ACP Digging Deeper

Digging Deeper

Investigative Reporting (and data)

Jennifer LaFleurReveal | Center for Investigative Reporting

Investigative reporting is one of the most powerful tools in journalism

What is it?• Uncovering new information• Uncovering corruption or injustice• Holding institutions accountable

http://www.investigative-journalism-africa.info/

It often means using data

It can make this

Into this

It gives us the power to check assumptions.

Source: NHTSA complaint data

Findings: “…unintended acceleration has been a problem across the auto industry.”

It let’s us combine information in powerful ways.

It gives us extremes.

Caution: This slide contains extreme nerdiness

Getting the records and data

If something is inspectedLicensedEnforced orPurchased

…There probably is a database

Tips for records

In rare joyous instances data is readily available online for download

Where’s the data?

Sometimes you have to scrape it.

Where’s the data?

More often you need to go to an agency to get the dataThis can be tricky if an agency doesn’t want to release it. (Stay tuned for more on that…)

Where’s the data?

BudgetsParking ticketsElevator inspectionsHealth/food inspectionsCampus crime

Campus data

SOURCE: Local health department inspection reports

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

Request records and data earlyGet out and talk to real peopleKeep track of your work and stay organizedUnderstand the process of what you’re covering

Tips for digging

Students are getting sick from eating in the student center cafeteria.• Who inspects the cafeteria?• Has it has problems in the past?• When/what did the students eat?

Did any of them file complaints?

Understand the process

Request records and data earlyGet out and talk to real peopleKeep track of your work and stay organizedUnderstand the process of what you’re coveringConfirm and corroborateMake it something worth reading, listening to, watching

Tips for digging

Sometimes, there is no data.But it’s okay because there are techniques for sampling and building a database.

ProPublica pulled a random sample of 500 names from a list of individuals who had been granted or denied pardons (around 2,000). We created a database from months or researching individuals: their crime, age, sentence…

We found that even after controlling for other factors, whites were more likely to get a pardon.

Where’s the data?

Stories don’t end at the records. We must find people to tell the stories

Source: School district credit card purchases

Findings: District card holders made questionable purchases with their cards.

Where’s the data?

Data isn’t always rows and columns

Source: 311 calls for downed trees

Findings: After a tornado swept across New York City, 311 calls for downed trees helps trace its path

Bulletproof your data

Before ever reporting data or building an appDo integrity checks to find the flawsAdd caveats where necessaryDo your own analysis rather than relying on an agency’s analysis

External checks

Read the documentation. Understand the contents of every field. Know how many records you should have.Check counts and totals against reports.Are all possibilities included?

Internal checksCompare fields to check for red flags• More teachers than students• More money going to vendors

than to contractors• What things just don’t make

sense

Integrity checks for every data set

Check for missing data or misplaced data

Integrity checks for every data set

Check for missing data, misplaced data or blank fields Check for duplicates

Integrity checks for every data set

Check for missing data, misplaced data or blank fields Check for duplicatesCheck for outliers and extreme ups and downs

Truck accidents by year and agency

Beyond the basics

Keep a notes file/gitDon’t work off your original data/documentsKnow the sourceCheck against summary reports

Beyond the basics

Keep a notes fileDon’t work off your original databaseKnow the sourceCheck against summary reportsUse the right tool

Beyond the basics

Check with expertsKnow the standardsFind out what others have done Gut check – does it just seem wrong?

Beyond the basics

Check with expertsKnow the standardsFind out what others have done Gut checkGo physically see a record or spot check against documents

Checks when you’re matching data

A name is not enough. Lots of people have the same name

Get dates of birth and other information to make sure you have the correct person.

Even people with seemingly unique names aren’t so unique

Be transparent: Bounce your findings off targets and tell users/readers/viewers what you did.

Erroneous government databases can often be a story themselves

123456789 compared to 123-456-789

Sometimes missing data is the story

Sometimes you might have to fight for records

(We’ll talk about this tomorrow)

Resources

Investigative Reporters and Editors: www.ire.orgStudent Press Law Center: www.splc.org

@j_la28 [email protected]

revealnews.org