Thursday, 10 March 2016, 11:30 a.m.
What will you do the next time a plane crashes, the big storm hits or a politician gets caught in a scandal? We'll show you how you can prepare for the next big story using dashboards, searchable databases and more. We’ll also help you cover daily, general and everyday news by building your toolbox so you can use these techniques any time.
- John Keefe, WNYC
- Stephen Stock, NBC Bay Area
Stephen Stock
"There is no news in the newsroom!"
Used to be true. Not so much anymore.
Might be more news in the newsroom than out on the street where something's happening.
In a breaking news situation:
- Keep a level head. Take a deep breath.
- Stop
- Call a meeting
- Talk it out with people you respect
- Think creatively
- Be open to possibilities — don't form preconceived ideas of what the story is.
- "What don't we know?" aside from the obvious.
- "What do we/readers want to know?"
- "What would help us understand more?"
- "What will help us provide more context?"
How to proceed
- What data is available?
- How easily can we get it?
- What form is it in?
- How fast can I undersand and analyze it?
- What value can it provide?
- Where do I go?
- Find relationships, put event into context.
- Make the story pitch.
- Began with how to quickly get the data. National Bridge Inventory.
- Mapped w/ Google Fusion Tables
- Analyzed with MYSQL and Excel
- Presented with Mapbox
Turned around in one day, map of all bridges in the state that had same or worse ratings.
John Keefe
Address given for collapse was where people were injured, not where crane was installed. Used Google Street View to confirm (comparing picture with FDNY-tweeted). Pulled buildings database to find permit for crane.
- Social media for sense of what's going on
- Know about the databases before breaking news
- Know who's responsible for what
Stephen Stock
Take the drive to the scene, work on the database then.
- Parcel data, assessor's data
- Live google spreadsheet of possible victims, contact info, parcel No. (if applicable), reporter who obtained info
Assessor's data: "Those people lived there" are they ok?
Next day, map with victims and names, confirmed.
Put data and documents in timeline.
John Keefe
Used reporter's image, "what can we know from this"
US Coast Guard Incident Reports
Same boat had been involved in crash two years earlier.
Stephen Stock
- What else do I want to know?
- What data might be available?
FAA Website + N number of airplane = lots of info.
- Find relationships
Business registry + name of business = confirmation, more info
- Stand out from competition
Flightaware + N number = photo of plane, flight info
Airliners.net + N numbers = more photos
List potential disasters.
Build Tools When it's Quiet
- Warnings Dashboard - "is that in our area?"
- Hurricane tracker - Auto-updates
- Flood Tracker
- NJ.com power outage tracker
- Al-Jazeera America Amtrak speed map — useful in derailment
Make favorites folders of useful sites when news breaks. Build a database of tools.
Keep a log of what you're doing. How-to, both to justify for story and reproduce.
- Big Rig Truck Accident
- Local Crime
- Charities (Seattle Marathon)
- School Violence
- Stolen Luggage at airports
- School Bus Accidents
Keep lists of contacts
Practice, practice, practice with databases