NICAR talk
Quickly report on dangerous winter driving conditions using our new database
More than 3,100 people across the country died in fatal car crashes in the three-day window around Christmas in the 11-year period from 2003 to 2013. More than 500 of those involved snow, rain, sleet or hail, according to accident records. It’s easy to localize a story about dangerous winter driving conditions in your community.…
Read MoreNICAR Q&A with Topher Sanders
Topher Sanders Topher Sanders covers racial inequality for ProPublica. He previously reported on education and city government for The Florida Times-Union. Named to the paper’s investigative team in 2013, he became the investigative editor in 2014. How would you describe your job? I’m a reporter. And like any reporter in the country, it’s my job…
Read MoreUse our new simplified fatal accidents database to write holiday stories with impact
We know how busy the end of the year can be, so we’ve put together a simplified database on fatal car accidents to help you produce year-end stories with impact. Our full DOT Fatality Analysis Reporting System database (FARS) has 19 tables and almost 800 columns of detailed information about fatal car accidents. To save…
Read MoreAdd context to stories on car crashes, seatbelt safety and drunken driving using FARS data
How many people die in car accidents? Sometimes you’ll see the answer to that question flashing on a billboard on the highway. It’s also in the DOT’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database, a census of fatality accidents on public roads in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. You can use the data…
Read MoreInvestigate lending practices in your community
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) database has just been updated in the NICAR Data Library. Loan application records for 2014 are now available. HMDA requires all banks, savings and loans, savings banks and credit unions with assets of more than $33 million and offices in metropolitan areas to report mortgage applications. WHAT CAN I DO…
Read MoreNICAR makes data on South Carolina dams available for free
Dams are critical pieces of infrastructure not often in the forefront of public attention or discussion, perhaps because so few of us interact with them on a regular basis, if at all. But when powerful storms – like those fueled by Hurricane Joaquin – occur, it’s easy to see the vital role dams play in…
Read MoreCover critical infrastructure in your area using data on the nation’s dams
The NICAR Data Library has updated the National Inventory of Dams (NID), a database kept by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on dams in all 50 states with details that include structure type, purpose, owner, most recent inspection date and inspection frequency. The data also include latitude and longitude. You can use these records to zero in…
Read MoreNICAR will release data on U.S. dams after a decade-long hiatus
Next week the NICAR database library will release the National Inventory of Dams (NID), a database that has been inaccessible for over a decade. For years the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied its release (citing “national security” reasons) until recently when it was posted online in a publicly available searchable (but not downloadable) table. IRE…
Read MoreNICAR Q&A with Armand Emamdjomeh
Armand Emamdjomeh Armand Emamdjomeh is a data reporter at the Los Angeles Times. While at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, he helped to launch Mission Local, a community news site covering San Francisco’s Mission District. In a previous life, he worked for international disaster relief and development agencies. Our interview follows. How would…
Read MoreNICAR Q&A with Joanna Lin
Joanna Lin Joanna Lin is a data reporter for The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). Previously, Joanna helped launch FairWarning, a nonprofit online publication covering safety, health, and related issues of corporate and government accountability. She reported for the Los Angeles Daily Journal and Los Angeles Times, where she covered breaking news, religion and legal…
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