Using Data in Investigative Reporting
Uploaded by
National Press FoundationUsing Data in Investigative Reporting
Uploaded by
National Press FoundationData Journalism 101:
A guide to Investigative
Reporting with data
Ron Nixon, The New York Times
What are we about today?
What is computer assisted reporting or
How to identify and collect data.
How to produce stories across beats
education, courts, biz and government
using data.
How to backstop/fact check data stories.
How to build your own database.
How to use data for breaking news.
How to deal with dirty data.
By Flickr user Nick Piggott
data journalism?
Data journalism
Data Journalism is an umbrella term, that to my mind, encompasses an
ever-growing set of tools, techniques and approaches to storytelling. It
can include everything from traditional computer-assisted reporting (using
data as a source) to the most cutting-edge data visualization and news
applications. The unifying goal is a journalistic one: providing information
and analysis to help inform us all about important issues of the day.
Aron Pilhofer, former assistant managing editor for digital strategy at The
New York Times.
No one knows what the Matrix is! Or
your story!
The elements of data journalism
Data analysis (using spreadsheets,
databases and statistical software)
Online database
Mapping
Visualization
Scraping Web data
Digital storytelling
Multimedia packages
Spreadsheets
Databases
Statistical software
Mapping software
New York Times: online databases
New York Times: mapping
AP: data visualizations
Snowfall: digital storytelling
Why journalists should use data
Allows journalists to see the big
picture.
Expands the story from competing he
said/she said.
Allows us to find stories that we might
otherwise miss.
Shift the focus from looking at one bad
fruit to the entire barrel.
Puts the reporter in control, rather than
sources.
Where to find data
Government agencies
Non-governmental organizations
Websites
Creating databases from scratch
Free tools for doing data journalism
Google Docs
SQL Lite
Data visualization tools
Free mapping software
Open Office
Free tools for getting data from the
Web
Readability
Downthemall
Google Chrome Scraper Extension
Outwit
Data journalism handbook
Math for journalists
Case studies
The following are data journalism projects that I have
done at The New York Times and other places that show
that these kinds of stories are possible.
Railroad Police
US State Dept. Counter Terrorism
Mail Covers
Bad Roads, Bridges
NYT: Iran sanctions
NYT: Bed-rail deaths
NYT: Foreclosures
NYT: RED
(MN) Star Tribune: Payday
loans/check cashing
NYT:African Development Fund
Writing the data-based story
What does the data show?
What does it mean in the real world?
Is there a Donkey to help guide the
reader?
Are their good anecdotes?
Craft a beginning, middle and an
ending.
Turn the data into prose!
