In this study , we rely on the figurational model developed by Baack ( 2018b ) which shows how data journalists and civic technologists form a community of practice through overlapping skills and complementary ambitions . Both civic technologists and data journalists rely on data and use similar tools and services for their work , and both aspire to empower citizens . This enables them to complement each other : civic technologist can develop tools for journalists or provide technical skills and expertise to them , while investigations by journalists can spark ideas for new civic tech applications . Their practices interlock in the sense that they interdependently respond to each other and expand one another ( cf . Couldry and Hepp 2017 ) . Theoretically , we can therefore describe them as existing along a shared continuum of practices , a shared repertory of " images , stories , and actions " ( Mansell 2012 , 33 ) .