Enhance your breaking news reporting with data and documents
By Quint Forgey
The old newspaper adage, “there is no news in the newsroom,” no longer applies to American media. That’s because journalists can easily access publicly available data to quickly enhance reporting and put journalists hours – even days – ahead of competitors when local news breaks.
In Thursday’s session, “Data for breaking news,” John Keefe of WNYC and Stephen Stock of NBC Bay Area offered on-the-job anecdotes emphasizing that the key to great data reporting in high-stress situations is preparedness.
Citing some examples, Stock recounted using the tail number of a downed plane and aviation registration data to track down the name of a deceased pilot. Keefe said he used the name of a crashed ferry in lower Manhattan to mine through U.S. Coast Guard incident reports and discover that several similar incidents had befallen the vessel in the past.
Stock advised reporters to familiarize themselves with various databases well before incidents occur and make topic-specific folders for data websites on personal computers.
“In your community,” Keefe told the attendees, “what kinds of disasters could happen?”
Here are some of Stock’s favorite go-to sites when breaking news strikes:
Aviation Accidents
- NTSB Database
- FAA
- Track tail numbers
- FAA Accident & Incident Data
- Airport-Data.com
- PlaneCrashinfo.com
- AirDisaster.com
- AirSafe.com
- NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System
- FlightExplorer.com
- FlightAware
- Air Traffic Controllers Radio Traffic
- Airliners.net
- Plane Finder
- Airplane photos
- National Wildlife Strike database
Automobile/Trucks
- Fatality Analysis Reporting System
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Office of Defects Investigation
- Office of Defects Databases
- Safety and Fitness Electronic Records System
- Truck Company Snapshot
- Federal Highway Administration database
- Gas Price Watch
- National Transportation Safety Board
- Car Accident Statistics
- Ward’s Automotive Data
- Consumer Complaints
Political Campaign Data
- ProPublica
- Center for Responsive Politics
- Congressional Quarterly Political Money Line
- Maplight.org
- Federal Elections Commission
U.S. Court System
Federal Spending
- USA Spending.gov
- Federal Spending.org
- Office of Management and Budget Watch
- Project on Government Oversight
- Federal Procurement Data
- Federal Audit Clearinghouse
Federal Environmental Workplace Safety Sites
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- CDC/NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards
- EPA (TRI) Toxic Release Inventory Program
- EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Online
- U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational Safety & Health Administration
Crime/Punishment
- FBI Uniform Crime Reports
- U.S. Bureau of Prisons
- U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics
- California Dept. of Corrections
- Florida Dept. of Corrections
Business Records and Non-Profits
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- SEC Company Search
- CorportationWiki
- Yahoo Finance
- LexisNexis
- GuideStar
- Charity Navigator
- National Better Business Bureau
Hurricanes
Earthquakes
Wildfire