Guardian's Data Man Simon Rogers Joins Twitter

The Editor of The Guardian newspaper's Datablog and Datastore online resources, Simon Rogers, has quit his job to join Twitter in the US as the firm's first Data Editor. James Ball will step into his shoes in the UK.

Rogers, who established the Datablog in 2009, will relocate to San Francisco after fifteen years at the Guardian in a variety of roles. At last months' MRS Conference, he explained how in his most recent role, he and his team generate editorial through a combination of raw numbers and the insights journalists bring.

In a blog post, Rogers described joining the paper's newsdesk the day prior to the 9/11 attacks: 'The events of the next day and the months after created an unprecedented demand for instant news and analysis. On a personal level, it changed my career path: before then I saw stories in terms of words; working with the Guardian's graphics team in the aftermath taught me that there were new ways to tell those stories and that data journalism was one of the most effective.'

Alan Rusbridger, Editor-in-Chief, Guardian News & Media, said in a statement that Rogers had done an amazing job over the last decade helping to build the Guardian's reputation as a world leader in data journalism, adding: 'It will be fascinating to see what he can do with the vast trove of data that he will have access to at Twitter.'

Rogers takes up his new post at the end of May, when he will be replaced by former Wikileaks and Bureau of Investigative Journalism staffer Ball, who since joining The Guardian in 2011 has worked on a number of high-profile stories including the Guantanamo Files, Reading the Riots, and the campaign against the extradition of Richard O'Dwyer.

Rusbridger added: 'We're terrifically excited that James is taking over as Data Editor. I'm confident that he will keep the Guardian at the cutting edge of data journalism and put it at the centre of what we do.'

Web site: www.guardian.co.uk .