Today, the New York Times’ David Carr came to speak at Medill. I’ve admired his work for some time, and he was just three floors above me, so I hopped on upstairs. While not directly data-related, he did talk about many topics relevant to the current journalistic climate. If that’s not a good enough reason, it’s my blog, so we’re going on a diversion. Here are some choice quotes that may interest you:
- On journalism’s doom and gloom naysayers: “People always say the sky is falling, and nothing happens.”
- “The golden age of journalism wasn’t actually all that golden.”
- “I still like to get the sense of a place from the local newspaper. It’s harder to get that on the Web because of the lack of hierarchy.”
- “On the Web, beyond porn, and beyond celebrity gossip, news is the killer app.”
- On why he likes the iPad: “You’re going from surfing and being hunched over to leaning back and relaxing with your content.”
- “I worry people will be so busy making media, updating Facebook and Twitter, that they won’t have time to consume it.”
- On using the NYT’s most emailed list as a metric: “When is the last time I emailed a story to anybody?”
- “I’ve always thought that as journalists, the skills we have are fungible enough that they could align to different platforms.”
UPDATE: GitHub repo with code for the app can be found here: http://github.com/michelleminkoff/oscars Thanks to Dave Stanton for a marvelous tutorial linked in the comments.
“Demos, not memos.” It’s my new mantra. A phrase well known in the CAR community, especially after this blog post from Matt Waite, I subscribe to the idea for two reasons. 1) When presenting a new type of journalism to a management that unfortunately doesn’t always get it, it’s easier if they see it. 2) If I tell you I can do something, couldn’t anyone say that? Why not just get it done?
There was a recent #wjchat on Twitter discussing coding and journalism. A wealth of information was exchanged, and fortunately many of the top minds in data and web journalism came to share thoughts, answer questions, and give advice. If I had to take away one thing from that chat, it’s this: The best way to learn is to do. It can be hard to find the time, quite frankly. But if you love something, it’s not really work. So, I spent my Sunday building a Django app start to finish. Read more…
I’ve been busily coding away on my final project for my data visualization independent study. I’m looking at data that I’ve been slowly acquiring on the life of art galleries that were in Chicago in 1990. Back then, the Chicago Artists’ Coalition had a complete listing in a pamphlet (more like a book) they put out for artists. It included galleries within the city, in the metro Chicago area, and even downstate. I’m choosing to focus on ones that were within Chicago’s city limits in 1990, and I’m looking into what happened to them. Ideally, the visualization will use the principle of a bubble chart to show how many galleries, of those 96, existed in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010. You will also be able to filter by zip code, which sheds light on what neighborhood housed galleries that have lasted the longest, and perhaps more interestingly, by medium, showing how these statistics change if you look at galleries only specializing in paintings, or only in sculptures. Read more…
My next Data Delver: By day, he’s an investigative reporter. By night, he’s Superman! (Okay, he actually builds database applications with co-conspirator Matt Waite. But that’s almost the same, right?)
The CAR world, as I see it, has two different paths you can go down: continue to use data for reporting stories, or apply those skills to web development and presenting data. The latter splits into front-end and back-end work as well.
If you’re indecisive like me, the best case scenario is to be able to use CAR for both reporting and building data apps, or at least, exercise careful control over where you direct your skills in different situations. That requires you be an excellent reporter and developer — it’s a tall order. But one that California Watch’s Chase Davis meets with passion and skill. Read more…
One of the virtues of continuing to be a graduate student while pursuing my CAR journey has been the freedom to look at problems academically. One issue I’ve been wrestling with is where we need to use more data. I’ve come to the conclusion that it needs to be used more often in reporting. That can be simple additions of a sentence to some breaking news stories, or using at as the basis for a long-term investigation. But does it only belong to a subset of beats? (I argue yes.) Should it be used in every story? (I argue no.) Should it be considered for every story (I think I argue yes.)
My recent interview with MaryJo Webster, of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, was very clarifying as I’ve been struggling with this issue. She’s used CAR for sports, politics and local news, and emphasized the importance of drive and perseverance. Read more…
Before I get going, thanks to all of you who’ve been reading and/or sending me feedback! And a hearty welcome to any new readers who’ve found their way over via Innovative Interactivity, #wjchat or any other method. I’m so glad you’re joining me on my data journalism quest (read: obsession!). If you have any topics you’d like to see explored, or tips and advice, just let me know. Okay, seats buckled? Off we go!
I clearly remember the moment I first realized the power of visualization for reporting, as opposed to presentation. It was a typical Thursday evening in Medill’s DC program. Every week, for three hours, we got to participate in data nirvana — more formally known as Derek Willis‘ CAR class. That night, he showed us a tool called Many Eyes — it’s visualization for the rest of us.
Looking at spreadsheets is great, and I find it fascinating. Many of us got into CAR, I imagine, because we like to find the story in the numbers. And scrolling and resorting is a fine way to start. But if a picture can do it for us, and there’s aesthetically pleasing colors, that’s even better, and we may discover even more. But visualization can be complicated and time-consuming, not to mention the knowledge of programming and design it demands. How can we do it quickly on deadline to inform either ourselves or our readers? Enter Many Eyes. Input your data set, numerical or textual, (but make sure you are okay with it being public info), and then visualize it in all sorts of ways. Read more…
While talking to data reporters from around the country, it’s become apparent to me that the best work is done when the staff is supportive. Some newspapers are doing great work, and some are struggling. Which led me to wonder how the investigative organizations are doing, new and encouraging experimentation to draw eyes and inform readers. I’ve been impressed with the rapid emergence of California Watch on to the field and find it almost difficult to believe how much they’ve accomplished in the month or so they’ve been live.
Recently, California Watch ran a package on the profitability of DUI checkpoints that did an exceptional job of making the most of the Web and allowing for multiple levels of exploration by incorporating a graphic, map, video and text. Multimedia Producer Lisa Pickoff-White took the time to chat with me and answer some of my questions about her work, the organization and share her thoughts about the industry of journalistic data visualizations. Read more…