The Journalist’s Toolbox: A Guide to Digital Reporting and Ai

Focusing on the "how" and "why" of digital reporting, this interactive textbook equips readers with all the skills they need to succeed in today’s multimedia reporting landscape.

The Journalist’s Toolbox is an extension of the JournalistsToolbox.ai website, which provides links to tools, organized by beats and topics, as well as social channels, a newsletter, and more than 95 training videos relevant to journalists. This handbook offers a deep dive into these digital resources, explaining how they can be manipulated to build multimedia stories online and in broadcast. It covers all the basics of data journalism, fact-checking, using social media, editing and ethics, as well as video, photo, and audio production and storytelling. The book considers digital journalism from a global perspective, including examples and interviews with journalists from around the world.

Packed full of hands-on exercises and insider tips, The Journalist’s Toolbox is an essential companion for students of online/digital journalism, multimedia storytelling and advanced reporting. This book will also make an ideal reference for practicing journalists looking to hone their craft.

This book is supported by training videos, interactive charts and a pop-up glossary of key terms which are available as part of an interactive e-book+ or online for those using the print book.

Mike Reilley teaches data and digital journalism at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. A former reporter at the Los Angeles Times and web producer at the Chicago Tribune and WashingtonPost.com, Mike is an early adopter of web and data technologies in journalism. He’s taught full-time for 20 years at Northwestern, Arizona State, DePaul and UIC.

Mike founded the digital resources site JournalistsToolbox.org in 1996 and currently operates a new AI-focused site, JournalistsToolbox.ai. He also consults with newsrooms on digital tools and has trained thousands of journalists around the world on Google News Initiative tools. He is co-author of the Routledge textbook Data + Journalism with investigative reporter Samantha Sunne.

Mike and his students cover Chicago urban issues through data reporting on RedLineProject.news. Mike speaks at dozens of journalism conferences and has a large following on his @itsmikereilley Twitter account.