Michelle Minkoff

I've restarted this post three times, because I'm still in shock. Maybe I'll just keep it simple and not rambling, for once, I've accepted a position at the Associated Press as an Interactive Producer. (more...)

Today, I am a quarter of a century old. No longer can I claim to be in my early 20s. No longer can I claim to be a frequent blog writer either, as it closes in on two months since my last post. I could make up excuses. I'm learning to conquer Fusion Tables and R and Flot and Protovis and HTML5 and CSS3 and inter-corp outreach and project management Read More...

As a switch from my usual rambling blog post, an interesting Twitter conversation leads me to give you...my usual rambling blog post as a Storify with embedded tweets.  Enjoy my lesson of the day!  This is dedicated to the data journalism community that teaches me every day. Thanks, all! (more Read More...

I've written about a curriculum for people looking to be exposed to -- and perhaps specialize -- in data journalism before.  But last week on Twitter, Dave Stanton (@gotoplanb) asked a slightly different question -- what would the curriculum look like if you were a journo-interested student wanting to learn programming to tell stories from the get-go?  Understanding data is just one piece Read More...

Time for an update on the world of PBS!  PBSNews.org, the national site I was working on, has been put on hold while we focus our attention on serving journalism at local stations.  This has long been a component of our project, but it is now a priority which we're focusing on heavily. What does that mean for my role as a Data Producer?  If you’re a PBS station, as part of your dues, you can have the fun (horror) of working with me on a project Read More...

While discussing the rambly nature of this blog, Heather Billings and I decided late at night it might be time to change the tagline to "A Data Ghetto of my Thoughts."  I thought some here might appreciate this. Today marks my triumphant, yet sad, return from the NICAR conference in Raleigh.  There was a frightening amount of tweeting, and I literally talked myself out of a voice Read More...

When we last met, dear reader, I *may* have gone into a frighteningly long rant on the state of news apps.  It's a conversation that came up again this Friday on Twitter, and it just reminded me how lucky I am (I'll say it again and again) to be in my current environment. But I can do more than write angsty blog posts and tweets! In fact, people even pay me to make such Web projects! Isn't that coincidental?  (Not really Read More...

This is officially the longest post I've ever written, and I hope not to repeat it. About 2500 words. I'm sorry. If that annoys you, well, it's my blog. But when someone from the group of journos you expect to have a secure job..doesn't--It calls everything into question. Here is the reaction to a wake-up call, questions about how we're "saving journalism" and a reminder that none of us in life can afford to be complacent Read More...

News doesn't always come in quick bursts, focusing on THE HOT STORY on a given day. If we're telling stories about our world, there's got to be more than "feeding the beast". What about helping the public understand a large issue, as opposed to a soundbyte, or in addition to an anecdotal story? This is why raw information is important, why data journalism is key Read More...

I realize New Years posts are completely overdone. And I really wanted my next post to be about how to use a JQuery library to make interactive tables. And I'm working on that. But I'd like to ask you to indulge me for the next few minutes, as I take a step back to reflect on 2010. Most importantly, I lived another year with a transplanted kidney Read More...