data-driven enterprise off your beat - linda j. johnson - lexington newstrain - jan. 21, 2016
TRANSCRIPT
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Data-Driven Enterprise off Your Beat
Linda J. JohnsonJan. 21, 2016Lexington
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Rule #1:DON’T PANIC!
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Why bother?
1. As corny and boring as it sounds,
how about doing great journalism?
• Get corrupt people thrown in jail and/or fired• Change policies at local, state and potentially
national levels• Learn to ask better questions of those
officials by having the numbers BEFORE you go talk to them. Makes it harder for them to lie to you!
• Find things no one else has• Catch an escaped murderer, per chance?
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Why bother, continued?
2. Do you want to be in a small
newsroom forever?
• How about learning some new skills that will help set you apart from almost every other journalist out there?
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Why bother, continued?
3. For your editors:
• Posting databases online with your stories, or by themselves, generates hits, hits and more hits for your website. That translates to revenue. And potentially job security.
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Why bother, continued?
Examples:
• Salary databases: any public payroll database, annual
• School test scores, annual• Property records, quarterly• Restaurant inspections (monthly – have a
plan!)• High school and your local college’s football
and basketball games. Ugh.
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“To Infinity and Beyond”
Ok, for today, we’reprobably not reaching that far.But a working knowledge of your local and state FOIA laws and Excel will get you started.
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Where we’re going today
• 5 ways to find data on your beat
• 5 steps in C.A.R. 101• Selected databases
for different beats• 4 rules for handling
data• Practice!
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C.A.R. 101– Step 1
Get it• FOIA and
state open records
• Ask for it!
• Download from the Web
• Create your own database
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It!
Learn to useGoogle’s advanced search
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“We’re gonna need a bigger screen”
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C.A.R. 101– Step 2
Clean and verify• Ok, so you
have some data, now what?
• Use the right software
• It matters, part I
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Rule #2Never, ever F*** with your original
•Keep the original on a server somewhere that is regularly backed-up. Don’t touch it unless you really mess something up on a copy.
•Create a folder on your computer and put another copy there. As you start to work on it, if it’s not huge, put another copy in another folder, clearly labeled.
•Then, have fun.
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C.A.R. 101– Step 3
Analyze• Use the right
software It matters, part II
• Map it
• Double- or triple-check your analysis
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C.A.R. 101– Step 4
Report it out• Sorry, this is
no different than any other reporting
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C.A.R. 101– Step 5
5. Presentation
• Maps, charts and graphics can help free up the numbers from the story
• Get your photogs and graphics folks in early on a big project
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C.A.R. 101– 5 steps1. Get it
• FOIA and state open records
• Ask for it!
• Download from the Web
• Create your own database
• Google it!
2. Clean and verify• Ok, so you have some
data, now what?• Use the right software• It matters, part I
3. Analyze• Use the right software
It matters, part II• Map it• Double- or triple-check
your analysis
4. Report it out• Sorry, this is no
different than any other reporting
5. Presentation• Maps, charts and graphics
can help free up the numbers from the story
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Start small
Dog licenses: popular breeds/names, location of pit bulls License plates: banned phrases U.S. Census Bureau Facts for Features: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features.htmlU.S. Department of Labor violations for clothing manufacturers, retailers and fashion-media companies: http://ogesdw.dol.gov/homePage.php
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Must-haves on any beatInspection reports: nursing homes, taxi cabs, amusement-park rides, stadium food, restaurants
Licensing: nurses, massage therapists, mortgage brokers, food trucks
Disciplinary actions: teachers, doctors, lawyers, coaches
Property records: slumlords, foreclosures, unequal property assessments, nonprofits getting breaks for money-making property
Population figures: By state, county and place
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SportsMinor league baseball: http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/
College athletic department salaries. See USA Today for top coaches’ salaries in football:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/salaries/ and basketball:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/salaries/ncaab/coach/
NCAA research data: http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research
Major NCAA infractions: https://web1.ncaa.org/LSDBi/exec/miSearch
Academic progress rates for college athletes: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/NCAA/data.html
High school participation rates:
http://www.nfhs.org/ParticipationStatics/ParticipationStatics.aspx/
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College coaches make how much?
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Business and governmentWildlife strikes at airports: http://wildlife.faa.gov/
Data breaches: http://www.privacyrights.org/data-breach
Consumer complaints database: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaintdatabase/
The federal government’s catalog of datasets: http://catalog.data.gov/dataset
Census’ Federal Audit Clearinghouse: https://www.census.gov/econ/overview/go1400.html
Federal contracts, spending and grants by state, county, city: https://www.usaspending.gov/Pages/Default.aspx
Campus crime 2001-2013: http://ope.ed.gov/security/
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This is what a data-geek lives for!
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Wildlife strikes
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Rule # 3Make a plan for updating your databases:◦Create a spreadsheet to track them.
◦Create headers for the name, contact info and how you got the data. Also when it came in, when you posted it and when it needs updating.
◦Is it a one-time thing? Great, move on. If not, is it yearly? Monthly? Think before you ever start the FOIA.
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Databaseshttps://www.medicare.gov/NursingHomeCompare/Resources/Downloadable-Database.html
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Nursing home deficiencies –record layout
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Nursing home deficiencies – data
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MSHA – record layout
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MSHA – datahttp://www.msha.gov/OpenGovernmentData/OGIMSHA.asp#jump
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Rule #4:Don’t be afraid to ask for help.Best place to start: NICAR, a division
of IRE – www.ire.org
Credits: Several slides modified or shamelessly stolen
from Manuel Torres’ Monroe, La., NewsTrain handouts
(sports, biz and government, Google it!).
Linda J. Johnson