Precision Journalism: Tools for Reporters

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Precision JournalismTools for Reporters

• Steve Doig
• Cronkite School of Journalism
• Arizona State University

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My background

• Majored in political science
• 23 years as a newspaper reporter in Florida
• Covered government, justice, politics, science,
  lottery, census, etc.
• My first computer (Atari 800) in 1982
• Did many CAR projects and stories
• Im NOT a computer expert

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What is CAR?

• CAR is the use of computers
• and social science methods
• to acquire and analyze information
• to do stories that otherwise would be difficult
  or impossible.

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But remember

• The most important word in
• computer-assisted reporting is
• REPORTING

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Reporting about social problems

• Three methods
• Wait for authority to study the problem, then
  report their findings
• Gather anecdotes for a story about the problem
• Study the problem yourself, then report your
  findings

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History of CAR

• Scattered examples starting with news polling in
  the 1950s
• Precision Journalism written by Phil Meyer in
  1972
• Handful of U.S. reporters start using personal
  computers in early 1980s
• NICAR started in 1989
• First CAR Pulitzer in 1989
• CAR spreads outside the U.S (Europe and Brazil)
• Today Thousands of reporters use it around the
  world

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A few CAR topics

• Crime and justice
• Elections
• Campaign finance
• Property values
• Racial segregation
• Environment
• Education
• Transportation

• Weather and disasters
• Agriculture
• Public opinion
• Health care
• Sports
• Business
• Demographics
• Taxes and spending

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Some Big CAR examples

• Hurricane Andrew Miami Herald
• Backdated stock options WS Journal
• Dangerous train crossings NY Times
• Police shootings Washington Post
• Black drivers Boston Globe
• Childrens deaths Washington Post
• Election fraud Miami Herald
• Prisoners released O Globo (Brazil)

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Some Daily CAR examples

• Dog licenses
• Crime reports
• Parking tickets
• Personal ads
• School test scores
• Bicycle accidents
• Oscar winners
• Sports injuries

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Two branches of CAR

1. Online research Looking for information

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Some good journalism sites
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www.ine.pt
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Pordata.pt
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www.ire.org
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www.abraji.org.br
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www.poynter.org
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www.reporter.org/desktop/
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www.nytimes.com/navigator
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www.LexisNexis.com ()
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Two branches of CAR

1. Online research Looking for information
2. Data analysis Looking for patterns

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What is data?

• Organized information
• Table form
• Rows Individual records
• Columns Variables

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CAR Tools

• Word processor
• Spreadsheet (Excel)
• Database (Access, Filemaker)
• Statistics (SAS, SPSS)
• Mapping (ArcMap, Google Maps)
• Exotic stuff (GPS, intranets, web publishing,
  interactive maps, et al.)

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Word processor/text editor

• Use Words search function to find text
• Use a heavy-duty programmers text editor (like
  Vedit or UltraEdit or TextWrangler) to explore
  big data files

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Spreadsheet

• Smart paper
• 1,048,576 rows and 16,382 columns
• Use to
• Sort
• Filter
• Transform
• Summarize

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Crimes in Portugal 2009
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Database manager (Access)

• Can work with large tables (millions)
• Use to join tables to create new information
• Examples
• Criminals and teachers
• Drunk drivers and school bus drivers

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Statistical programs

• SAS and SPSS (and Excel)
• Good for basic statistical tests
• Mean, median, ranking, etc.
• Chi-square
• Linear regression

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Mapping

• GIS Geographical Information Systems
• Good for data with location
• Examples Census, crime, traffic, environment,
  elections

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Mapping
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Mapping with data
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Free CAR software?

• Docs.Google.Com free online spreadsheet!
• OpenOffice.org Calc is a free open-source
  spreadsheet
• Google Maps My Maps

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docs.google.com
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OpenOffice.org
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Googles My Maps
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Other precision tools

• Public opinion polling
• Field experiments
• Newsroom intranets
• Online maps
• Satellite imagery
• Data mining

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The newsroom CAR pyramid

• All reporters should know that CAR tools exist
• Many reporters should be able to use a
  spreadsheet
• Some reporters should know how to use a database
  program
• At least one reporter should know how to do
  mapping, statistics, scripting

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Getting Data

• Are government records public?
• Search Google filetypexls and domain.pt
  (gt10.000 pages!)
• See a report Ask for it on CD or flash drive,
  not paper
• If there is a web lookup, there is a database
  behind it
• Type it in yourself?

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Dangers of CAR
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Data analysis dangers

• Old days Go to a press conference
• Today Do your own study
• Problem You become the expert
• CAR Social science on deadline
• Mistakes caused by
• Carelessness School scores
• Misunderstanding Infant mortality
• Bad data Drunk driving in Miami

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Warnings!

• CAR is not faster
• Bad data looks like good data
• Computers do what you tell them to do, not what
  you want them to do
• Ask yourself Does this make sense?
• CAR can make a good reporter better, but cant
  make a bad reporter good

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Questions??