GIS and Journalism
Episode #2
Jake Steinberg
Summary
Jake is working on a unique project that combines storytelling, journalism, and maps. He is working on a project called Curious Minnesota, where readers can submit questions and reporters answer them. One question he received was about the oldest tree in Minnesota, which led him to discover a thousand-year-old cedar in the boundary waters wilderness. Jake is creating a visual story about this ancient tree, incorporating elements of dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) and mapping. He draws inspiration from other visual journalism projects and enjoys working on stories that explore the intersection of land and human interaction. In this conversation, Jake, a graphics journalist, discusses his passion for maps and geography. He explains how maps provide context and storytelling in his work, using examples like a controversial golf course in Minneapolis. Jake also shares his childhood interests in drawing and video games, which influenced his love for design and creating worlds. He talks about the importance of learning programming languages like JavaScript and Python in the field of graphics journalism. Jake reflects on his dream job as a paleontologist or zookeeper and discusses the changing landscape of the media industry.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.