Data Delvers: Ben Welsh & Ken Schwencke, LA Times

March 8th, 2010

Using data as part of a package that drives user interest needs a strong team, and cross-collaboration between reporters, editors and web developers.  At the Los Angeles Times, two key people who work to bring it all together are Web dev duo Ben Welsh and Ken Schwencke.  It’s their job to enhance and enrich the various reporting and projects done by reporters and make sure it’s interesting and accessible to you on the Web.  That may mean creating an interface to display a video package, bringing you the faces behind the numbers of local homicides, allowing you to combine your own comments with a database about your neighborhood, or whatever else they can come up with.  It’s innovation with the freedom of a smaller organization, happening with the support of LAT management.  Combine the reach of the LA Times with creativity and flexibility, and the sky’s the limit. (more…)

Piece de resistance: Data viz wrapup

March 8th, 2010

And, scene.  That's a term borrowed from theater, it's used as an act or scene closes.  My giant Chicago art gallery persistence project is completed.  We've got a trend article that uses CAR techniques, and a Flash visualization and a searchable database.  The main thrust to the story is that of the galleries that existed in Chicago in 1990, about half have survived Read More...

Why we do what we do: Pursuing the sparkle

March 5th, 2010

"If you truly love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life." That was the main theme of the faculty speaker at my high school graduation back at Palatine High School in 2004.  It personified my pursuit of knowledge, and of a career, up until that point, and I've thought about those words each day in the almost six -- six? -- years since then Read More...

Persistence of Chicago Art Galleries

March 3rd, 2010

I've spent the quarter compiling and analyzing data exploring the persistence of Chicago art galleries, as a way of exploring CAR for the arts.  I found a list from the Chicago Artists' Coalition of 96 such businesses that existed in 1990, and tracked their fate.  A story summarizing the trend follows (an assignment for my Arts Reporting class) Read More...

Guest Post: Integrating data with our journalism

March 2nd, 2010

I was recently asked to write a guest post sharing some of what I've learned about data from my studies, random experimentation and musings that consume my life.  This is part of Adam Westbrook's Fresh Eyes series, where he asks people within and without journalism with non-traditional perspectives to talk about how journalists can improve their craft Read More...

Django app #2: Conquering forms and Google Maps API

February 28th, 2010

It's been a busy week for the programming journalists -- as I'm sure you've seen. Congrats to all, especially the dev team at The New York Times, who just released the newest version of the Congress API, with plenty more robust features to play with, as well as my recent Data Delver interviewee Andy Boyle (who is #11 in my backlog, I'll get to you all before NICAR, I promise!) who just released a Django app, with the help of his St Read More...

David Carr at Medill

February 22nd, 2010

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 Read More...

“Demos, not memos”: My first Django app

February 22nd, 2010

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 Read More...

Is a flat text file or a database right for an app?

February 21st, 2010

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 Read More...

Data Delver: Chase Davis, California Watch

February 20th, 2010

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 Read More...