The relevance of data-led analysis and computational methods have gained significant prominence in a digitalised world. Models, graphs and investigations by journalists as well as social scientists now routinely deploy Big Data-based analytics. The emergence of new sources for data collection, tools for data mining as well as technical developments that allow the use of advanced analytics have created gaps in terms of the skills of researchers and journalists. The newly generated competence/incompetence has also led to a new divide between those who have access and those who don’t even understand the basics. Through this project, we present a first-of-its-kind overview of the emerging field of data journalism and computational social science with the focus on the challenge to democracy.