Trainer Spotlight: Fernando Nuñez-Noda

fernando-slider

Venezuelan journalist expounds importance of harnessing data in GCJD conference

by Grace Ngo

Fernando Nuñez-Noda is originally from Venezuela, but currently lives with his family in Florida.

A man of many achievements, Nuñez-Noda is the CEO of 3Kats Corp., a company that produces, markets and helps manage online digital media for audiences in the United States and Latin America. As CEO, he helps clients develop digital out-of-the-box solutions, products and services.

He is also the editor of Neorika, a Spanish language online magazine. He has also written for several Venezuelan and international newspapers and magazines, mostly on cyber society and politics. He also serves as a contributor to Huffington Post Voices and Efecto Naím.

For 14 years, he taught digital journalism in Caracas at the Catholic University Andres Bello (UCAB)..

Nuñez-Noda was part of a GCJD team that went to work in Costa Rica in 2016. The training conference was focused helping journalists transition to digital media. Nuñez-Noda’s session was called Harnessing Data. It covered how to obtain good data, how to analyze the gathered information and how to tell stories with the information gathered in the most effective way.

“The importance of harnessing data is capital because it is the only thing that can guarantee a good idea, which is the raw material for any journalistic product and services from that point ahead,” according to Nuñez-Noda.

Nuñez-Noda believes “Harnessing Data” involves extensive planning and pre-visualization of a story. “If you don´t plan the construction of the story, it might be erratic and incomplete. It includes identifying sources, selecting those that have quality, doing serious research and developing the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff,” Nuñez-Noda said.

Mastering the ability to efficiently harness data empowers journalists because they can now gather data by themselves, which formerly required the work of large teams, Nuñez-Noda said. Harnessing data is an indispensable step to guarantee quality output.

When it comes to GCJD’s work, Nuñez-Noda thinks it is extremely vital, especially for a democracy to prosper. He says democracy is very valuable and that we must cultivate and protect it. Above all, we should not take it for granted. According to Nuñez-Noda, one of the pillars of democracy is a free press, for freedom of expression and freethinking can only be sustained if the people have access to information.

“Usually governments try to hide many things. Politicians are usually very secretive with many things they do. That’s one of the missions of the free press:  to reveal what’s happening, to investigate, to do some good research so people can be informed and can make better decisions on information that is not manipulated,” expressed Nuñez-Noda. “So the better and the more powerful the journalism is in a country, the greater the probability that the people will have the best information available to make the best possible decisions to enhance democracy.”

To young journalists beginning their careers, Nuñez-Noda stresses the importance of paying attention to sourcing. Information and knowledge is powerful, but it is only as powerful as you are able to relate to people and give the gathered information context. To young journalists, Nuñez-Noda said, “developing competences in data research can lower search time and increase productivity.”


Global Center for Journalism and Democracy
Dan Rather Communications Building, Room 201, Huntsville, TX 77340