People say the best way to learn new skills is to just start doing them, but just starting to do it on minkoffcodingadventures.com isn’t quite enough for you. You want to get out there, but you want help. I have good news for you, there’s a place where you will build these projects, take ownership for them, but benefit from the support of a range of good folks. I’m sure there are others, too, but one of these places is in a building on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles — they call it the LA Times. I call it my first paid journalistic home.

The description for the application doesn’t come up if you type in “data journalism internship” on Google. But look here and you’ll see a position for a data application producer intern. (Say that ten times fast. When I was there they called it “Data/Web/Programming intern”. This is better.)

Ideally, you’ve soaked up all you can when it comes to HTML, CSS and Javascript as well. You’ve dabbled in frameworks, or used them extensively. You want to code for journalism. You want to make the most of data. You want to work with people who share those goals. You won’t get 40 daily story clips at the end of the summer, you’ll get a few clips. But those clips — which is an archaic word — will be carefully-constructed data-driven apps.

This is where I spent March to October of 2010. I created campaign contribution applications, a sidecar to an investigative project on redevelopment, and relaunched the website’s bestsellers presence. Plus, I got to pitch in on some smaller projects, and assist with the big guns of the LAT’s news apps awesomeness — projects like Crime L.A., a mapping application that automatically takes in crime feeds, presents the data and analyzes where the largest spikes are. Projects like the Homicide Report, that track the, well, homicides in the region.

There’s not really a typical schedule to the day. Occasional meetings, but primarily, you sit at your desk and do good work. It can, and should, take months to do an application right. Friday afternoon data meetings typically involve wine –very California.

If you want to go to the LA Times because it’s a big name, good for you. If you want to go for the city of Los Angeles, and California life, that’s another good reason. But if that’s all you care about, you’re missing the best part. That would be the team known as the Data Desk, that you get to collaborate with.

Want to learn about the intricacies of data analysis? Talk to the analysts. Want to get to know the reporters who file the entries that fill the Homicide Report blog with stories, and hear about what happened at the coroner’s office? They’re there. But your closest contacts will be Ben Welsh and Ken Schwencke (who I interviewed here before I even applied for the internship).

They’re Web developers, and journalists. Wait, do they do the backend work of structuring data in Django models, or the front-end work of creating robust templates to present that data? Both. You will, too, if you join them. They’re eager to help, take their work very seriously, and are always looking for ways to improve the projects of the Data Desk. They help you improve, answer your questions, rejoice in your successes, support you when you could have done better.

The data culture is already instilled at the LA Times. Management, reporters, analysts, developers, they all know what you can do, even when you don’t know what you can do. It’s just that there’s so much, more people are needed. You won’t be bored, you will be valued. And you won’t have to explain why this type of journalism is important, becuase for the most part, it’s just accepted. You can’t find that everywhere, which is why it’s worth treasuring when you can get it.

When I was looking into this internship, I was googling around to find a post like this, hear a bit about someone’s experience. Didn’t exist then, which is why I’m writing this. Now it exists. It’s hard to find because the Data Desk is only a few years old, and its other intern is Ken Schwencke, who works there permanently now. I went from the LA Times to PBS. The LAT can’t make your career, but gives you resources you can take advantage of. Approach it the right way, and you have a stronger possibility of achieving your dream. Only you know what that means.

So, after your time there, you’ll be as prepared as you can be to walk into another newsroom somewhere in the country, and bring the data and programming. It’ll help you bridge the gap between wishing you could do it, and just getting it done.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely, without a doubt.

If you’re interested, you should apply via this link, and reach out to Ben and Ken with questions (find them on Twitter at @palewire and @schwanksta.) And if you have questions about my experience there, I’d love to chat about it.

My “summer” internship at the LA Times is almost over. It’s lasted from April until now, and I could stay longer. I swore you’d have to drag me out of “dream internship” kicking and screaming, as I clung to the massive walls of the still-impressive building. I will never forget the chance I was given at the LAT, and the boost it gave my career. But it’s time to move on.

I’m delighted to report that I’m joining PBS as a Data Producer for the organization’s website. Specifically, this will be a new news and public affairs component of the site. Yes, I’ll work for the national headquarters. Yes, that’s in Washington. We’re going to start something brand spanking new, capitalizing on the engaging, riveting, in-depth style PBS is known for, and translating that to the Web. I’ll get to serve as a generalist, with a specialty. Exercise my entrepreneurial spirit, but within the structure of a strong organization.

We’ll push the data visualization and application side of things, but I’ll also get to use the plethora of skills I’ve picked up along the way outside of data journalism. We’ll go on an adventure together. There’s so much I can’t be specific about, because it’s all new. But I do promise to not only keep you updated, but pick your brains for advice on what you want to see from the digital side of public television.

That being said, my hope is that we can say a few things for certain: We’re not going to be doing the same old journalism the same old way. We WILL push the boundaries of storytelling. We WILL help people stay informed and engaged with the news. We WILL help people make sense of the world, and we will do it with concrete facts. We WILL remember we do this for the users, the public. We WILL combine the best qualities of data journalism, online journalism and public television.

This transition is made easier by the fact that I have high hopes for bosses who “get” the mission I’ve been yammering about for a year. It’s not just about data, but about integration. We’ll be a nimble enough team that we can learn from each other, and not be segmented. The folks already on board have significant experience in this world, whether it’s fellow TribCo alum Tom Davidson or St. Pete Times alum Christine Montgomery — Matt Waite’s boss during the launch of Politifact. They know what data apps are. That means we push harder. Not good enough for me to say, “Hey, you ever heard of data journalism?” Got to come up with something better, something fresh and new. We’ll push each other to create the best product we can. We only fail if we fail to try.

I’ll be moving to Washington DC, in a very few short weeks — planning to land there by the end of October. So excited! After all, about a year ago, I had the pleasure of being introduced to this sort of work. It all started with one class. I discovered more and more people like me, and the community made me better. You can learn a lot from engaging online, but I miss the real-world conversations we had a year ago. I love the people I’ve met in LA with all my heart, but I still can’t help but feel that Washington is my intellectual home.

I’m excited to return to PBS. Last summer, I served as a Web intern for Chicago Tonight at WTTW, Chicago’s PBS affiliate. It was one of the best summers of my life, and I learned so much about broadcast and the Web, and the relationship/integration between the two. But that’s also when the wheels started turning. I wished I knew more about how to get data on a map. I wished we could go more in-depth with Web packages. I wished we could use pure facts, data, not just for investigative pieces, but to enhance people’s knowledge on topics across beats. Now, I have enough knowledge to push further, and to accomplish so many things I just couldn’t a year ago. And I’ve long thought public television sites were a niche ripe for the picking.

And now’s as good a time as any to acknowledge that I wouldn’t be in this position without the mentorship of NICAR folks. You know who you are. And the greatest class I ever took after Medill is the classroom I’m in every day, the LA Times Data Desk. The data analysts show me the thought process, and intense checking, that goes into every data project. My boss, Dan Gaines, listens to new ideas and floats his own, always looking at you with an intensity that shows just how much he cares about journalism, and you as a person. But my greatest teachers have been Ben Welsh and Ken Schwencke. Fellow journalist-programmers, we geek out together and support each other. And no matter how messy my code, how many mistakes I made, how much I’m still in the rough, they make me better, and never with a harsh word. If I get stressed, I only need to look over at them to see it will all be okay. Leaving them will be the hardest part of all. But they’ve prepared me to get to this point, and I’ll find even more mentors and supporters. And guys, you know you’re just a GChat or a tweet away, even if a continent separates us.

On an even more personal note, this next step represents some sort of victory. Yes, I know it’s only the beginning. But at the same time, it was this sort of position that I’ve been working for all along. I didn’t learn programming so I could write some awesome loader, geek out about server loads, etc. It’s all fascinating, sure! But I did it, I do it every day, and I will always do it — for the journalism. It’s a tool, just like a photo journalist using a camera. That doesn’t make him or her a wedding photographer. They practice journalism through photographs.

We see so many posts in the journo-community, asking if journalists should learn programming, if programmers should learn journalism, what do we name people with this hybrid?

But, here’s the question I forgot to ask. Once you start getting all these skills, where can you go to use them? Some of my mentors received quite a few late-night emails, listened to quite a few rambles. Where is the place that understands my tech skills are deeper than uploading my story to a content management system? Where is the place that understands I could add features to your site, and do general tech/IT maintenance all day long, but I have these journalism skills. The tech skills help to tell the story. It’s not one or the other. I consider myself equal parts programmer and journalist, journalist and programmer.

I had a fascinating job search, and managed to never file a single application, without someone from an organization reaching out to me first. That’s not what they tell us will happen at Career Services! If you want to pursue this career change, there isn’t a better time. Still, finding the right organizational match is no easy task. And I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am to have found that match.

In a world where we decry the death of journalism on a daily basis, where we’re afraid we won’t get jobs, I say there IS hope if we hold out. If you believe in what we do, follow your interests and skills, you’ve got a better shot. We must always push onward. And I, well, I never believed that less than a year after graduating Medill, not only would someone pay me to do what I love, but I would get to do it at an organization that instilled my own love for education. It still seems like a dream that’s coming true. I never believed I’d get to a national organization this fast. I never believed I’d get to take my ideas outside of a blog, outside of an academic paper, outside of internship after internship. Doesn’t mean I’m right, I’m probably not. But if the ideas just stay incubated, and are never considered professionally, what good is that?

We don’t have time to waste. The moment is now. We can’t afford to wait, the industry’s already behind where it should be in 2010.

So, I promise anyone reading this, friends I’ve known since elementary school, my dear supportive parents, teachers from all levels of schooling, fellow journalists fighting the fight for truth and knowledge every day, I promise that I will give this everything I’ve got. I recognize the preciousness of this gift. And on behalf of young journos everywhere, PBS, thank you for believing in us, in our potential. Thank you for the opportunity to experiment on a national playground. We only move forward by trying something new.

There will be no resting on laurels, there will be no complacency. Thank you all for your help so far, and I know we’ll be calling on each other in the days, weeks and years to come.

But for now, journalism must push forward. Let’s get started.

I’ve spent much of my “summer” internship at the LA Times (ranging from April through present) working on a campaign contributions searchable application, to help the public explore the money that’s financing various propositions in California. The first step was getting the Prop 8 application out back in late June. I’m really into the idea of templating data apps recently. Make a custom interface, but make it resuable, so it doesn’t have to stop as one application. It’s like how we already use third-party source tools as frameworks (Dipity, ManyEyes, etc.) We should expect the same, if not more, of custom solutions we create ourselves. So, the original idea for the Prop 19 app was to apply Prop 19 data to the Prop 8 code. We did that, but as is my normal mode, more features suddenly found themselves on the list. So, in the end, we have two frameworks for campaign contributions now: the simple version and the more advanced version.

One of the large advancements in the second version is that every single donation is listed separately. In Prop 8, the legacy data passed down to me had aggregate donations, which is helpful, but means users miss out on certain nuances. So, when we were able to pass each donation in separately, I believed it was key to make each one linkable and sharable. Not only does each donation have a separate link, but so does every donor, city, state, zipcode and committee. This means if people find something and want to blog about it, share it with a friend, draw a media organization’s attention to it, whatever, they have a way to point someone else to that exact spot. We don’t do enough of it in the data apps world. Web frameworks make this easier, Flash interactives do not.

Creating permanent links to records and aggregate pages of our data is essential. It’s how we combine our searchable databases with other reporting forms that provide even more context. Did you write a story about someone you know gave a lot of money to a campaign? And there’s a searchable database to go with that campaign? Don’t just tell me they donated a lot of money, show me.

Just an example of one way we can change our mindset as reporters, Web producers, developers or whatever it is we do. Find the minute detail, make it shareable. Because while you may only care about record #1157, someone else cares much more about record #1158. And both of you should be able to find that piece of the story that matters to you and use it. That’s data for personalized news, and yet another lesson I take away from my time at the LAT.

PS — If you want a random Django tip (come on, you know you do) {% ifchanged %} is my new favorite template tag. If you have a big list you’ve pulled out as a query, and it’s sorted, but you want to separate the list into subcategories, you want this. Figure out an attribute that’s going to change, and enter that info as a label, inside the {% ifchanged %} tag. It’ll show up when the code and text inside the tag changes — makes sense. This tip has made an ongoing project a lot easier, which I’ll be able to chat more about in a few weeks once it launches.

Tomorrow, Wed. Sept. 8, we’ll be discussing “Finding the story in the data” at #wjchat, and I have been tapped to host. (One might ask why, they must really be running low on people….I kid, I kid.)

This issue is extremely important, and one that must be addressed by the Web journalism groups. There’s a difference between telling a journalistic story, but lacking the data and displaying data in an aesthetically pleasing way that doesn’t really tell a story. The best data journalism does both. It’s rare, and I believe we all need to work harder at doing more of it. A tall order for someone to do alone, or even a team, but if the community puts its collective head together, we’ve got a better shot.

I couldn’t be more excited to discuss some of the issues I’ve been spending much of the last year internalizing. I have some better ideas about this now than I did back last September, I hope, but it’s also one of my favorite topics to ponder, because there are so many ideas I know I haven’t considered. I hope to report back with a nice compilation of links and thoughts once we tap into the community’s knowledge, but for now, I’m just spreading the word.

If you read this blog, but aren’t familiar with #wjchat, it’s a gathering on Twitter on Wednesday evenings where we discuss various aspects of online journalism. It ranges from social media, to video, to how to get a job, to data. I love all the facets of journalism, so it’s a great way to guarantee yourself some great conversation and learning all wrapped up into one package. At 5 Pacific, 8 Eastern, on Wednesday, that’s tomorrow, just hop on over to Twitter and follow the hashtag #wjchat. I find it easier to follow via tweetchat.com, which gives you a little chatroom that has a nicer interface than twitter.com — the conversation can get fast and furious.

In the meantime, if there are specific topics you’d like to see discussed, or questions you’d like asked, get at me before, or during the chat.

And if you’re one of my dear NICARian mentors, it’d be really fantastic if you could find the time to drop by. Anything I’ve picked up in my career thus far is minimal, and I owe it all to the collective wisdom of those who’ve taught me what I know as a journalist and a programmer.

See you in the virtual space!

So, there’s that. First launch!

My checklist:

• Figure out what part of journalism inspires me. CHECK (Data, programming)
• Find place where I can learn about it from others, but have freedom to try out my ideas and learn from knowledgeable and patient folks. CHECK (LAT)
• Use this opportunity to learn enough about programming to create at least one app. CHECK (See first line of post)

That was a good time.

I’m planning a post on best practices for creating a searchable database application like this, with examples, and technical geekery, and all that, and I’d love your thoughts in the meantime.  Let me know if you have specific questions.

But in a moment of self-reflection, I’d just like to say this.

I was sitting in my apartment this morning, and found that a butterfly had somehow gotten in (blame a broken screen, maybe).  It sat on my windowsill, facing the outside world.  It would feel around the window, trying to find an opening.  After circling the perimeter of the window, it laid back down, almost motionless, just searching.  An hour later, the cycle repeated.  Wanting to help the poor butterfly, after watching it struggle, I tried to capture it in a small box to take it downstairs.  It was too smart for that.  Fine.  What actually worked?  Covering all the windows and opening the balcony door.  You can’t force the butterfly out, even though you’re helping, it had to find the path out on its own.

Why do I bring this up?  Am I slowly going insane after spending the day with Dive Into Python (rec’d)?  Perhaps. But I have a point.

Let’s take the common journalist, yearing to know more about data-driven apps.  (I can’t be the only one, I just can’t!)  I search for the answers, voraciously read, alternate between laying still while observing the space and wandering around the perimeter, feeling it out, trying to dip my toe in the water.  I jump into the pool, head-first, realize it’s not working.  Can’t do it on my own.  Many people who’ve already made the journey try to help.  But they just can’t just give me the knowledge, can’t just take me to my goal, can’t just make it happen.  They must lead me there, give me the same resources they used.  Recommend the books, the sites. But in the end, I’ve got to find my own way out of the house, the prison of not knowing enough coding basics to begin.  Pushes in the right direction, guiding me away from those false starts, this is essential.

I’d just like to take a moment to thank the experts, who guide me away from the false starts, who don’t give up when I keep turning the wrong way.  In particular, in terms of the programming skills I’m learning, it’s Ben Welsh (who I happen to have been working most closely with), who exercises that kind of patience.  Who never tells me not to fly into that closed window, because while it was closed for him, I might discover a way to get out.  Of course, I don’t, and he’s no less interested in helping me get back on course. Thanks!

Still a long way to go.  So, what’s changed?  Now, I’ve gotten outside.  I made my first app.  When someone asks me what steps make up a project, how long it’ll take, I can give a legitimate answer, or know how to find one.

I still remember wondering if I could ever build an application.  And Derek said to me, “There’s only one way to find out.”  Derek, who I used to bug on a daily basis about this stuff.  Derek, who I haven’t asked a Python/Django question of since March.  I’m the LAT’s problem now!

Well, as Derek said, find out we did.  Time to push it further, I say.

There’s a whole world to explore now that I’ve escaped being stuck inside.  LAT folks, prepare yourself, the questions you’ve seen so far are only the beginning.

I’m looking forward to it, yet it seems sort of surreal.  Graduation marks the end of one chapter, the beginning of another.  But I started the new chapter already.

As much as I love connecting with journos, I’ve discovered my underestimation of the year: I’ve got more to learn than I ever could have imagined.  People have said it in countless Web discussions.  Find a project, do it, pick up skills along the way.  So, I’m concentrating on that like I’m cramming for finals, but with a never-ending study period.  Producing an app in a day uses some skills, doing it right over the course of months is a totally different ballgame.

This is where I am now.  But that chat topic begs the question: Was there a point in going to Medill?  Did it mean more than the opportunity to walk across a stage in a purple gown two weeks from today?  Is it just some archaic tradition that has nothing to do with my new coding life?  To these questions, I want to shout at the top of my virtual lungs, “It was essential!  It mattered!  Without j-school, what I am doing would not be possible!”

It’s about much more than curricula

Don’t rely on the curriculum of your j-school.  Fine, Medill doesn’t teach coding, most j-schools don’t.  Maybe your school doesn’t teach this or that, doesn’t have the right specialization.  It doesn’t matter.  The most valuable lessons I learned from j-school didn’t happen in  a structured lecture hall.  They took place off the cuff, with colleagues while working on a story, with professors hounding them during their office hours.  J-school taught me story structure, technical skills, office politics, the philosophy veteran journos bring to the table.  I’ll say it again: We must apply our journalistic curiosity to learning about our craft.

It’s an approach I’ve taken to my work at the Times (Look, I’m all Cali-centric now, and don’t use “the Times” to mean NYT anymore — weird).  Even as I work on a project with the LA Times masthead at the top, it feels like school.  And that’s a good thing.  You couldn’t ask for better teachers.  Yes, so knowledgable, but also patient and kind, always available, and so, so, dedicated.  Whether it’s the data analyst who’s been at this for decades, or my fellow Web devs who’ve both been at the Times for less than 3 years, they have so much to offer.  Would I dare to not ask a question because no one assigned it?  Ha! Would you not ask a question at a press conference because no one told you to?  If you’re in this industry, or even if you just have one curious bone in your body, I hope not.

Life at the Times

So, what’s it like at the Times, for those curious?  I suppose “the best working environment I’ve been fortunate enough to encounter” is not a sufficient answer.  And I’ll add my continual disclaimer.  Should all journalists be programmers? No.  We each have our specialties.  I do wish all journalists knew that this work exists, and understood the basic building blocks of what coding makes possible, and how long it takes.  That being said, I don’t believe every journalist needs to embark on this path, and if you do, it is a career shift.  It’s one I’m frankly in love with, but not everyone needs to/should go this insane.

In the end, my day-to-day life isn’t all that different from how Medill functioned.  Bring your own ideas to the table, incorporate the feedback of others.  Communicate what you’re working on to others.  Instead of working with client papers, keep the rest of the team and the editors up to date.  But mostly, frankly, just get stuff done.  The “Los Angeles Times” may sound glamorous, but that’s not why I’m there.  (And no news organization is safe in this day in age.)  In the end, I walk in every day, and type code on a computer, just like I did when I was practicing.

Each day, I improve a tiny bit (one hopes), and gain a deeper understanding about how far I’ve yet to go.  And once the myriad of files cover up the desktop background image that says, “Los Angeles Times,” I almost forget where I’m working, but always remember why I’m working.  Providing information to the public, taking full advantage of the power of the Internet.  Embrace the future.  Inform the readers.  It’s a mantra.  It is the combination of journalism and computer science, and both tool sets inform each other.  If you just want to code, you can make a lot more money, and have a lot more job opportunities elsewhere.  If you want to write, same thing (although less with the money part.)  But that’s not why I started down this path.

I’m part of a tight-knit group that already feels like a family.  I know many people search their whole lives for that.  And when we work, we mean business.  After all, these are the people who brought us California’s War Dead, and Mapping LA and Homicide Report.  It is an honor to be working alongside them.

So, our team sits, fairly quietly, and you hear some talking, but more of the clicking of keyboards, and the occasional muttering, and the even more occasional cheering when something actually works (okay, that last one’s me).  And while I am fortunate enough to get help to get conceptually unstuck — often when there’s a bug, it’s up to you to fix it.  After all, it’s your application.  Just like in Medill, no one can write your story, no one can tell you what you did to make the CMS give you what was known as “the dreaded Alt error.”  Work with others, but be self-sufficient enough to build products on your own.  (If you’re wondering, no, nothing’s been launched yet, but you’ll see what gets done, all in time.  I’ll keep the blog updated on that score.)

But before you can do this kind of work, and push beyond the curriculum, you must be acutely aware of the basics.  And that’s where j-school comes in.  Teach me AP style, teach me how to write a lede, teach me all that journalism has taught us for the past decades and centuries.  Tell me your experiences, help me form my own experiences, because I’d rather get that knowledge sooner than later.  We  can only move forward once we understand what history has taught us.

J-school provides building blocks

We each make our own experience from what we learn in j-school.  I have colleagues from my cohort who are anchors, TV reporters, radio reporters, social media producers, Web producers and much more.  Our platforms range from print to magazine to online to broadcast (TV and radio).  We all took many of the same classes, but made the overall experience our own.

So, I thank Medill, with all my heart, for all the lessons, all the grounding, all the exposure to new ideas that taught me just how little I know.  I thank Medill for the essential building blocks. I thank Medill for being a practical program, giving me a playground to try some cool new things out.  I’ve still got that playground, it’s just bigger now.  I stumble every day. But if it weren’t for j-school, and specifically Medill, I’d be stumbling a whole lot more.

I use what I learned in j-school every day, both what was in the curriculum, and what wasn’t in the curriculum.  I accept my Medill professors as my teachers, I accept the NICARians as my teachers, I accept my LAT colleagues as my teachers.  And once in a while, my own experiences or what others have told me allow me to pass on some of my knowledge.

The learning never ends. A curriculum can speed it up, but if you don’t learn how to self-teach, someone else will.  It’s scary and invigorating all at the same time.  That’s a big reason why I spend my life this way.  I feel lucky to have found what drives me, and my graduation wish for everyone is to be able to apply your curiosity to discover what drives you.  Oh, and also, the realistic caveat — I hope the job market recognizes the importance of our passions so that we all find a way to make a living doing it.

Part of it has been the chaos of moving, spending time exploring LA.  The other part is that I’m finally walking the walk every day.  I stepped out of the Medill bubble, valiantly tried  to explain to my friends and family what I’m doing out in California. “We’ll look for your articles!”  “Do you write feature stories?”  Me: “I tell stories through data.  No?  I do geeky stuff to create interactive apps for news.  No?  Ever used Excel?  Yeah, it’s computer-y stuff.”

I moved halfway across the country.  I oohed and aahed at the palm trees outside my window every morning, the giant building imprinted with the LA Times logo that looms above me as I emerge from the subway every day.  I got over how impressive the trees and the building are, and saw them as normal landmarks.  And I was reminded of why I do what I do, how there is so much more to be done, and the importance of striking a personal/professional balance (and believe me, I don’t do well with balance usually.)  The LAT is an experience that’s even better than I imagined it would be, and I’m just two weeks in.  But there’s a lot to accomplish, in terms of what I produce, and what I get out of the experience.  Every second brings new knowledge!

Here are some things I want to make sure I remember as the weeks go on.  This is the moment, and Toto, we’re not in Evanston sitting in Fisk Hall anymore.

1. The more you learn, the more you realize just how much you don’t understand.  “I get that models hook up to views, and are displayed through templates.  I conquered Django!”  That was me a few weeks ago.  How naive!  There’s always new problems to solve, and big concepts to wrap your head around.  Not impossible, but your dedication and concentration is required.

1.5. People with these skills are really, really needed. The more you know, the more you can get done. The sooner that happens, the more work you can do.

2. Faster isn’t always better.  I keep finding myself talking about how fast I can do something.  I think it’s the deadline mentality that’s been imprinted into my brain.  Sure, that’s needed.  But what’s more important is that the app tells a useful story, and even more fundamentally, that it actually works, and is able to be used.  Slow it down enough to make quality products we can be proud of.

3. Along the same lines, pushing yourself on the new skills until you drop won’t help.  I’ve been putting in long hours, coming home and reading up on Django at night.  I tell myself, “If I can just figure this out, then I’ll be at the level everyone else is.”  But it never ends.  The learning process is never done.  And giving up too much personal time isn’t going to fix it.  Work hard, play hard.  Step away briefly, come back with renewed energy.

4. Rich Gordon constantly told me to pursue the opportunity where you learn the most.  Or as Matt Mansfield put it, “Find the people doing what you want to do.”  Either way, both pieces of advice land me where I am.  If I knew everything, I’d be bored.  Teaching yourself is valid, and essential, but it goes faster when you’re around others who know more about what they’re doing.  Get 80 percent of the way there yourself, get someone to explain the problem you can’t solve, move on.  Repeat as needed.

5. Rejoice in your successes.  Not getting something can be frustrating beyond all belief, but part of what keeps me going is figuring out some neat little trick to make a feature work.  And there’s nothing quite like the elation when something goes right.

6. Don’t get bogged down in the trees.  One of the areas I’m seeking to improve is that I’ve gotten so caught up in, “Why is my database running so slow? How do I display my CSV in a view?” that I forget about adding new features, just thinking about when I’ll be done.  Then you just become a machine cranking out code.  Journalist-programmers can, and should, do more.  We must utilize our creativity.  I’ve overlooked the importance of using a system to track bugs to fix/features to add.  Getting lost in minutiae hasn’t been good for my mental health, and it’s not good for my apps.

7. There are always new features to add.  If you think an app is done, you’re not looking hard enough.

8. Don’t get intimidated by what you don’t know. No matter your level, you have valuable ideas you can, and must, contribute.

9. If you think it’s hard to actually do something, sometimes it can be even more difficult to articulate it.  I’ve had moments, where I’m certain I look like an idiot, trying to explain a problem to my new colleagues, and I just get tongue-tied.  “If I call it a method, and it’s actually a class, I’ll look dumb.”  I’m lucky to work with colleagues who know much more than I, they tell me it’s okay to take my time as I struggle to explain the issue.  Thankfully, they are kind and patient.  Here’s my challenge: Give yourself permission to screw up.

10. Stay in touch with the community at large.  I’ve fallen out of touch with the data journalism, and general journalism, communities.  I’ve felt out of step.  Personally, I’m working on a side project that should rectify this (more on that in the coming days/weeks).  Staying in touch with, and learning from, others in similar situations, but at other institutions, gives much needed perspective.

11. Always remember why we do what we do.  Think of examples of great work, what got you excited about the potential for the combination of journalism and technology.  Remember the sparkle in your eyes.  Capture that sense of wonder and joy, and draw on it every day.

This past week, I received a few emails asking me to address this issue.  I’ve said some of this before, but here’s my perspective on how to go about teaching yourself, when you don’t have the luxury of it being pre-established in your curriculum.

Read on for an adaptation of my marathon-length email — you really don’t want to suffer through the entire piece as it was originally written at an ungodly hour, I promise.


Hello, fellow journalist seeking to conquer data and programming!  How do you get rolling?  Here’s what I did.

Before you jump into programming proper, especially if you have an eye toward Web frameworks, I would argue that you’ve got to start by understanding how relational databases work.  Relational does not refer to how multiple databases relate to each other (what I first thought), but how various columns in a database, or even a spreadsheet, relate to each other.

Get familiar with Excel and Access, hopefully you’re using some data in your reporting already.  Next, install the Firefox extension SQLite Manager , and import some .csv data sets.  (CSV means the “Values” are “Separated” by “Comma[s]“.  Hence, Comma-Separated Values.)  You can save Excel docs as csv, and sometimes get csvs directly from govt web sites.  Look at the introduction to SQL commands here.  Then start using these skills on your data in the SQLite manager.  Ask yourself some questions about the data, write queries to answer them.  Think about how data is broken down into various pieces, or columns.  Example: To some, an obituary is a block of text.  To someone familiar with relational databases, it’s a series of columns.  Date of birth, date of death, occupation 1, spouse, children, cities lived in, etc.  Database skills will be important in both managing data for data apps, and in understanding the data-based structure Django itself runs on.  Essential.

Think Python: How to Think Like A Computer Scientist is part of how I learned so far.  Still haven’t gotten through the whole thing, but found up through Chapter 5 to be ample prep to make me comfortable enough to dive into Django.  I also highly recommend the Head First Programming book.  Yes, it’s offline, and costs money, but I found it to be well worth it.  It will introduce you to programming concepts, using Python.  But it’s not teaching Python, there’s a difference.  What it will do is help you understand the backbone of programming, you’ll learn what classes and methods are.

(As an aside, Head First is how I’ve learned a lot of other stuff, too, including Javascript.  I was even able to give a mini-talk on Javascript at NICAR based off of what I learned, and answer most questions from people who do this professionally.  Point is — use this series.  They have a great SQL book that may also be helpful.)

Django:  Django Book is great, and so are the docs, but they’re hard to jump into.  Try following along with the tutorial first.  It’ll walk you through the process of building an app.  This may take several hours.  Took me two full days.  Don’t just follow the steps, but try to internalize what’s happening.  Actually, installing Django can be tougher than using the actual language, esp. on a Mac.  After you make this practice app, start thinking about another project you want to make.  Stick with a similar structure to this sample project, for starters.

Think of what you want to do, then start using the docs and Django book and Google to look up those specific commands.  This sounds like a haphazard way to learn — but really makes it much easier.  Haphazard is the journalist’s way, deadlines, adrenaline rush, etc.  That’s all well and good, but I think you need a basis first.  I don’t think it’s possible to do your first app on deadline.  If you think it will take a day, it, well, won’t.  And I’d hate to let editors down like that.  But you’ll keep improving, bit by bit.  In the end, you’ve just got to build.  I recommend working your way through the other stuff first, because it enables you to understand what’s possible.  But when you’re building your own projects, that’s when the fun truly begins.  And trial by error is your friend.

Also, check out Chris Amico’s (@eyeseast) blog posts on prereqs and required reading for another viewpoint on getting started in Django, if you haven’t done so already.  He’s the resident data geek at the Newshour.  What I’ve done so far dovetails a bit with his suggestions, but I did some things a little differently.  It’s a different journey for everyone.

One thing about journo-programming I’ve learned is that you don’t get given slack just because you don’t come from a coding background.  Maybe that sounds harsh, but that’s because it is.  Your code better be as solid as the person next to you, and it doesn’t matter where either of you went to school, or what you majored in.  And you don’t get a more flexible deadline because it’s a new skill.  Your story better be done on time, and accurate, and easy to read.  Same with your app.  The refreshing part about this is coding is a great equalizer.  There’s no reason you won’t be given as much of a chance as anyone else.  You don’t need money to get the software, and any newsroom can develop apps if people have time and persevere to get the skills.  The skills will come easier to some, but even if it takes a while, you WILL get it.

Remember that you are not alone.  If you have a specific question about how to do something, tweet it.  If that fails, start pinging people specifically.  And I’m certainly happy to help.  Almost all of the programmer-journalists got to where they are because someone helped them.  So they like to pay it forward.  I’m only where I am this rapidly because of the marvelous Derek Willis and the entire CAR/programming/NICAR-L community.  As I like to put it, find your Derek.  There’s about a thousand people on the NICAR-L listserv, last time I checked.  We can spread the mentors around.  Find your person and people.  What you’re looking for is someone who believes in helping people get going on this. There’s a lot of them.

Also google your questions, subscribe to the Django-users Google group and ask questions.  You may not understand everything, or at first, much of anything that comes across that listserv.  I still don’t get what’s being discussed most of the time.  But it helps to understand what’s possible, and start looking into what other people are doing.

I approach figuring this out like a beat, get to know the key people, think about what I’m curious about, find the answers.  Instead of reporting the answers in an article, I store them in my brain, and use it to make stuff.

And practice.  A lot.  Whether it’s SQL or Python or Django.  Do something w/coding every day if you can.  Or at least 3 times a week.  Or else it goes stale.  I know it’s hard to balance, trust me.  The rewards are vast, though.  Not many people can do this, so if you can, you’re differentiating yourself in a key way.  Plus, it’s just cool.

Let’s continue the journey together!

I’ve always answered that I’ll figure something out, that the Web is to journalism’s benefit, not its detriment.  That there’s got to be something to this programming journalism thing I enjoy so much.

I finished my last final today.  Counting down to it was scary — then what?  Jazzed after days and nights of the recent computer-assisted reporting conference, chatting amongst my people, learning, geeking out and talking about how we can improve journalism everyday, I wondered what was in store.  Would that feeling of elation disappear as quickly as it began?  Would I find a place to practice my passion?

The answer is this: I’ll be an intern this summer working with Ben Welsh and Ken Schwencke, aka “the geek squad,” aka the data/news applications team at the Los Angeles Times. (Read my interview with Ben and Ken that I did for my “Data Delvers” series.)  They’re part of the data group over there. 

I’ll avoid a laundry list of names, but this also includes veteran computer-assisted reporter Doug Smith, a masterful researcher and storyteller.  The position duties entail many aspects of helping to build data-driven applications and projects.  This is a group I’ve long admired; they are at the forefront of the data journalism field.  Whether the applications are based on databases having to do with crime (Homicide Report), where to get local vegetables (Farmers Markets) or based on intense research within their own archives (Hollywood Star Walk), the team’s products always ooze creativity and attention to detail.  Reporters, CAR specialists and Web developers all work together to create the best possible product for the news consumer.

I couldn’t be happier, or closer to living my dream.

“They” told me to go where I would learn the most, where I’d get access to the people doing what I want to do.  Well, here it is.

I’ve spent so long looking for my people.  We are the ones who make up NICAR-L, we are the true journogeeks who wear the badge with pride.

You may not know this, but I had a kidney transplant nearly four years ago.  We held a commemorative service on the first anniversary of the transplant.  I had a dear friend of mine, and former music teacher, Lois Guderian, sing “Corner of the Sky” from the Broadway musical Pippin.  I’ve been humming it a lot recently, thinking of this verse:

“Every man has his daydreams,
Every man has his goal.
People like the way dreams have
Of sticking to the soul.
Thunderclouds have their lightning,
Nightingales have their song,
And don’t you see I want my life to be
Something more than long….

Rivers belong where they can ramble,
Eagles belong where they can fly.
I’ve got to be where my spirit can run free
Got to find my corner of the sky.”

So, that’s it?  Time to rest on my laurels now?  Heck, no.  This is permission to truly begin, to take my ideas to a place where the results will be used in a way that matters.  To learn from those doing some of the best work in the field.  To explore and push and prod the world of journalism together.  This is the moment.

Will it be hard?  Sure, but the best journalism and life experiences come from challenges.

Allow me to quote from another musical, this time Funny Girl:

“But whether I’m the rose of sheer perfection,
A freckle on the nose of life’s complexion ,
The Cinderella or the shiny apple of its eye,
I gotta fly once, I gotta try once,
Only can die once, right, sir?
Ooh, life is juicy, juicy and you see,
I gotta have my bite, sir.”

Indeed.  This blog won’t change much, and I’ll continue to write as often as time allows.  The issues that come along with data reporting and presentation will only become more evident as I dive into the “real world.”  And hey, maybe you’ll see a few more California references.

Get ready West Coast, I’m on my way!

Visualizing through graphics

The Flash component allows you to search by art medium accepted, or by neighborhood.  The neighborhoods are determined by groups of zip codes, and the ten art medium categories are made of various combinations of the more than 60 categories itemized in the Chicago Artists’ Coalition’s list of galleries.  One important thing I’ve learned about data reporting is that you have to use journalistic discretion to pare down the options.  60-something categories of media can be extremely overwhelming.  If you fail to use discretion when creating a project, you’ve failed the user.  I used Tuftian principles for the graph itself, keeping it as simple as possible.  I liked using the idea of duplicates to make up the units of a bar graph.  I went with houses to symbolize the gallery buildings.  My first instinct was to use paintbrushes, or paint palletes.  But that doesn’t work when you are sorting for the decline of these galleries that sold wearable art. The Monopoly-style house was the best generic choice.  I went with the blue accent color since it was calm and unobtrusive, but more visually interesting than a solid black and white graph.  I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the power of an accent color, and sticking mostly with the neutral to pack a punch.  Other tweaks I made as I went along included adjusting the size of the ticks on the y axis.  I found myself thinking more about interface design than usual, when you have a certain filter on, the background color on that button should be different to indicate what variables you are looking at.

And I learned something about myself.  When I set out, this type of piece is what I saw as the definition of a visualization.  Now, I see data-driven applications, especially those allowing for you to dig deep using the power of frameworks, as a form of visualization. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, in fact, I think they play off of each other.  But I’m not a visual person.  It’s fun to play with, but I know designers who could have packed more of a visual punch with this piece.  But by keeping it simple, I’m hoping it works.

Searchable databases are visualizations, too

You can read most of my thoughts on how this came out here, and I’ve made a few small tweaks since then.  Most notable is dealing with the list of media accepted on the detail page.  I was trying to form a sentence with the media that were accepted, but was having trouble figuring out how to display “and” before the second-to-last template tag that was actually displayed.  I solved the problem by turning the accepted media list into a list of bullet points.  I think it reads better this way, too.  I like the idea of being able to get an overview of sorting the data through the Flash visualization, and then digging as deep as you want with the searchable database.

Not providing current gallery information

Going back to the Flash visualization, throughout the quarter, my independent study adviser Rich Gordon and I debated the merit of putting the number of current galleries into the visualization.  I eventually opted not to.  That’s because this whole project is about persistence of art galleries — what happened to the 96 that existed in 1990?  Introducing the number of current galleries is a completely different data set.  I tried making it another node on the graph, but it made everything else seem tiny.  Even listing the number of current galleries just seemed out of place.  I believe the lesson here is to stick to your data set.  Comparing the galleries that persisted to total number of galleries is a valid project, but a different project — that was my ultimate conclusion.

Flash as a viz tool

Some other challenges I encountered included proper alignment of the various house icons (thanks to Flash’s grid feature for help on that).  Knowing when to use the right tool was an interesting battle.  At first, I was trying to get Flash to create the detailed views that Django is ultimately better suited for.  By combining Flash and Django, I think I came up with a significantly better combination.  Even if someone doesn’t explicitly go into design, I would heartily recommend they read Tufte and try experiments in Processing, Flash and Django.  It’ll all help in the long run.

Looking toward the future

There was a time, not that many months ago, when I prided myself on the fact that I knew enough about programming to communicate with coders.  Now, I just do the programming myself — or at least, as much as I can.  I’ve determined that visual design isn’t my forte, but I understand enough about it that I’ll be able to integrate smoothly with an art director or Web designer.  I even understand enough about Flash that I’ll be able to collaborate closely with front-end interactive designers.  But I wouldn’t know any of this if I hadn’t tried a lot of new things. I’ve applied my journalistic curiosity, that I typically use for subject matter, to new ways to tell stories, and tools with which I can bring those stories to life.  It is for that adventure that I embarked on this journey.  As I said after my Washington quarter, I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve also learned just how little I know. It will be an ongoing quest. But how fun and educational it’s been to ramp up my skills in these past ten weeks.

The power of community

As I’ve been pursuing the independent study, one of my other goals has been to blog regularly.  By that, I mean more often than once a month, which has been my typical pattern.  And through the excitement I’ve gotten from my exploration of programming journalism and visualizations, I’ve been able to do that.  I’ve promised myself it won’t end at this point, there’s so much more to explore.

But if you’re reading this, I want to thank you. Your comments on the site, via email, or on Twitter have enhanced my learning process.  You may not be receiving tuition money, but whether you helped me troubleshoot my Django app, discussed the intracies of Flash, pointed me to a great GitHub tutorial or just chatted with me about where I might fit in the grand scheme of things, I couldn’t have done it without you.  The greatest asset of the CAR community, as I see it, is the community itself.  I look forward to keeping in touch for years to come.

It’s for that reason that I couldn’t be more excited about NICAR later this week.  (Less than 72 hours till I leave!)  I can’t wait to meet you all in person, to hear even more inspiring ideas that I can bring to my first “real job” (not sure where that is yet, but I’ll keep you posted).  Heck, I’m even giving a five-minute lightning talk on some cool tricks I’ve been playing with in Javascript.  It’s a beautiful thing when an almost-graduated student’s knowledge is valued that much.  But from what I’ve seen, I shouldn’t be surprised.  It’s not about a judgment of age or experience, it’s about sharing something with each other.  That’s what makes NICAR, this quarter and journalism in general so special.  As it says on my high school class ring, knowledge is power.  I’m ecstatic that we all will continue that journey together for years to come.