Articles

Projects walkthroughs, tool teardowns, interviews, and more.

Learning

Connecting with the Dots

By Jacob Harris

Posted on January 15, 2015
Jake Harris on data visualization, empathy, and representing people with dots
Marriage Data: It’s Complicated

By D’Vera Cohn

Posted on December 11, 2014
D’Vera Cohn on everything you ever wanted to know about marriage data, but were afraid to ask.
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Elections Scraping

By Jeremy B. Merrill and Ken Schwencke

Posted on November 24, 2014
Jeremy Merrill and Ken Schwencke explore the fine art of anticipating and catching errors while wrangling the eccentricities of US elections data.
The Census of Governments Has Your Number

By Mike Maciag

Posted on October 16, 2014
Michael Maciag’s walk-through of this under-utilized goldmine.
Finding Stories in Census Data

By Emily Alpert Reyes

Posted on October 2, 2014
Emily Alpert Reyes on how to find promising needles in Census haystacks.
A Big Article About Wee Things

By Lena Groeger

Posted on September 25, 2014
Lena Groeger on the magical powers of every little thing.
Gender, Twitter, and the Value of Taking Things Apart

By Jacob Harris

Posted on September 18, 2014
Jake Harris reverse-engineers Twee-Q to evaluate its use of data (and see if his ratio is as disappointing as Twee-Q says it is)
When and How to Use Census Microdata

By Robert Gebeloff

Posted on September 4, 2014
Robert Gebeloff’s primer on working microdata magic
Security for Journalists, Part Two: Threat Modeling

By Jonathan Stray

Posted on August 21, 2014
Jonathan Stray on how to protect yourself, your sources, and your scoop on sensitive stories
Security for Journalists, Part One: The Basics

By Jonathan Stray

Posted on August 5, 2014
Jonathan Stray on what every single person in your news org should be doing to secure the newsroom.
True Facts, Maybe

By Matt Waite

Posted on July 17, 2014
Matt Waite thinks epistemology (and a little fake software) could save journalism—here’s why.
Putting the User in User Experience

By Zoe Fraade-Blanar

Posted on July 2, 2014
Zoe Fraade-Blanar on why and how good interaction design thinks about users.
Pushing Hot Buttons with Census.gov

By Ronald Campbell

Posted on June 12, 2014
Ronald Campbell on using census data to find facts in a world of speculation
Building Smart Newsroom Tools

By Melody Kramer

Posted on June 5, 2014
Melody Kramer on how a user-centered design process and attention to newsroom culture can make or break your internal tools.
Distrust Your Data

By Jacob Harris

Posted on May 22, 2014
Jacob Harris on six ways to make mistakes with data—and how to avoid them.
What If the Data Visualization Is Actually People?

By Sarah Slobin

Posted on April 24, 2014
Sarah Slobin discovers that all the facts and numbers didn’t add up to the humans in her story.
How to Use the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey like a Pro

By Paul Overberg

Posted on April 10, 2014
Paul Overberg explains base tables and how to get the best data from them (hint: ask good questions!).
Newsroom Analytics: A Primer

By Jacqui Maher

Posted on March 20, 2014
Jacqui Maher says it’s not just the numbers, it’s what they mean about the audience.
You Got the Documents. Now What?

By Jonathan Stray

Posted on March 13, 2014
Jonathan Stray’s guide to turning documents into data you can run with.
Developing Data Journalists in the Developing World

By Eva Constantaras

Posted on March 7, 2014
Eva Constantaras on training data journalists where data journalism isn’t a standard practice.