Computer-Assisted Reporting:
Tools for Journalists
Steve Doig
Cronkite School of Journalism
Arizona State University
My background
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Majored in political science
23 years as a newspaper reporter in
Florida
Covered government, justice, politics,
science, etc.
My first computer (Atari 800) in 1982
Did many CAR projects and stories
I’m NOT a computer expert
What is CAR?
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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.
But remember…
The most important word in
“computer-assisted reporting” is…
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REPORTING
Reporting about problems
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Three methods:
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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
History of CAR
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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 (Jose Roberto de Toledo
in Brazil!)
Today: Thousands of reporters use it around the
world
A few CAR topics
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Crime and justice
Elections
Campaign finance
Property values
Racial segregation
Environment
Education
Transportation
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Weather and disasters
Agriculture
Public opinion
Health care
Sports
Business
Demographics
Taxes and spending
Some “Big CAR” examples
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Hurricane Andrew – Miami Herald
Backdated stock options – WS Journal
Dangerous train crossings – NY Times
Police shootings – Washington Post
Black drivers – Boston Globe
Children’s deaths – Washington Post
Election fraud – Miami Herald
Prisoners released – O Globo
Some “Daily CAR” examples
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Dog licenses
Crime reports
Parking tickets
“Personal” ads
School test scores
Bicycle accidents
Oscar winners
Sports injuries
Two branches of CAR
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Online research: Looking for
information
Data analysis: Looking for patterns
Some good journalism sites
www.abraji.org.br
www.ibge.gov.br
www.ire.org
PowerReporting.com
www.poynter.org
www.reporter.org/desktop/
Search Google for
“cybertimesnavigator”
www.LexisNexis.com ($$)
Two branches of CAR
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2.
Online research: Looking for
information
Data analysis: Looking for
patterns
What is “data”?
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Organized information
Table form:
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Rows: Individual records
Columns: Variables
CAR Tools
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Word processor
Spreadsheet (Excel)
Database (Access, Filemaker)
Statistics (SAS, SPSS)
Mapping (ArcMap, Google Maps)
Exotic stuff (GPS, intranets, web
publishing, interactive maps, et al.)
Word processor/text editor
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Use Word’s search function to find text
Use a heavy-duty programmer’s text
editor (like Vedit or UltraEdit) to explore
big data files
Spreadsheet
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Smart paper
65.000 rows and 255 columns
Use to:
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Sort
Filter
Transform
Summarize
Murders in Brazil
Database manager (Access)
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Can work with large tables (>65.000)
Use to join tables to create new
information
Examples:
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Criminals and teachers
Drunk drivers and school bus drivers
Statistical programs
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SAS and SPSS (and Excel)
Good for basic statistical tests
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Mean, median, ranking, etc.
Chi-square
Linear regression
Mapping
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GIS: Geographical Information Systems
Good for data with location
Examples: Census, crime, traffic,
environment, elections
Mapping
Mapping with data
Free CAR software?
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Docs.Google.Com – free online
spreadsheet!
OpenOffice.org – “Calc” is a free opensource spreadsheet
Google Maps new free “My Maps”
docs.google.com
OpenOffice.org
Google’s “My Maps”
Other precision tools
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Public opinion polling
Field experiments
Newsroom intranets
Online maps
Satellite imagery
Data mining
The newsroom CAR pyramid
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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
Getting Data
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Are government records public?
Search Google – filetype:xls and
domain:.br (83.000 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?
Dangers of CAR
Data analysis dangers
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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:
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Carelessness: School scores
Misunderstanding: Infant mortality
Bad data: Drunk driving in Miami
Warnings!
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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 can’t make a bad reporter good
Questions??