BISS: Scraping

Data journalism is becoming increasingly indispensable in investigative research. Relevant data can reveal patterns or lead researchers to a needle in a haystack. But often enough, there is no download button that spits out an easy-to-read Excel spreadsheet. Scraping is one way to get the information you need anyway. In the workshop, participants will learn about easy-to-use tools that do not require any coding knowledge. Participants will also receive an introduction to the use of command line tools. In just a few steps, they will then be able to use scraping scripts for their research. The course also covers how to find subjects and how to convert file formats into a format they feel comfortable working with.

The workshop will give participants:

• an overview on what tools can do what tasks
• examples for plugins, e.g. a tool to download friends/followers on social media
• command line tools
• the basic knowledge on cleaning and formatting data
• exercises on the most important tools

 Your lecturer:

Christina Brause is an investigative data-journalist. For several years she has been working in the investigative team of WELT and WELT AM SONNTAG –  most recently as deputy investigative editor. In this role, she was responsible for all research involving tech, data and OSINT methods.  Her story about China's secret propagandists in Germany was awarded the „Deutscher Journalistenpreis" in 2021. She was also part of the team behind "Teenage Terrorists", an international collaboration with POLITICO, INSIDER and WELT AM SONNTAG that won the European Press Prize in 2023.