journalists’ toolbox gatehouse media news & interactive for audio: 888-398-2342 access code:...
TRANSCRIPT
Journalists’Toolbox
GateHouse MediaNews & Interactive
FOR AUDIO: 888-398-2342ACCESS CODE: 585-200-4058
Agenda
Digital tools – why bother?
Going beyond Twitter, Geofeedia, etc.
Census graphics bring data to life
Severe weather
Numbers
Hospital inspections
The miracle of Evernote
FOR AUDIO: 888-398-2342ACCESS CODE: 585-200-4058
Digital tools: why?
Efficiency
Organization
Data & information
Old school vs. digital tools
FOR AUDIO: 888-398-2342ACCESS CODE: 585-200-4058
Favorite digital tools
What this webinar isn’t
•Google Search
•Google Drive
Census Data
Censusreporter.org
•Knight News Challenge-funded project
•Specifically geared to journalists
•Aims to help journalists digest and write about census data
•Constantly evolving
•Check out tumblr.com blog: censusreporter.tumblr.com
Census Data
Censusreporter.org
•Brings census data to life
•Presents data on demographics, economy, families
•Compares data based on topics
Census Data
Censusreporter.org
•Cool graphics help you decipher info about your town
Census Data
Censusreporter.org
•Compare towns in your region
Springfield
Peoria
Census Data
Censusreporter.org: Story ideas
•Poverty data: Enrich stories around the holidays that encourage people to give by telling the story in numbers
•Housing data: Compare your town to similar ones in your region for housing vacancies, owners vs. renters
•Demographics: Compare towns in your region in areas such as median age and mobility. A higher than normal age plus low mobility tells a story of an aging population
Severe weather
Tornados, hurricanes, blizzards … oh my
•Remember, these are traumatic situations. Check out the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, powered by Columbia Journalism School.
•Scroll down to advice for covering tragedies, from how to deal with children to guides for journalists and editors.
http://dartcenter.org/content/in-tornados-path-reporting-tragedy
Severe weather
Tornados, hurricanes, blizzards … oh my
•In the aftermath of a storm, check out DisasterAssistance.gov
•Links to news feeds and sourcing assistance
Severe weather
Tornados, hurricanes, blizzards … oh my
•National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
•Updates frequently; offers links to other resources
Severe weather
Tornados, hurricanes, blizzards
•American Red Cross people finder: https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php
•Allows you to input your name to say you’re safe
•Allows people searching for you to see if you’re safe
Severe weather
Tornados, hurricanes, blizzards … oh my
•Storm prediction center: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/index.html
•Searchable by city, state or ZIP
•Graphic shows weather watches in effect
Severe weather
Tornados, hurricanes, blizzards … oh my
•The Old Farmer’s Almanac for weather history:http://www.almanac.com/weather/history
•Searchable by city, state or ZIP
Severe weather
Covering disasters: Story ideas
•Perspective: How does this storm compare to others? Check out the Old Farmer’s Almanac for interesting data.
•Recovery: Help people find one another – post the Red Cross people finder link online, on Facebook, on Twitter
•Rebuilding: Use DisasterAssistance.gov for sourcing and other resources, and help your readers find this site, too.
Numbers
Making numbers make sense
•Weird converter:weirdconverter.com
Let’s says something weighs 3,676 pounds
You can say it’s about the sameas a midsize car or 21 kegs of beer
Numbers
Making numbers make sense
•How big is the crowd? Don’t trust the organizers!http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28662672/#.UqAiDGRDs5M
•Inflation calculator: How much buying power now vs. then?http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
•Football field & area: A football field is about 76% of an acre. http://www.asknumbers.com/AreaConversion.aspx
Hospital info
Searchable hospital inspection info
•Association of Health Care Journalists searchable database of hospital inspections for some types of hospitals.
•Caveats about using site to compare or rank hospitals.
•Helpful info about how to read reports.
Getting organized
Evernote for Journalists
•Great organizational tool
•Perfect for note taking
•Easy to search and file
•In the cloud – no chance of losing notes
Getting organized
Evernote for Journalists
•Save interview notes
•Save links to websites related to projects or stories you revisit
•You can tag stories for easy search
•You can place notes in notebooks (files)
•Search function works on text
Getting organized
Evernote for Journalists
•Desktop & mobile
•Sync to the cloud so you can work off of any computer/device
•You can take photos or audio in the app
•You can save web pages or images with text that are then searchable: handwritten notes, whiteboard plans
Takeaways
Digital tools are good for:
•Coming up with story ideas (census, hospitals, weather, etc.)
•Making numbers understandable to readers
•Resources for history (record-setting bad weather, etc.)
•Organizing notes, ideas, research (Evernote)
