Data Delver: Matt Waite, St. Petersburg Times

January 31st, 2010

Journalism in the modern era. What is it? I've got some ideas, and a lot of questions, but I certainly don't know the answer. It necessitates more than a story, more than an article, more than a photo, more than a Web page. I'm pretty certain of one thing, though: It's got to do with data, and probably to do with data-driven applications Read More...

Data Delver: Perry Swanson, The Gazette

January 29th, 2010

When we think of computer-assisted reporting, large-scale investigative projects are often what first come to mind. There's no question of the value and impact such endeavors can have on society. But CAR has many other purposes, too. One is bringing evidence to and localizing breaking news, and helping people find out more about their communities Read More...

How to “Group By” in Excel

January 20th, 2010

Random time-saving Excel tip.  Want to condense a long column to only display unique entries?  Go to the Data menu, select Filter and Advanced Filter.  Voila, a check box labeled "Unique records only".  Don't know why I never noticed this before. Or, you know, you could use Group By in SQL.  But no need to import databases just for filtering.

Changes in the numbers of students majoring in programming and social sciences

January 19th, 2010

What is a traditional path to programming nowadays? It's a question I've been thinking about a lot, esp. in the realm of the journalist-programmer. So many people from the older school of journalism came through using databases as tools to help with reporting, not because they took a class in it. That's certainly encouraging for someone like me Read More...

Collaborating with computers to parse “big data”

January 18th, 2010

Picture it: You've been given a new story assignment, and you have to leave for the interview in five minutes. You've got to have enough background to ask the right questions, but there's no time to do research.  Somehow pulling that all-nighter on an English term paper in college seems like a cakewalk Read More...

Data Delver: Ted Mellnik, Charlotte Observer database editor

January 12th, 2010

Computer-assisted reporting is important because of its potential for reporting and analysis.  Visualization is important to present the information to readers. They both fall under the responsibilities of Ted Mellnik, database editor at the Charlotte Observer. His passion for data is as clear from a conversation with him as it is from his work Read More...

Why technology matters: It’s about reporting

January 11th, 2010

"Figure out what you want to do, and get really good at it."  That's been the overarching advice I've heard in the past few weeks, as I seek to understand where I might fit in the "new media" world.  It all sounds fine, although the more I meet interesting people who've been looking at data analysis and web presentation for a long time, the more it becomes apparent that getting "really good at it" is a lifelong endeavor Read More...

A list of 40 CAR-friendly news organizations
(my adventures in parsing the IRE directory)

January 11th, 2010

Sure, data-driven reporting investigations sound good, but how does an aspiring journalist know which organizations are most supportive of that kind of work? I don't believe there's one all-encompassing way to tell, but I would argue that one measure might be the number of Investigative Reporters and Editors-card-carrying members in a news organization Read More...

Which states have been hit hardest by unemployment in the last decade?

January 10th, 2010

For the past week, we've been hearing a lot of media coverage focusing on issues both encouraging and discouraging, looking with excitement at the beginning of a new decade. But what captured my attention most recently was the release of unemployment figures from the end of 2009. If you look at the glass as half full, it's got to go up from here sometime soon, and if you look it as half empty, we're not starting in a strong economic place Read More...

The limitations of SQL and Access

November 25th, 2009

We've been data crunching a substantial database this week.  The fact that I'm not sick of looking at cells and formulas means something, either this type of work is really a good fit for me, or I'm insane.  Maybe both? My anguished cries over my dislike for Access have been heard 'round the newsroom loud and clear for the past three days Read More...