday Note

Get on events email list for:

• Stanford Computational Journalism Lab
• Stanford Institute for Research in the Social Sciences
• Stanford Center for Computational Social Science
• Stanford Codex

Join:

• Hacks/Hackers

Follow on Twitter:

• Stanford Journalism Program (@StanfordJourn)

Explore:

• 125 Years of Journalism at Stanford

Apply:

• Stanford students can apply for MAGIC grants, which support innovative media projects.

Take a Stanford class:

• COMM 273D: Public Affairs Data Journalism I
• COMM 274D: Public Affairs Data Journalism II
• COMM 277P: Programming in Journalism
• COMM 281: Exploring Computational Journalism
• COMM 277B: BigLocal Journalism: A Project-Based Class
• COMM 277I: Investigative Watchdog Reporting
• COMM 277T: Building News Applications
• COMM 280: Virtual Reality Journalism in the Public Sphere
• COMM 242/COMM 142W: Media Economics
• STATS 101: Data Science 101
• ENGR 150: Data Challenge Lab
• ENGR 350: Data Impact Lab
• Stanford Cyber Initiative courses
• Stanford HCI Group

If you’re a potential student, apply for:

• Undergraduate programs at Stanford
• Stanford MA Journalism
• Stanford PhD Communicaton

If you’re a journalist or media executive, apply for:

• John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford
• HSTAR Fellowship

Meet the Team

Jay Hamilton

Director of Stanford Journalism Program

jayth(at)stanford(dot)edu

Hearst Professor of Communication and the Director of the Journalism Program. Authored "Democracy’s Detectives: The Economics of Investigative Journalism." Previously at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. Learn more.

Cheryl Phillips

Hearst Professional in Residence

cep3(at)stanford(dot)edu

Previously worked at The Seattle Times from 2002-2014. Her most recent position in Seattle was as Data Innovation Editor. Learn more.