Zhaozhou (Jovi) Dai has joined the Center for Public Integrity as a data journalist supporting the investigative nonprofit newsroom’s partnership with the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative in California.
Dai has worked as a data reporter at Storybench, a chatbot developer at the Boston Globe for The Emancipator, a reporter for The Global Observer and a data research assistant at Northeastern University’s Co-Lab for Data Impact.
“Joining the Center for Public Integrity, working in partnership with the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, as a data reporter is an exciting opportunity for me to merge my passion for storytelling with the power of data,” said Dai, who will be based in Merced, California. “I am committed to leveraging data analysis and visualization techniques to uncover meaningful insights that will enrich our reporting, drive informed narratives, and provide knowledge to our communities. I look forward to collaborating with my experienced colleagues to craft impactful, data-driven stories that shed light on important issues.”
Dai holds a master’s degree from Northeastern and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
His data-driven reporting project, “Software Tools to Support Climate Reporting: Addressing Gaps and Needs among Journalists,” was recently accepted for presentation at the 2023 Joint Computation + Journalism European Data & Computational Journalism Conference in Zürich, Switzerland.
“Jovi’s deep data analysis and visualization skills will bolster and amplify our collaborative investigative journalism in the Central Valley and beyond,” said Lisa Yanick Litwiller, Public Integrity’s director of audience.
With support from the James B. McClatchy Foundation, for the next year Dai will work as a data journalist supporting the work of the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, a group of local news organizations working together to report on undercovered stories in California’s Central Valley. This is part of a Public Integrity initiative to strengthen local investigative reporting across the country, through partnerships with local newsrooms designed to systematically exchange knowledge and provide ongoing support.
“The Central Valley Journalism Collaborative deeply appreciates the work of CPI to bring such a skilled data journalist to our team,” said Michelle Morgante, the collaborative’s editor. “As nonprofit newsrooms like ours work to build up coverage for our region, having someone like Jovi will enable us to tell richer, better-reported stories that will help inform communities throughout central California. It’s all part of our mission to bring to the surface the information people need to understand the events and issues shaping our lives.”
Public Integrity’s journalists have been recognized with numerous honors in recent months, including the Paul Tobenkin Award, a Peabody Award nomination, a National Headliner Award, an Excellence in Financial Journalism award, a National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Award, the Sigma Award recognizing the world’s best data journalism, two finalist honors for the Shaufler Prize for reporting about underserved people, the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing’s “Best in Business” awards, the Gracie Awards honoring media produced by and for women, the D.C. chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Dateline Awards, and the Signal Awards recognizing the country’s best podcasts.
Founded in 1989, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Center for Public Integrity is one of the oldest nonprofit news organizations in the country and is dedicated to investigating systems and circumstances that contribute to inequality in the United States.