data driven journalism - telling stories online
TRANSCRIPT
Alan McLean• @alanmclean• Art/Design/Development background • Worked at CBC.ca 2005-2007• Working at the NYTimes in 2007-Present
• Afghanistan War Logs• 2008 Election• 2008 Olympics• 2010 Olympics• Guantanamo Docket • Document Viewer• Run-Well• more...
Dom Data /
Dom Data: flickr.com/photos/ogil/2499892047
It’s almost too easy...• Lots of tools, often free or very affordable.• Progressive Enhancement.• An unlimited supply of “pages”.
<3m
Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”
Dr. Ian MalcolmJurassic Park (1993)
“
via @kevinq, Graphic Editor at the NYT
Data Dumps
If you won't find narratives in the data, you might as well be posting the phone book.”
@harrisj via Twitter
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Data Dumps
Why are data dumps a problem?
• Fail to inform clearly.• It’s very easy to get lost.• They take up precious time.• They are usually low impact.• Often bland.
Editing is crucial online
• Should we be doing this?• What is the point? • Will any of our readers/users care?• Is this going to be a core component of the story, or merely supplemental?
• Three publications with access to the data under a release agreement.
• 90,000+ incident reports.• Spans several years of the conflict in Afghanistan.• A lot of metadata...
The Afghanistan War Logs
The Afghanistan War Logs
• Data Dives!• Maps!• Timelines!• Charts!• and so so much more...
What can we do with this data?
The Afghanistan War Logs
• Aggregate representations of the reports were out.• Maps needed to be “Locator Maps”.• Timelines? Yes.• Incident Charts? • Story integration? Yes! Context was needed. • Could not publish them all... redactions were necessary.
What should we do with this data?
The Afghanistan War Logs
The Package
• 3 articles.• 1 note to the readers from the Editor.• 1 background article on the data.• An incident report interactive.• A page tying it all together.
• Lead with a Map• Removed the ads• Flopped the columns• Forced a single page view• Relevant maps and photos
were loaded alongside text• Stylized report text within article
The Afghanistan War LogsThe Article
Locator Maps
Timeline
Photos/Maps
Incident Report Text
Real Titles Stylized NYT Redactions The Jargonizer Real Summaries
The Afghanistan War Logs / The Interactive