how data empowers you by dianna hunt
DESCRIPTION
Dianna Hunt, watchdog/news editor for The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, La.), offers tips for improving your data journalism during the free investigative workshop, "Accountability in Indian Country - Be a Better Business Watchdog," on July 18, 2013. Presented by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, this workshop was part of the Native American Journalists Association's annual conference in Phoenix. For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org. For additional resources on using data to empower your coverage, please visit the training archive page at http://businessjournalism.org/2013/07/17/accountability-in-indian-country-be-a-better-business-watchdog-self-guided-training/.TRANSCRIPT
How Data Empowers You Dianna Hunt
Watchdog/News Editor The Daily Adver;ser
Lafaye>e, La.
dhunt@theadver;ser.com
Facing your Fears • Numbers/data add credibility to your repor;ng
• Anecdotes tell the human element; numbers back up the anecdotes
• Anyone who can add and subtract can use numbers effec;vely in a story
• Percentages are nice, too
Wri;ng with Authority New policy, rise in arrests lead to concerns
about school safety By Amanda McElfresh
amcelfresh@theadver;ser.com In her 20 years of teaching in the Lafaye>e Parish School
System, Nancy Romero has seen fights, handled disciplinary problems and been one of the area's most vocal proponents of safety on school campuses.
This year, though, something is different, Romero says. Teachers are not necessarily more afraid of their students,
but there's a tense, uneasy feeling on school grounds that a discipline problem could erupt at any ;me.
"Most teachers are feeling the campuses are not as safe for students or for teachers as they have been in the past," Romero said. "They don't feel that things are being done or preventa;ve measures are being taken that would stop it before it starts. It's a heightened awareness that things are going on.”
Photo by flickr user Tony Margiocchi
Wri;ng with Authority New policy, rise in arrests lead to concerns
about school safety (con<nued) By Amanda McElfresh
amcelfresh@theadver;ser.com Lafaye?e school arrest records appear to support teachers' concerns.
Since a new disciplinary policy went into effect this year making it more difficult to throw problem students off campus, arrests at school have soared more than 51 percent, par<cularly in middle schools, according to arrest records analyzed by The Daily Adver<ser.
In October alone, 10 arrests were made for ba?ery of a teacher, and two for aggravated assault. Disturbing the peace was the most common reason for arrest, with 41 instances, and arrests for simple ba?ery trailed in second place with 14.
Carencro schools saw a similar rise, par<cularly at Carencro Middle School where 26 arrests were made this year — five <mes more than last year.
Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout said officers assigned to schools do as much as they can to maintain order on campus. But he said students should suffer the consequences for causing trouble.
Photo by flickr user Tony Margiocchi
Backing up your anecdotes 'Enough is enough': Teachers leaving
classrooms in droves By Amanda McElfresh
amcelfresh@theadver;ser.com Edward Gauthier spent more than three decades teaching
in Louisiana public schools, including 16 years at Carencro High School teaching special educa;on, English and computer science.
He could have re;red in 2009, but he was having so much fun teaching and learning alongside his students that he stayed in the classroom.
Then came changes in the state educa;onal system that cut his promised monthly re;rement income, and Gauthier began to worry that his re;rement would be gone before he could ever take it.
"I took some of this news hard," he said, "and my feelings were, 'I give my life to train other people's kids to go to college and the state rewards me with a salary that won't let MY sons go to college.'"
He re;red last June.
Photo by flickr user audio-‐luci-‐store.it
Backing up your anecdotes 'Enough is enough': Teachers leaving
classrooms in droves (con<nued) By Amanda McElfresh
amcelfresh@theadver;ser.com 'I figured I had a few more years le` in me, but when I
learned of (Gov. Bobby) Jindal's ideas, I got nervous," he said.
Gauthier is not alone. A Daily Adver<ser analysis of teacher re<rements and resigna<ons the past two school years shows that teachers are leaving the Lafaye?e Parish School System even faster than they are leaving the classroom statewide.
From August through January, teacher resigna<ons have nearly tripled in the Lafaye?e Parish School System, from 29 to 102.
Re<rements more than doubled during that period, from 19 to 41.
The large number of departures come amid dras<c changes in public educa<on at the state and local levels, including statewide changes in the way teachers are evaluated; reduced re<rement benefits; and a shi^ing focus to private school vouchers.
Photo by flickr user audio-‐luci-‐store.it
Excerpt: By Claire Taylor Local judges spent nearly $900,000 in public funds in five years for such expenses as fish tanks, handmade judicial robes, a concealed gun permit and conferences at the beach. A review of judicial expense accounts by The Daily Adver;ser found local judges charged to eat, drive, dress, travel and decorate their offices between 2008 and 2012 – and even to hang their portraits on the courthouse walls.
Finding the right numbers • What’s the total? • How much have they increased?
• What areas have seen growth or decline?
• Which areas are growing fastest?
• How much did it cost? Photo by flickr user Zach K
Where to look
• Use FOIA laws to ask for what you want
• Audits • 990 forms for nonprofits
• Budgets • Government reports
Audits/Annual Reports
• Look for the summary at the end • Look for no;ces of li;ga;on, problems, shornalls
• Look for any plans/recommenda;ons for correc;ng the problem
• Some;mes you’ll see no;ce of criminal inves;ga;ons
Percentage change Do journalists like to do math?
NOO!
Formula: (New-‐Old)/Old= Move decimal 2 places to right.
Image by Flickr user krossbow
Grit your teeth and give it a try: calculate this %age
• If 100 people le` the school district last year, and 150 le` the school district this year, how much did resigna;ons increase?
• Subtract 100 from 150. The difference is 50. Divide 50 by 100. Move the decimal over two spaces to the right to change the number to a percentage.
• There was a 50 percent increase.
150 -‐ 100 -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ 50
50 / 100 = .50 * Photo by flickr user Jenn Durfey
Talk to People • Numbers are not the story.
Numbers are the beginning of the story.
• Talk to real people, get real anecdotes to bring those numbers to life
• Use the numbers to support your anecdotes
• Anecdotes without numbers make a good story
• Anecdotes with numbers make a powerful story
Photo by flickr user Eternos Indicadores
Ques;ons? Thanks for listening!
Dianna Hunt
Watchdog/News editor
The Daily Adver;ser
Lafaye>e, La.
dhunt@theadver;ser.com
Twi>er: @diannahunt
Photo by Flickr user Xurble