Database journalism and information findability: a protocol of analysis

Database journalism is a journalistic practice, as well as a dimension with a strong identity of its own, that of data journalism. It is based on knowing and exploiting journalistic and news sources available in specialized information sources. Database journalism centers on using documentary information systems, such as databases (hence its name) and digital libraries. It is focused on searching, retrieving and analyzing retrospective journalistic information to better understand, supplement or extend a current news story or event. This article presents a protocol to analyze quality in search interfaces of journalistic databases. This analytic system consists in identifying and characterizing a set of indicators to evaluate quality in representing and retrieving journalistic information.