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...
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 Read More...
I think in the modern era, CAR merits consideration across all beats. Perhaps that's part of why I didn't discover it for so long, it never occurred to me to search for a specialty that looked at data, because I just assumed that was the way to do journalism. But if I were pressed to think of beats that are most naturally paired with CAR, I'd name politics first, and business second Read More...
What is it we love about computer-assisted reporting? Why is the NICAR-L list full of people eager and willing to diagnose problem queries and discuss the merits of mapping software? What draws people to it? The first time I saw a Python script perform batch geocoding, as numbers spun out of a Terminal console quicker than I could read them, my eyes glazed over with wonder, and I think my mouth dropped open a little Read More...
There's a fine line between loving your work, and falling into a deep obsession. I don't pretend to understand the distinction, what some call an obsession, I call it loving learning and seeing a project through. I think it's very easy to become sucked in to something, when it's something that matters Read More...
I believe all beats would benefit from considering data in their reporting, but some beats demand data analysis on a regular basis. The nature of CAR is changing -- many industry folk have told me that the term "CAR" now encompasses reporters, data analysts and web developers. It's certainly a wide field Read More...
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...
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...
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