INTRO to 

Data Journalism

Agustin Armendariz and Kendall Taggart
(h/t Jennifer LaFleur)

At the University of South Carolina, March 2014

Why should you care?


13 percent unemployment rate for 20-24 year olds

Basic data analysis skills will help get you a job

#Nicar14 job board

Why data journalism?

  • Powerful figures are in the data

EXAMPLE: Wasted in Wisconsin


EXAMPLE: ESPN examines stadium food




Finding: At 28 percent of the venues, more than half of the concession stands or restaurants had been cited for at least one "critical" or "major" health violation. 

WHy data journalism?

  • Powerful figures are in the data
  • Pattern recognition: it takes you beyond an anecdote
  • EXAMPLE: Associated press follows stimulus money


    Combining datasets:  Bridge inspections    +    stimulus funding


    FINDING:          Some of the nation's worst bridges did not get                                                      stimulus funding.

    EXAMPLE: PRIME HEALTHCARE

    There is news in the outliers.


    Caution: this slide contains extreme nerdiness - it's Lafleur's fault


    WHY Data Journalism?

  • Powerful figures are in the data
  • Pattern recognition: it takes you beyond an anecdote
  • Test assumptions
  • EXAMPLE: NPR 


    EXAMPLE: California Watch

    California has the toughest building regulations.

    Schools must be safe.


    why data journalism?

  • Powerful figures are in the data
  • Pattern recognition: it takes you beyond an anecdote
  • Test assumptions
  • A key skill to be able to hold government accountable
  • EXAMPLE: THE Center for investigative Reporting

    Press releases disproportionately highlight Mexican citizens 


    4 of 5 Border Patrol drug busts involve US citizens

    WHY Data Journalism?

  • Powerful figures are in the data
  • Pattern recognition: it takes you beyond an anecdote
  • Test assumptions
  • A key skill to be able to hold government accountable
  • Enable people to make stories relevant to their own situation
  • EXAMPLE: Opiate Prescriptions 


    eXAMPLE: California watch

    Schools in our area with faulty construction

    eXAMPLE: Propublica



    Developing A data Frame of mind

    If something is:
    • inspected
    • licensed
    • purchased
    • enforced

    ...there is probably a database

    DEVELOPING DATA FRAME OF MIND


    If there is:
    • a form
    • a report

    ...there is probably a database

    Example:

    DEVELOPing a data frame of mind

    Is there a sensor? 

    Where do you find data?

    • Online: easy to download or requires scraping

    SOME DATA AVAILABLE ONLINE:

    WHERE do you find data?

  • Online: easy to download or requires scraping
  • Sometimes you have to create your own data
  • example: creating your own data

    University of California Los Angeles expense report

    EXAMPLE: CREATING YOUR OWN DATA


    Where do you find data?

  • Online: easy to download or requires scraping
  • Sometimes you have to create your own data
  • Usually, it requires a request to a government agency
  • Requesting data

    Sample state and federal FOIAs are available at:

    NFOIC also has a list of FOIA experts in each state available on its website.

    requesting data

    Dealing with pushback

    Common excuses:

    It’ll be really expensive.
    It’s too complicated for you to understand.
    It’s too big a dataset.
    It contains private information.
    Privatization – a third party company controls the database.


    Requesting data

    Strategies:
    • Know the law
    • Speak nerd
    • Request an itemized breakdown of costs
    • Write about it:
     

    Tools for data analysis:

    • Spreadsheets (Excel)
    • Databases (Access, SQlite, MySQL)
    • Statistics (Excel, R, SPSS, Pandas)
    • Mapping (Fusion Tables, QGIS, ArcGIS)
    • Programming (Python, Ruby)

    Questions?


    Augie:
    email: aarmendariz@cironline.org
    phone: 510.809.3173

    Kendall:
    email: ktaggart@cironline.org
    phone: 510.809.2204

    What is Data Journalism?

    By kendall

    What is Data Journalism?

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