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By Gary Harki, The Virginian-Pilot
In February, the Virginia Senate passed a bill that would allow law enforcement agencies to keep secret the names of all police officers, deputy sheriffs and fire marshals.
It eventually died in a House subcommittee, but only after journalists raised the alarm that the state of Virginia was about to make anonymous the only government employees with life and death power over citizens.
Republican Sen. John Cosgrove, who introduced the bill, said that a Freedom of Information Act request I submitted as a reporter for The Virginian-Pilot was the impetus for his bill. Last summer I requested information from the state’s police training database so that I could track officer movement around the state.
I wanted to look at where officers had previously worked and find out if police that had gotten into serious trouble in the past were able to find work as an officer in a new department. It’s something that I had written about before in West Virginia at The Charleston Gazette.
My interest in this issue started in 2008 following the beating of Twan Reynolds outside of a 7-Eleven by Officer Matthew Leavitt in Montgomery, West Virginia. The officer hit Reynolds over the head with a blackjack, kicked him in the back and sprayed his eyes with pepper spray at close range. Reynolds’s wife, Lauren, and their 4-year-old daughter witnessed much of the assault.
Leavitt singled them out because Twan is black and his wife is white.
Leavitt was on his sixth police department when he assaulted the Reynolds family. While employed in Madison, West Virginia, in July 2006, he had harassed a woman, her boyfriend and her daughter at her home, according to police records. He resigned soon after, and when another department requested a reference, the Madison police chief said he would love to have Leavitt back and that he gets along well with other people.
Leavitt eventually pleaded guilty in federal court and was sentenced to prison on two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, violations of civil rights law.
Leavitt’s case brought one question to my mind – how often do troubled officers move from department to department without oversight?
Nationwide, there’s little to stop police involved in serious incidents from moving on to another department. It’s a known problem in law enforcement circles, and something The Denver Post is tackling right now.
When I requested a copy of West Virginia’s training database, one manager thanked me for attempting to do the story. The state officials had seen the pattern for years.
I eventually wrote a series of stories detailing my investigation of 13 officers who had left one department following questionable police practices only to find work in another. Several of those officers had moved through the same handful of departments.
After my series appeared, the West Virginia Legislature decided to do something about it.
In 2011, it passed a law that suspends an officer's certification when they leave a police department. If they are hired by a new police department, that department must contact the state and find out why they left their previous department before certification is reinstated.
Virginia’s response to my FOIA request was quite different.
Initially, state officials with the Department of Criminal Justice Services worked to help get me what I need. I requested the first and last names of all officers, the departments the officers worked at, and the hire date and end date for current officers in Virginia.
The journalists in the room, including me, made a different case – that to make police identities secret is to go against one of the basic tenets of our democracy.
DCJS had one concern about handing over the information – they didn’t want the names of undercover officers published. To address this, we agreed to not publish the database in its entirety. To use the information from it publicly, we would have to get a second source for the name of each officer – from previous media accounts or the department itself.
DCJS officials and Virginian-Pilot Editor Steve Gunn signed the agreement.
Days later, state officials refused to hand over the database.
We sued for the information, and in November a judge ruled the department had to hand it over. We got the database in December and by January, Cosgrove filed his bill.
At first it didn’t look like it was going anywhere and would die in the Senate. But once it passed there, Virginian-Pilot statehouse reporter Patrick Wilson and I wrote a story outlining the bill’s ramifications. Other news outlets soon picked up on the story.
It all came down to a House of Representatives subcommittee meeting on Feb. 25. If the bill made it out of committee, it would likely pass the full House and end up on the desk of Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Though he’d given no indication about whether he’d sign it, the general consensus was that he would. In Virginia, keeping the public from being able to see the inner workings of government bodies has bipartisan support.
Police union officials and journalists testified before the subcommittee. Union officials said they were concerned about officers’ identities being stolen and that someone could get a list of names of officers in order to do them harm.
The journalists in the room, including me, made a different case – that to make police identities secret is to go against one of the basic tenets of our democracy. We argued that the public has a right to know who its law enforcement officers are and have them be held accountable for their actions.
Legislators voted unanimously against the bill.
I went home relieved and with a copy of the database on my computer.
Now I have a story to do.
Gary Harki is a database reporter for The Virginian-Pilot. You can reach him at gary.harki@pilotonline.com.
Going to the 2016 CAR Conference? Don’t forget about these great social and training events organized by IRE and partner organizations.
WEDNESDAY
Techraking <=16: Bootstrapping the News | 2-6 p.m. in Denver III-IV
Veteran data crunchers and programmers from Reveal/The Center for Investigative Reporting help attendees set up their laptops. (Registration required)
10 Great Business Databases to Mine for Stories | 2-5 p.m. in Penrose
A pre-conference by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. Registration will begin on-site at 1:30 p.m.
NPPA #NICAR16 Meetup | 5:30 p.m. at Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery
Join photojournalists and developers for an event hosted by the National Press Photographers Association. (RSVP online)
THURSDAY
Tableau training | Various times and locations
Tableau is offering four workshops on data visualization. (Registration required)
Welcome Reception | 6 p.m. in Denver III-IV
Each attendee will receive one drink ticket for beer, wine, soda or bottled water.
Hacks/Hackers Colorado March Meetup | 7 p.m. at Falling Rock Tap House
There's no speakers, no formality, and no dress code for this event – just straight-up good beer (and burgers) at this event hosted by Hacks/Hackers Colorado. (RSVP online)
Denver Brewery Tour | 7:30 – 11 p.m., leaving from the conference hotel
A tour of some of Denver’s best breweries. Registration required.
FRIDAY
Lightning Talks | 4:45 p.m. in Colorado E-J
Join your colleagues for a session of short (5-minute) talks about doing CAR, Web development or other related topics.
Philip Meyer Journalism Awards | 6 p.m. in Colorado E-J
The annual presentation of the Philip Meyer Journalism Awards.
Philip Meyer Journalism Awards Reception | 6:15 p.m. in Denver III-IV
Celebrate the winners of the Philip Meyer Journalism Awards with light hor d' oeuvres and a cash bar.
SATURDAY
Teaching Data and Computational Journalism - Report Launch at NICAR 2016 | 6 p.m. in Colorado G-J
Learn about a report that’s the culmination of a year-long collaboration between researchers at Columbia and Stanford that was funded by the Knight Foundation.
Our student sponsorship program is back by popular demand! Last year, about 260 of you sponsored memberships for nearly 400 students. For just $25, you helped us connect with the next generation of investigative reporters. You shared the spirit of IRE - encouraging journalists to grow through training and helping each other.
We ask for your support again this year as we aim to introduce more students to IRE. Please consider sponsoring a $25 student membership on behalf of your alma mater, college media or for an intern at your news organization. You don't have to know a student - we can help with that. You can also direct your $25 sponsorship to help IRE build a more ethnically and racially diverse organization. Check out our sponsorship site for more details, and please spread the word. (Use the hashtag #SponsorIRE.)
Editors and managers will gather in Denver next week for the 2016 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference. How can you best use the conference to transform your newsroom into a data-driven one? NICAR asked editors and managers who have previously attended the conference to share their best tips for making the most of the experience.
What should I do before the conference to make the most of it?
Check the schedule and map out a plan, suggests Matt Stiles, a freelance data journalist. "That way I can spend time chatting with people between sessions instead of fretting about which panel I'll attend next,” he said. "Also, obviously, pack all your device chargers."
Identify the teams whose work you most admire, and write a list of pain points your team is currently experiencing. Go in with the intention of seeking out the folks you want to emulate and finding a couple of approaches that differ from the way you normally work, said Troy Thibodeaux, data journalism team editor at The Associated Press.
Take a few minutes before or early in the conference to talk to any team members that are also attending about what you’re hoping to take away, Troy said. "Just having this conversation can help identify both the hard and soft skills your team needs to develop, both the technical chops and the ways of working together that make work good and make for good work."
How do you pick sessions to attend?
Go into the CAR Conference with a real problem or perhaps a data set in hand, then pick a session that could help your team further the story, said Challen Stephens, editor and reporter for the Birmingham News, Huntsville Times & Mobile Press-Register.
“Last year, I had a reporter who was working on environmental concerns near chicken houses and I was able to speak to some smart folks about the best possibilities for mapping farming operations along waterways,” Challen said. “I ended up finding the best fit at a QGIS session I might not otherwise have attended. And I’ve been interested in mapping since.”
"Just know that these ideas are critical to the future of journalism. Just because you can't write or execute a batch of code, doesn't mean that you can't feel comfortable talking to those in your newsroom who can. Or hiring those who can."
– Matt Stiles
Do an honest of appraisal of what you know and what you need to know, and focus your conference thematically along those lines.
“The most important takeaway for me at many conferences was learning how to negotiate for data and to get it in usable formats,” Matt said. “Without that, all the technical skills in the world can't help much. But later I left each conference with new inspiration to try a new skill: stats, web scraping, programming, GIS, etc.”
Attend some of the “how we did it” panels, such as Saturday’s Spotlight on the Story.
“I listen for the origin stories,” Troy said. “What were the conditions that made that great idea possible? How did the team push it forward — with what level of direction, solo vs. paired work and percentage of time allotted?”
Pick one or two sessions out of nothing more than sheer intellectual curiosity.
“There’s a certain freedom to hearing really smart people talk about something that isn’t immediately practical; often it can spark unexpected connections, and sometimes that ambient awareness of a new technology pays off later when suddenly the perfect use case drops in your lap,” Troy said. “This happened for me with natural language processing a few years ago. It just sounded like something worth knowing about, but within a few months, we were using those tools to dig into the Congressional Record.”
How do you take what you learned and use it to better your newsroom or team?
Build lasting connections. “I always try to collect business cards from people I meet and digitize them soon after with notes about my conversations,” Matt said. “I also collect Twitter handles from as many people as possible to build up my NICAR contacts on social media. That way I can stay connected — and learn — after the conference.”
Listen up whenever you hear a presenter start a conversation with, "On our team, we... ." Learn how data and news apps teams define their culture, how they collaborate with other parts of the newsroom and what practices they put in place to do their best work.
“Take the opportunity to follow up on these thoughts, catching presenters after the talk or in the bar to ask about what may seem some pretty mundane stuff: What kind of meetings does your team have?” Troy said. “How do you bulletproof your work before publication? How do you find time to work on your own ideas or to keep learning?”
Keep an open mind.
“You will probably hear confusing technology terms and see reporters approaching traditional reporting challenges differently,” Matt said. “Just know that these ideas are critical to the future of journalism. Just because you can't write or execute a batch of code, doesn't mean that you can't feel comfortable talking to those in your newsroom who can. Or hiring those who can.”
Look for management advice, and you’ll find it everywhere.
“This kind of everyday matter gets to the fabric of how a team works, and I learn from every editor and manager I meet either how I might want to lead my team or how I definitely don’t want to do it,” Troy said. “Even the technical sessions can offer management advice: if you know how to read a git repo, you can tell a lot about the way a team interacts — even how much they enjoy their jobs. And project structure can tell you a lot about project management structure, if you know how to read it.”
Schedule some time immediately after the conference to synthesize what you’ve picked up during the mad rush of sessions and meet ups, Troy said.
“I find the flight home is a perfect opportunity to go back to my original list, look over my notes from the sessions and pull together a plan of action to put what I’ve learned into practice,” Troy said. “There are usually two or three themes with a handful of practical steps I take away that we can experiment with in the coming year. I ask the folks on my team to put together a highlights list as well, and we talk about ways to try out what we’ve learned while the glow of NICAR is still fresh.”
MORE NICAR GUIDES
Do you have reporters or editors on your staff who would benefit from training to help them produce enterprise and investigative stories?
Thanks to a grant from Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ) is working with Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR) to offer a two-day Watchdog Reporting Workshop for journalists from your region.
We're looking for two reporters, editors or producers from your newsroom who you believe have the desire and the potential to do in-depth investigative stories. No previous investigative reporting experience necessary. This workshop will teach the basics including how to mine the internet for information that leads to compelling stories, how to crunch data, how to conduct an investigative interview and how to investigate businesses and nonprofits.
If your team is chosen, they will be given ongoing consultation after the training to help you complete a story or investigative project. Please note: Preference will be given to newsroom teams, but individual applicants and freelance journalists are encouraged to apply.
The 2016 workshops will be held in three cities:
- Application deadline: March 4
- Application deadline: April 1
- Application deadline: April 4
The sessions and the follow-up training are free, thanks to the support from Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. You'll be responsible for any travel costs.
To nominate a team for this opportunity, complete this form. The deadline for the Fairfield workshop is March 4, 2016. The deadline for the Portland workshop will be April 1, and the deadline for the Columbus workshop will be April 4.
In your application, you'll be asked to list a specific project you would like to work on following the workshop. Please be as specific as you can, as we want to ensure that we work with news organizations that not only desire to do better work, but are committed to the effort.
Data journalists of all stripes will gather in Denver for the 2016 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference in just a few short weeks. From spreadsheets to data visualization to the latest technological advances, the conference offers endless opportunities to learn and grow as a journalist. But the range of choices can be overwhelming, especially for those new to the conference. NICAR asked seasoned journalists for their best tips on making the most of the experience.
Which sessions should you pick?
Focus on panels that teach you a skill you can quickly implement at your job.
You’ll lose important momentum if you go back to work and realize that all of the new, exciting skills you just learned don’t lend themselves to something you can accomplish in your newsroom.
“There are panels/sessions where people show off some really amazing work. But in my experience, if it's too far over your head or isn't directly applicable to your job (or can't be made applicable in the somewhat near future), then there might not be much of a useful takeaway,” said Walker Moskop of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“Pick one session or track of sessions aimed at where you’re at/what you’re doing now that will raise your skill set immediately — whether that be upping your Excel skills or learning scraping techniques or intermediate Python,” said Meghan Hoyer of The Associated Press. “This should be something you can go back and use the next day, and which will pay off in the short term.”
But also pick a panel or two featuring people who are doing work that might seem really sophisticated, complex or intimidating to you.
"Pick one session or track of sessions aimed at where you’re at/what you’re doing now that will raise your skill set immediately."
– Meghan Hoyer
“It gives you a sense of what's possible, motivates you to keep learning, and emphasizes how important it is to keep teaching yourself things in your own free time,” Walker said.
“Pick at least one session on a topic that you know nothing about but are interested in and which is at a level above your current skill set – it helps to know what’s possible, and gives you something to shoot for in the long term,” Meghan said.
Take advantage of the tipsheets and presentations, which will be uploaded to the conference website throughout the week. All of the tipsheets and presentations will also be added to the IRE Resource Center after the conference. Meghan said this was a great way to reinforce a session you attended or catch up on what you weren’t able to make it to.
Are there any sessions that are “musts” for data journalists?
If you don’t have much experience with Excel or writing SQL queries, those sessions are a good place to start.
“I think it's worth checking out some basic mapping tools, such as Google Fusion Tables or QGIS — I think those are a little easier to use than people starting out might realize,” Walker said.
Meghan said it’s a "must" to spend at least one session completely out of your comfort zone.
“If you’re primarily a reporter, maybe this is a good time to hear about how to design better graphics,” Meghan said. “You never know what you’ll be inspired by — and a general understanding of how other parts of the newsroom work never hurts.”
How did attending a NICAR Conference help you with your job?
"I'd like to emphasize the significance of being introduced to a programming language (in my case, Python) at a NICAR conference (and a boot camp a couple years back),” Walker said. “My code is sometimes hideous — just band-aid after band-aid. But you know what? I usually get it to work, and it makes portions of my job so much easier and allows me to do things that I didn't imagine being capable of when I first started as a journalist."
"NICAR is where I first took at stab at R and where I first learned about regular expressions,” Meghan said. “It’s taught me so much. When I first attended, I was a reporter, but as I’ve moved into data analysis as a full-time job, I’ve relied on the listserv regularly, and on my once-a-year NICAR immersions as a way to recharge, up my skills and come away inspired by all the possibilities.”
MORE NICAR GUIDES
Several IRE members were named winners of the 2015 Polk Awards in Journalism by Long Island University on Sunday, Feb. 14. The awards honor special achievement in many areas of journalism, especially in enterprise and investigative work. The following IRE members were honored this year:
Margie Mason and Martha Mendoza were part of the Associated Press team recognized for their expose of horrific slavery and labor abuse on islands in Thailand and Indonesia. Their story, “Seafood from Slaves” won the Foreign Reporting award.
Ian Urbina of The New York Times also received the Foreign Reporting award for his coverage of the violence and murders that occur on the lawless high seas in his series “The Outlaw Ocean.”
The Washington Post investigative unit which includes several IRE members devoted one year logging every fatal officer-involved shooting in 2015. The detailed database of police shootings, “Investigation: people shot and killed by police this year” got the investigative team the National Reporting award.
Washington Post reporter Terrence McCoy’s coverage of the lead poisoning in one of the most underprivileged neighborhoods in Baltimore won the Regional Reporting award for “Lead poisoning is ‘toxic legacy’ that still haunts Freddie Gray’s Baltimore.”
John Carreyrou of The Wall Street Journal was recognized with the Financial Reporting award for his investigations on the questionable lab operations of a hot medical startup, Theranos, in “Testing Theranos.”
Michael LaForgia was one of the Tampa Bay Times journalists to win the award for Education Reporting. His series, “Failure Factories,” exposed how the Pinellas County School Board members neglected schools in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the county and turned them into some of the worst schools in Florida.
Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project and T. Christian Miller of ProPublica collaborated on an investigative story of a teenager who was brutally raped and assaulted. Their story, “An Unbelievable Story of Rape” won the Justice Reporting award.
Robert Gebeloff was part of a team from The New York Times that won the Legal Reporting award for “Beware the Fine Print.” This story exposed deceitful and damaging corporal legal practices that derive consumers and employees of their ability to sue corporations.
A group of The New York Times journalists, including Sean D. Naylor, reported on how elite U.S. Navy SEAL teams often operated with little accountability despite accusations of battlefield abuses. Their story “SEAL Team 6: A Secret History of Quiet Killings and Blurred Lines” received the Military Reporting award.
Read press release for a complete list of winners.
Students from all over will gather in Denver for the 2016 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference in just a few short weeks. From spreadsheets to data visualization to the latest technological advances, the conference offers endless opportunities to learn and grow as a journalist. But the range of choices can be overwhelming, especially for those new to the conference. NICAR asked students to reflect on their past experiences and offer up their best advice.
Read up on the sessions offered ahead of time, then make a tentative schedule.
“I had marked all the classes that were recommended to me, but that wasn't enough," said Ani Ucar, a recent graduate of the University of Southern California. "Really making a full schedule for yourself will help ensure that you actually get the most out of your time."
Figure out which journalists are going to be there and read up on them. Then contact them before the conference even gets rolling.
“Before the conference, reach out to a few folks whose work you admire — maybe you follow them on Twitter — and set up a time to get coffee with them and learn about their work,” said Alex Duner of the Northwestern University Knight Lab.
"Don’t be afraid to speak up in discussions or in sessions. Kill your imposter syndrome for the weekend."
– Alex Duner
There are an insane number of sessions to choose from, so go into the conference with a story in mind or even a story that you've already been working on. And/or, pick a certain skill that you want to hone. This will help you focus and avoid spreading yourself too thin.
“If you know exactly what you need to achieve in order to move your story along, you will be able to ask better questions of your instructors and really get the most from each class,” Ani said.
Attend at least one session a day about a topic that you know nothing about. It’s a way to push your comfort zone, discover what’s out there and gather story ideas. Alex said he accidently went to a session on data sets about infrastructure and left with story ideas he never would have thought of. He warned not to try to go to every session, however, adding that “NICAR is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Pick a couple of introductory technical sessions and go in with an open mind. Don’t get overwhelmed if you don’t always keep pace.
“You won’t learn all of D3 or all of R in an hour. But what you can get out of those sessions is an understanding of what certain tools let you accomplish and a framework for how to keep learning more. NICAR isn’t just an opportunity to learn, but a chance to learn how to learn," Alex said.
If you really enjoy a session, hang out afterwards and introduce yourself to the instructor.
Hang out at the bar at night, even if you’re just grabbing a soda.
“Hanging out around the hotel bar is where you will get to meet cool people who do cool things. Plus, last year, the bar gave me free soda all conference, so that was a plus,” Alex said.
Bring business cards (you can easily make your own online if your university doesn’t supply them).
Ani said to hand out cards to anyone you meet, and don’t be intimidated to strike up conversations with those around you.
“Just talking to people about story ideas you have could lead to some amazing conversations and ultimately could spark original/innovative ideas for you to apply to your work.”
Remember that you have things to contribute, too.
“Don’t be afraid to speak up in discussions or in sessions. Kill your imposter syndrome for the weekend,” Alex said.
Show up early and pace yourself.
Ani said that sessions will fill up fast, so take that into account when making a schedule. Budget time to get to classes early, and don’t forget to eat and take breaks. Otherwise, you’ll burn out by day two.
Simeng Dai of Boston University said to Google the presenters if you haven’t heard of them already. You never know, they might work at your dream publication.
Will Drabold of Ohio University and Northwestern Knight Lab fellows Nicole Zhu and Ashley Wu contributed ideas to this guide.
MORE NICAR GUIDES
Congratulations to IRE member Martha Mendoza of The Associated Press for winning the 2016 Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting. USC Annenberg recognized Mendoza, along with Esther Htusan, Margie Mason and Robin McDowell, for their project, "Seafood from Slaves," which investigated the multi-billion dollar Thai seafood export industry.
According to the USC news release, the judges commented:
“Slavery at sea has been the subject of substantial journalism before, but the AP team went to new lengths to expose an abusive system from start to finish. They followed the trail to a tiny island in Indonesia, giving voice to those being held against their will and forced to work for nothing. That led to a follow-up story, documenting the freeing of captives spurred by the original report."
The news release also provided a statement from Mendoza:
“The issue had been bubbling up a little in Southeast Asia, as some slaves escaped — but it hadn’t been getting much attention,” Mendoza said. “We set out to do two things that hadn’t been done before. One was to find people currently working as slaves, to put an end to the suggestions that the problem was behind us. The second thing was to specifically track the supply chain to the major retailers, so they could no longer disassociate themselves from the labor abuse.”
Winning the Selden Ring Award will bring more attention to the issue, Mendoza said. “The enslaved people were risking their lives when they spoke to us. Yet they told their stories with courage and integrity. They deserve the recognition.”
Learn more about the reporting behind the project on the IRE Radio Podcast, where we talked to Mendoza, Mason and McDowell about the investigation.
The votes are in and the 2016 NICAR T-shirt has been selected!
Casey Miller of Vox Media won our annual contest with an orange and purple NICAR logo. You'll be able to buy her design at the 2016 CAR Conference in Denver. Any extra shirts will be available for purchase online in the IRE Store.
John Osborn came in second place. His design ("All Your Database Are Belong To Us") will be available as a laptop sticker.
Thanks to everyone who entered designs and voted.
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