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By Anh Nguyen
It’s not uncommon to see a news story citing percentages and analyses that sounds like they came from an expert who specializes in collecting data and doing math, such as "21.3 percent of the U.S. participates in Government Assistance Program each month."
Where this information comes from and how it’s collected are valid questions – ones we sometimes forget to ask. USA TODAY’s Paul Overberg led a hands-on census data workshop that aimed to address these questions and provide a new source for reporting.
I was amazed when Overberg discussed his approach to news like a scientist: "Let’s start with situations we see and hear about, and find data that describes them.
I felt nauseous thinking about the expertise required and how unfamiliar I was with statistics and technical websites. As it turns out, census.gov and censusreporter.org are both user-friendly and amazingly resourceful tools that include data on income, poverty and food stamps.
Navigating the census.gov website, I discovered data on Pennsylvania poverty rates in 2006 and 2011. The census lists out the percentage of the population living under the poverty line in every town, and with some simple Excel commands I could sort out the percent change, see the difference, and develop my own story ideas. For example, what happened in places where the poverty rate dropped, and why has it increased somewhere else?
Overberg simplified the idea of the census as "data to generalize the problem." Take the Great Depression, for example. With no hindsight and national survey back then, Americans just knew things went bad and had no clue they were living through the worst economic depression in history. The term “Great Depression” had not been coined because there was no proof the trend existed. However, things are different today because journalists have access to a powerful data set to spot patterns and create and develop stories on topics like the economy, education, housing, health and international trade.
A seemingly difficult topic was turned into an exciting new field where journalism and data converge. I was thrilled to continue the "homework" Overberg assigned: How do you find the number of "adult children"? I subtracted the percentage of children over the age of 18 that still live with their parents from the percentage of children in households in general. A pattern emerged: More young people were out of college, unable to find a job, and moving back in with their parents. Boom! A great story idea was backed by real data from the census.
Nerdy, cool stuff I can’t wait to show my friends and apply to my classes!
Anh Nguyen is a sophomore journalism major at Temple University and vice president of the Temple Debate Society.
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI: Investigative Reporters and Editors is proud to announce the finalists for its 2015 Golden Padlock Award celebrating the most secretive government agency or individual in the United States.
"There is a unique brand of courage displayed by public officials who deny, delay and circumvent the public’s right to know with a straight-faced sense of duty," said Robert Cribb, chair of IRE’s Golden Padlock committee.
"Our finalists have excelled in the art of institutional secrecy on matters of vital public interest – from the conduct of police and judges to border safety and the details behind war crimes in Afghanistan. They carry forward a rich tradition of undermining open records laws with ingenuity, commitment and condescension deserving of our acknowledgement."
The nominees are:
The winner will be announced at IRE’s annual conference in Philadelphia on June 6. A representative from the winning agency will be invited to receive the honor.
Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting.
CONTACT:
Robert Cribb, Golden Padlock committee chair
rcribb@thestar.ca
416-869-4411
Mark Horvit, IRE Executive Director
mark@ire.org
573-882-1984
The 2015 IRE Conference app is now available through Guidebook!
We encourage you to download our mobile guide to enhance your experience at the 2015 IRE Conference. You'll be able to plan your day with a personalized schedule and browse exhibitors, maps and general show info.
The app is compatible with iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches and Android devices. Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry users can access the same information via our mobile site.
To get the guide, choose one of the methods below:
The guide can be found in the "Download Guides" section of the application by searching for "2015 IRE Conference".
If you’re having seafood for dinner, there’s a chance it was caught by a slave. That’s what the Associated Press uncovered when reporters traveled to the remote island of Benjina, Indonesia. They found workers trapped in cages, forced to work 22-hour days for almost no pay. And when they followed the fish, they learned some of it ended up in US restaurants and supermarkets.
On this episode we’re talking to reporters Martha Mendoza, Margie Mason and Robin McDowell about their high-impact investigation.
As always, you can find us on Soundcloud, iTunes and Stitcher. If you have a story you think we should feature on the show, drop us a note at web@ire.org. We’d love to hear from you.
EPISODE NOTES
Looking for links to the stories, resources and events we discussed on this week's podcast? We've collected them for you.
CREDITS
Music in this episode comes from Podington Bear. Shawn Shinneman wrote and produced this episode. IRE Web Editor Sarah Hutchins edits the podcast.
Do you shy away from stories about science? Worry about making global climate stories fit with local coverage? Struggle to make your audience care about science and environmental topics? A three-hour workshop on Sunday, June 7 will help you accurately communicate scientific information and give you practical ideas to ramp up your science and environmental storytelling.
We will examine the importance of science and environmental journalism in a click-bait world, see how the same scientific study can be spun by different merchants of doubt, and learn how to find trustworthy sources, identify motives, and avoid misinformation.
Stop by the session "Whose Truth? Evaluate experts, recognize junk, tell better science & environmental stories" for tips, best practices and advice, and an open forum for discussion and analysis.
Pre-registration is not required for this free workshop starting at 9 a.m. in Franklin 9&10.
Projects investigating medical centers, government corruption and immigration law have been awarded IRE Freelance Fellowships this year. The winners of the 2015 competition are:
Due to the generosity of an anonymous donor, this fellowship program has allowed IRE to award fellowships for the last eight years, giving freelance journalists a much-needed boost in the pursuit of their investigative work. Visit our online library of Freelance Fellowship winners to see some of the work they’ve produced.
We are building the endowment that makes this fellowship possible, so please consider supporting the fund. If you're a current member, click here to make a secure credit card donation through our site. Please put "Freelance Fellowship" in the message line. If you're not a current member or if you prefer to donate via PayPal, click here.
About the award:
These fellowships are for journalists who make their living primarily as freelance/independent journalists. Applications are scrutinized by three experienced freelance journalists; they are ineligible for the award while serving on the committee. Proposals are judged in part on the breadth, significance and potential impact of the investigative project. At the request of the donor, proposals dealing with whistleblowers, business ethics and/or privacy issues will receive priority; projects involving other topics will be given serious consideration by the committee as well. The freelance projects must be published or aired primarily in US outlets.
While many of our hands-on classes still focus on using software, we recognize that it can be incredibly helpful for journalists to sit down with an expert guide to usher them through the process of turning data into a story. So we're offering something a little different this year at the IRE Conference in Philadelphia – courses that do this very thing.
We're calling the series of classes "Finding the story," and the idea is that these sessions will cover how to obtain important data sets, mine them for potential stories, expose shortcomings in the data and avoid common pitfalls that could undermine findings.
We have reporters who will be teaching you how to tap into the Census, uncover trends in your city or county's borrowing practices and keep tabs on workplace safety. IRE is also featuring data sources it maintains as part of the NICAR Database Library in sessions focused on bridge inspections.
These classes are open to all attendees on a first come, first served basis.
"Finding the story" schedule
Starting today IRE members can vote online for the IRE Board of Directors. Ballots will be sent to the primary e-mail as listed in your membership profile.
So far seven people have declared candidacy; six of the board’s 13 seats are up for election this year. To learn more about the candidates, click here. No one has declared candidacy for the Contest Committee. If you’re going to the 2015 IRE Conference in Philadelphia, be sure to stop by the candidate forum at 6 p.m. on June 5, immediately following the Showcase Panel. We're hoping conference attendees will wait to vote until they've had a chance to hear from the candidates.
Elections for the IRE Board of Directors involve electronic voting only, and the polls will be open until 6:30 p.m. on June 6. To learn more about the voting process, click here.
Rachael Bale
Rachael Bale worked at The Center for Investigative Reporting on environmental stories about pesticides and mining, crime and justice stories, among other topics. She also worked as a freelance reporter for KQED public radio, the Bay Area’s NPR affiliate. She just moved to Washington D.C., where she intends to freelance. In 2012 she attended the NICAR's boot camp. Our interview follows.
How did you get into data journalism? Was there a moment when you realized that working with data would be important in your career?
I got interested in data journalism while I was covering campaign finance during the 2012 election at the Center for Public Integrity. I got tired of handing over the Federal Election Commission data to the data reporter to clean and analyze. I wanted to do it myself. So I signed up for NICAR boot camp. When I got back, I was able to do a lot of analysis myself. And when there were things I didn't know how to do, a more experienced data reporter and I would sit down together, and I'd learn.
What are your go-to tools / programs when working on a story that involves data?
I primarily use SQL Server or Access, depending on what computer I'm working on. And of course, Excel. I love pivot tables.
How do you get from an idea to a data journalism story? How do you find relevant data?
I don't necessarily set out to do a data story. I start with a question about a specific incident or story that I want to learn more about. Then I start asking what kinds of data might be associated with it. Does a government agency (or multiple agencies) track this sort of thing? Does any organization collect information on this topic? If there's paperwork filed, there's a good chance someone has a database somewhere where the information from that paperwork is digitized and tracked. That'll give you the big picture. The next step is finding a human story that will help readers care about all those numbers.
"I don't necessarily set out to do a data story. I start with a question about a specific incident or story that I want to learn more about."
In your story "More than half of those killed by San Francisco police are mentally ill," you started with a story and then used a "By the numbers" section to introduce the data, do you think this is a good way to integrate data with stories?
"By the numbers" sections of stories usually don't work because they tend to cram a lot of numbers into a few paragraphs that interrupt the flow of the narrative. The reader's eyes will glaze over. Integrating numbers with the narrative of the story is the smoothest way to present it. If I really want to single out the data, I'd prefer a sidebar with bullet points, an infographic or some other visual to emphasize the main data findings.
For example, with CIR's pesticides investigation, we had tens of millions of pesticide records from the state of California. Much of the data analysis, which was performed by others on the data team, was integrated into the main investigation narrative. But we knew there were more hidden gems. I mined the database for weeks, until I'd pulled out five strong facts. We put those in a standalone story that was essentially, "here are other interesting things the data told us." I think with good formatting and visuals, that kind of purely data-driven story can work well.
What are the important do's and don'ts for aspiring data-driven journalists?
I couldn't have gotten into data reporting without the NICAR boot camp. I was (and still am) afraid I'd mess up the data beyond repair. The boot camp taught me the skills I needed to avoid pitfalls, vet the data and backstop the numbers every step of the way. Data reporting, at least for me, isn't a solitary endeavor. There's always another person in the newsroom who is familiar with the data I'm working on. That person can call me out on misinformed assumptions and draw my attention to potential missteps. We can bounce ideas off each other, and I can get ideas for different ways to look at the data.
NICAR Database Library student Jinghong Chen interviewed Bale.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
We will be doing an IRE Night at the Ballpark again on Friday, June 5. The game is at 7:05 p.m., and tickets are $26 a piece. They can be picked up at the IRE sales table beginning on Thursday, June 4. The seats are in section 105/106. Discounted tickets will be sold until May 29.
Conference attendees can also save $10 on tickets purchased through the Phillies website. Use the coupon code REPORT when checking out. The code is good for games June 2-7.
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