Using Data for Great Story Ideas Objectives for
Using Data for Great Story Ideas
Objectives for Day 1 • Sort and filter Statistics Canada data • Download the data into a spreadsheet • Navigate Statistics Canada data to understand the difference between rates and raw numbers • Sort and filter data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information latest study on indicator like alcohol abuse • Discuss how to make strong story pitches based on the data you've analyzed
Objectives for Day 2 • How to use basic math formulas such as summing, counting, and creating pivot tables to find stories • How to mine stories from the analysis of datasets • How to find data online • Strategies for incorporating these skills into your workflow
The 3 Disciplines • To find newsworthy patterns and trends • For visualization to show your trends • For custom web development and internet coding skills to create interactive news applications
Examples of Stories Using Data • Calgary has 1, 200 playground zones. Most speeding tickets are issued in just these 10 spots https: //www. cbc. ca/news/canada/calgaryplayground-zones-top-10 -ticket-locations-1. 5130180 • MAPPING THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY https: //www. project 44. ca/ • Some of the best from 2018 • https: //www. icij. org/
Getting into the Data • You need filtering & sorting skills • Find patterns • There’s no math • Excel & Google Sheets
Rates and Raw Numbers • Raw numbers are used to track incidents in datasets (e. g. , on the websites of Statistics Canada or Ontario’s public sector salary disclosure) • Raw numbers convey important information and can be misleading • Rates are better used when discussing issues like unemployment and crime • To obtain rates, need denominators: population figures; miles travelled on the road and in the air; medical devices sold, etc.
Using Statistics Canada Tables • We use them every day, but do we use them to the best of our ability? • The agency provides some of the country’s most definitive data • New formats allow for easier analysis of the data to do stories on deadline – and beyond • Tutorial: A quick video how-to session on using the agency’s data tables. https: //www. statcan. gc. ca/eng/sc/video/howto
Statistics Canada Tables • Story: Hate crimes reached all-time high in 2017, Statistics Canada says https: //www. cbc. ca/news/canada/toronto/statisticscanada-2017 -hate-crime-numbers-1. 4925399 • The data: https: //www 150. statcan. gc. ca/n 1/dailyquotidien/181129/dq 181129 a-eng. htm • Story: Canada loses 51, 600 jobs in August, pushing up unemployment rate https: //www. cbc. ca/news/business/canada-jobsunemployment-rate-full-time-work-1. 4814183 • The data: Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle
Applying what we’ve learned with more Statscan Tables • Story: First-time cannabis use up after legalization, Stats. Can reports • National Cannabis Survey, first quarter 2019 • Data: International merchandise trade by province, commodity, and Principal Trading Partners (x 1, 000) • Cannabis industry production account (x 1, 000)
Workflow Ideas for using Statistics Canada Data • Create an account that automatically notifies you when there are releases on specific topics and download a PDF of release dates for key economic indicators. • Identify a list of experts within Statistics Canada who can help with your analysis.
Follow-up Exercises • Keep track of a Stat. Can release of a key economic indicator and pitch a same-day story. • Find a way to work some of the Stat. Can information into the context for a story, interview or visualization.
Lobbying Stories • Story: https: //nationalpost. com/news/politics/snc-failure-tosecure-deferred-prosecution-comes-after-years-of-legal-fightslobbying-blitz • Website With Data: https: //lobbycanada. gc. ca/eic/site/012. nsf/eng/h_00950. html
Applying What We’ve Learned with Lobbying Data • Story: Corporations fuelled Ontario Proud's pro-PC election spending • Social Sharing • Website: Elections Ontario donations data
What We Learned! • How to sort and filter Statistics Canada data. • How to download the data into a spreadsheet for continued analysis. • How to navigate Statistics Canada data to understand the difference between rates and raw numbers. • How to sort and filter lobbying and political donation data. • Discussed strong story pitches based on the data you've analyzed.
Follow-up exercises • Once you’ve filed your main story based on the newest lobbying and political donation data, continue to drill down using a bit of spare time you’ve carved out for yourself. • Create worksheets in your Google Sheet for the various institutions of interest, such as hospitals, municipalities and school boards. • The increasing number of employees like police constables and nurses, who typically earn less than $100, 000 a year, may indicate more of them are working overtime, thus straining municipal budgets.
Workflow ideas for using data we have examined so far • Find out the release schedule for the data • To prepare, download the previous years’ datasets, using the same techniques we’ve learned. • Once the new data is uploaded, update your dataset and use techniques to go beyond who made the most. For instance, filter for local institutions like hospitals, school boards and municipalities to find categories of employees on the lists
Using Data for Great Story Ideas
Objectives for Day 2 • How to use basic math formulas such as summing, counting, and creating pivot tables to find stories • How to mine stories from the analysis of datasets • How to find data online • Strategies for incorporating these skills into your workflow
Summing - Counting & Pivot Tables • Story: Maxime Bernier's broad regional donor base edges out remaining rivals • Summing and counting using Elections Canada data. • Examine contributions to the candidates in the Conservative Party of Canada’s 2017 leadership race.
Summing & Counting • Follow this tutorial which explains how to download, save and open the donations table. • Upload the Conservative Party leadership contribution file to Google Sheet. • Determine which candidate raised the most money and attracted the highest number of donors. • Create a pivot table with the help of this tutorial.
Applying What We’ve Learned with Political Contributions Data • Using the same steps, download contribution data for the NDP’s leadership campaign. • Save a back-up copy. • Clean the table • Eliminate the extra material above and below the rows and columns • Upload the cleaned-up table to Google Sheets • Create a pivot table to determine who raised the most money, number of donors and the regions of the country where candidates did the best.
Workflow Ideas for using Political Donations Data • Access donations data through federal, provincial and municipal data portals. • Keep a calendar of upcoming releases and carve out time to analyze the data and write stories. • On March 20, 2018, Postmedia announced the Follow the Money project, a database of political donations at every level of government. • Access the data by clicking here.
Finding data • Access data through federal, provincial and municipal open-data portals or through access-to-information requests. • There’s an easy checklist to follow when determining the strengths and weaknesses of any dataset such as frequency, when it’s updated, and how the institution uses the information.
Develop a “Data State of Mind” • Find set times to look for datasets. • Look for ways to use data to add context to your stories. • Revisit a recent story and ask if it could have been improved with data.
Wrap & Action Plan • Create a contact list; do some simple math. • Keep a master workbook with each worksheet containing a data set you’ve used. • Keep a data library for your growing list of calculations, including the ones we’ve learned. • Create a Google alert for “Open Data” to learn when government sites are adding new datasets to their websites. • Set up another Google alert for “data journalism” to track how stories are using numbers. • Create a tweet deck to follow data journalists. • Sign up for the NICAR listserv
Reference material • The Data Journalist: Getting the story • Google Sheets guide • Website with additional material
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