How we planned and ran the SRCCON 2020 Watch Parties

We teamed up to build a dashboard that shows two kinds of data: how widespread COVID–19 is in a community, alongside health indicators that show how some people are more at risk. We’ve open-sourced the project so you can use it too.

For the first time in 50 years, Black and other journalists of color (JOC) are waging a public campaign to air newsroom grievances. How do we move away from 50 years of lip service to sustained newsroom diversity? This survey points the way.

For the next several months, OpenNews and Big Local News will work with local journalists to develop resources their newsrooms can use to better cover COVID-19. What should that support look like? We don’t know yet! But you can help us figure it out.

The Covid Public Info project launched this spring, and has alreadycollected input from thousands of individual community members, filed hundreds of public records requests, and compared notes with dozens of journalists. Here are some highlights of what we’ve learned so far, and ways for you to get involved.

A field-tested set of reports, patterns, and techniques that can help your newsroom think about how to execute a data-driven strategy for membership.

As new COVID-19 hot spots popped up across the country and states began to release data by race and ethnicity, the team at Kaiser Health News reported on why the illness was striking Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans so intensely. Here’s how you can use the data to report on your community.

A variety of datasets can help journalists track the spread of COVID-19. But which should you rely on? What’s the difference between them? What are the advantages and disadvantages to each? This guide will walk you through four major COVID-19 data sources: Johns Hopkins University, COVID Tracking Project, USAFacts, and The New York Times.

American Hospital Association data can help you estimate the total number of beds your region could need to treat patients in a COVID-19 outbreak, and how many beds are likely to be available based on expected usage patterns. Here’s how you can use the data to report on your community.

Using data from the CDC and the federal Health Resources & Services Administration, USA Today found counties that are both medically underserved and vulnerable to disasters—places where residents would be most at risk of losing access to health care during the COVID-19 outbreak. Here’s how you can use the data to report on your community.

There are a lot of COVID-19 datasets available, and it can be hard to know how they differ and which ones are most trustworthy. Here’s an overview of current datasets that journalists can rely on for stories.

ProPublica used the Senate’s financial disclosures to find that not long after Sen. Richard Burr offered a positive assessment in public of the country’s ability to handle the coronavirus, he sold hundreds of thousands of (and potentially up to $1.7 million) dollars in stocks, a highly unusual series of trades for him. Here’s how you can reproduce the story for your community.

Our values are even more important during a crisis. Here are a few practical strategies for thinking through tough decisions in an equitable and inclusive way.

As the Financial Times developed a newsgame for a series on companies that pursue profit with purpose, Google sheets gave them a way to quickly generate a playable, shareable prototype. Here’s how they did it and what they learned.

VTDigger used Harvard Global Health Institute data to look into local hospitals’ capacity for handling an outbreak. Here’s how you can reproduce the story for your community.

A USA Today analysis found that three-quarters of nursing homes have been cited for infection-control problems in recent years. Here’s how you can reproduce the story for your community.

It’s NICAR this week!

Where do you turn with a question that’s stopping your data project in its tracks? If you don’t have a news-nerd colleague nearby, there’s a whole community out there happy to help. Here are three ways you can tap into networks of support, both right now and next week.

Our Q&A with Sinduja Rangarajan on reporting about a wall of bureaucracy that’s creating fear and uncertainty

Editorial and product teams are more effective and impactful when they work together, not separately. Here’s a guide to help product teams better understand their news colleagues.