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A demo of Census Reporter, designed to help journalists highlight what matters in the census
By Gwen Girsdansky Census data can be difficult and cumbersome, and certainly not tailored toward the average journalist’s needs. Census Reporter is a young project, funded by the Knight Foundation, that is supposed to make the data easier for journalists to use and to provide an extensive update to the IRE census project, census.ire.org. As…
Read MoreDelving into crime data and finding flaws
By Zachary Matson and Meredith Turk Steve Thompson, from The Dallas Morning News, speaks during the panel “Juking the stats? Delve into your police department’s FBI crime data to find flaws” on Thursday. Photo: Travis Hartman. When it comes to FBI crime statistics, “I can’t think of a number that means more to a community…
Read MoreStaying on the paper trail of a major business
By Zachary Matson Businesses may control the world, but they also leave paper and people trails everywhere they go. Resources as basic as a company’s website and resources as complex as analytic tools created by financial firms can be used by journalists to tell important stories about what public and private companies are up to.…
Read MoreYou’ve got the data, where’s the story? How to find interesting patterns and do analysis
By Kathryn Sharkey Data can be overwhelming, so when it comes to finding the story in it all, Dan Keating from the The Washington Post and Jacob Fenton from the Sunlight Foundation agree: start small. Review the information and look for what’s interesting and jumps off the page. Fenton’s three-step guide to a story is…
Read MoreShooting your own video with a smart phone
By Riley Stephens Steve Elfers of USA Today shows IRE 2013 attendees how to shoot their own video with an iPhone. Photos: Travis Hartman. Steve Elfers of USA Today said newsrooms are encouraging journalists to have smart phones on hand and to use them for covering news in the absence of designated video and photo…
Read MoreInvestigating with healthcare data
By Gwen Girsdansky Jeff Donn, from the Associated Press, speaks during a panel on investigating health care with data. Photo: Travis Hartman. A member of a national investigative team and a data editor shared how they negotiate health care coverage on Thursday. Jeff Donn of The Associated Press discussed his investigation into the abuse of the…
Read MoreTableau makes its desktop software free to IRE members
** 2018 update: Please read this blog post on additional free Tableau benefits for current IRE members ** Today IRE is announcing a partnership with Tableau Software, maker of Tableau Public, to provide Tableau Desktop free to IRE Members. This should provide tremendous value for IRE members, who can use Tableau Desktop to develop stories…
Read MoreIRE Conference schedule changes as of Wednesday
Below are changes made to the IRE Conference schedule as of Wednesday. For the most up-to-date schedule and description information, be sure to visit the conference page or download the conference app. THURSDAY Speaker change: Inspect This | 11:20 a.m. in Salon JJames Drew, The Dallas Morning News, replaces Tom Frank, USA TODAY, on this…
Read MoreMaking the reporting transparent after an agency demands retraction
For the past several months, we at inewsource have been reporting on San Diego’s North County Transit District, a public transportation agency that is going through a bit of turmoil — to put it politely. The district has been aggressive in its response to our stories. It’s sent out dozens of tweets calling us “just…
Read MoreIRE to offer computer-assisted reporting boot camp at Temple University
IRE will be offering a computer-assisted reporting boot camp at Temple University in Philadelphia, Penn., August 19-22. During these four days attendees will be introduced to analyzing data for stories with spreadsheets and database managers. In addition, they’ll learn ways to find data, craft open records requests and negotiate for electronic information. Because of the generosity…
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