Jaimi Dowdell presented computer-assisted reporting tips during the free Reynolds Center workshop, "Be a Better Business Watchdog -- CAR for Business Journalists," in Missoula, Mont. on Oct. 6, 2012. For more information on free training for journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org.

1. Jaimi Dowdell
IRE/NICAR

2. Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is a grassroots nonprofit organization
dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting.
IRE was formed in 1975 to create a forum in which journalists throughout the
world could help each other by sharing story ideas, newsgathering
techniques and news sources.

3.  Training
 Resources
 Networking
 Conferences
 Data services

4. •Assume it’s public.
•Assume it’s free.
•Documents = databases.

5. Why data?

6. More and more, records are
kept electronically.
We can use them to…

7. Uncover basic information. (Simple lookups)
Test government procedures, regulations and
officials’ promises.
Enterprise reporting – do stories that no one
else is doing.
In addition: Journalism that has data elements translates
incredibly well online.

8.  Examples
 The basics of spreadsheets
 Searchable databases available online
 Finding and downloading data online
 Other databases that aren’t so readily available
 Quick online data visualization tools

11. Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN)
Data: National Inventory of
Bridges
Findings: Following the
collapse of an I-35 bridge
spanning the Mississippi River in
Minneapolis, journalists,
including Dan Browning and
MaryJo Webster, turned to the
National Bridge Inventory
database, available from IRE
and NICAR, to check the
bridge's inspection history. The
Start Tribune and The Pioneer
Press reported that inspection
data from 2005 showed that the
Minnesota Department of
Transportation deemed the
bridge “structurally deficient.”
The Pioneer Press also noted a
federal reporting finding that
Minnesota had 3 percent of its
bridges rated deficient in 2006.

14.  FINDINGS: Highlighted the insufficient rules
for credit-reporting agencies to correct errors,
Americans are left virtually powerless to erase
the mistakes.
 Documented the plight of thousands who,
through no fault of their own, have been
denied the chance to buy a home or a car, take
out a loan for college, rent an apartment, land a
job, join the Armed Forces, receive medical care
or even open a checking account.

18. DATA: tax-lien sales, foreclosures from foreclosure-
radar.com tax-lien data.
FINDINGS: Bailed-out
banks bought
$16 million in tax liens
in the same
neighborhood where
they were foreclosing
homes.

19. DATA: workplace safety inspections
FINDINGS: Workers in many dangerous industries get a small
fraction of the attention from inspectors that construction
workers do.
Two of Washington's
most injury–prone
industries get
Almost no attention
from workplace
safety
inspectors:
Nursing homes and
Hospitals

20. “ESPN's "Outside the Lines" reviewed
health department inspection reports for
food and beverage outlets at all 107
North American arenas and stadiums
that were home to Major League
Baseball, National Football League,
National Hockey League and National
Basketball Association teams in 2009. At
30 of the venues (28 percent), more than
half of the concession stands or
restaurants had been cited for at least
one "critical" or "major" health violation.
Such violations pose a risk for foodborne
illnesses that can make someone sick, or,
in extreme cases, become fatal.”

22. Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel
Data: State hunting and
corrections data
Findings: Analyzing
state data on hunting
licenses, Ben Poston of
the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel found that
dozens of convicted
felons in Wisconsin were
issued gun-deer hunting
licenses last year
despite a state law that
bans them for life from
possessing firearms.
Felons with armed
robbery, rape and
weapons convictions all
bought gun-deer
licenses in Wisconsin in
2006. A state legislator
proposed law to close
the license loophole.

23. Online

24. Herald Tribune (Sarasota, FL)
Data: The newspaper reviewed more than
19 million Florida real estate transactions
to determine how much of the real-estate
bust had its root in housing fraud.
Findings: The year-long investigation
found that more than 50,000 Florida
properties flipped under suspicious
circumstances from 2000 through 2008.
Those flips artificially drove up housing
prices and tax bills and contributed to the
crush of foreclosures that has gutted the
real estate market. All over the state,
professional property flippers made
billions in profits on the back of concocted
land deals.

28.  The difference between a spreadsheet and a
database.
 Why use other software?
 Options?

29.  Remember – any time a biz interacts with the
government, information becomes public.
 Ask for the document and/or data retention
schedule.
 Missouri, Montana
 Get a tour.
 Grab every blank form – both internal and
external – in all agencies you cover.
 Meet the document and data clerks and the IT
folks.

30.  FOIA – Open records logs
 State and federal statutes
 Appendix and footnotes to audits and reports
 Inspectors General
 State auditors
 GAO reports (Government Accountability
Office)
 Canada – Auditor general

31.  Major Information Systems – request a list from
government agency: example US Marshall’s list
here.
 Something in a “chart” format may mean that a
database exists: example California West Nile
Virus here.

32.  Online forms to submit information:
example Wisconsin Insurance Complaint
form here.
 Actually read a web site – don’t let it force
you into predefined roles: example North
Carolina Department of Revenue here.
(site map, search)
 Search for keywords related to data:
download, database, information
system, submit, searchable, inspection,
enforcement, Excel, etc.

33.  OSHA workplace safety inspections
 Federal contracts (FPDS) (ex. Border
protection)
 Recalls (look at tabs for topics)
 Economy at a Glance from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics
 Local Area Unemployment Statistics from the
BLS
 EPA environmental data searches

34.  Fatality Analysis Reporting System data (FARS)
 National sex offender registry (Department of
Justice)
 Transportation data from BTS
 Aircraft data (service difficulty reports, on-time
data, aircraft registry, etc.)
 NTSB Aviation Accidents (and more)
 FAA accidents/incidents and service difficulty
reports (SDRs)
 Flight tracker from flightaware
 On-time statistics

35.  Nursing home, hospital and home health data
from Medicare
 Firearms data from the ATF
 Migration data from the IRS
 Tax data from IRS (tax exempt orgs)
 Mine Safety and Health Administration
(MSHA)
 National Agricultural Statistics Service

36. Consumer Reports
(pdf report)
•On-time by airport (pg 7)
•Departure by time (pg 13)
•Chronically delayed flights (pg 15)
•Tarmac delays (pg 25)
•Mishandled baggage (pg 29)
•Injuries and deaths involving pets
(49)
From Bureau of Transportation statistics
(Downloadable to Excel)
•Flight delays
•Bag fees by airline
•Chronically delayed flights
•Cancelled flights

37.  American FactFinder for quick data profiles.
 Datasets from IRE– download profiles,
comparisons and more.
 Get information on the Census from ASU’s
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and IRE.

38.  Fedstats – A to Z list of statistical data from the
government.
 Data.gov – Searchable catalogs of government
data. (search for business, contracts,
inspections, etc.)
 USAspending.gov or FedSpending.org –
Federal spending data including grants, loans,
contracts, etc. (Ex. Coca Cola)

39.  State Government Databases wiki from the
American Library Association
 BRB Publications links to public records sites

40.  Search by domain:
 .gov – government sites (other types: .edu, .org,
.com, .net, etc.)
 Example – search for “Oil spill” “2010” and limit to
site:.gov
 Search by file type:
 .xls for spreadsheets; .txt, .csv for text files; .mdb,
.dbf for databas files
 Example – Same search as above but limit to
filetype:xls
 Search for words within a URL:
 Examples: ftp, download, data, inspection,
enforcement, 2010, etc.

41.  In Excel format – example IRS Exempt
Organizations here.
 From the web – example California West Nile
Virus here.
 In text format – example from data.gov search
on “inspection” here.
 PDF to Excel – try cometdocs.com

42.  Our datasets are “cleaned.”
 All have national data. Some are sliceable by
state.
 They are typically large – meant to be handled
in a database manager and not a spreadsheet.
(We can work with you on that, though.)
 Some examples…

43. HMDA, enacted in 1975, requires all
banks, savings and loans, savings
banks and credit unions with assets
of more than $33 million and offices
in metropolitan areas to report
mortgage applications.
Track subprime loans
Look for discrimination
Find changes in your area since the housing crash
Look for trends

44. Data contain loans made to
businesses and individuals
as disaster assistance. The
data identifies the
borrower, the disaster, the
amount and, for business
borrowers, whether the
loan was paid in full or
deemed uncollectible.
Which disasters have hit your community hardest
Are there any people/businesses who’ve received multiple loans?
What’s the biggest loan?
How much hasn’t been collected?
How much won’t be collected?

45.  How frequently are bridges being inspected?
 How old are they?
 What is their government-assigned status: 1=Structurally Deficient;
2=Functionally Obsolete; 0=Not Deficient; N=Not Applicable
 What are the sufficiency ratings of bridges in your area?
Doesn’t seem like a business story? Think again. Look at areas that have
grown quickly and have lots of development. Are dams/bridges that were
previously thought harmless now in an area of dense development? How
does that change things?

46. IRS Tax Exempt Orgs database
•Get a list of all of the nonprofits in your community
•Find the biggest ones
•Find the ones the generate the most revenue
•Find the ones that generate the least revenue
•Use this information to investigate individual
nonprofits
•Example – Atlanta spreadsheet
•Get individual 990s from Guidestar or Foundation
Center

47.  Federal Contracts
 IRS Migration
 NAFTA Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)
 Local contracts
 Toxics Release Inventory
 Campaign contributions

48.  Dozens of national
data sets for local
enterprise stories
 Links to stories based
on each data set
 Links to tip sheets on
using the data
 Find more
information at
data.nicar.org/data

52. Some simple online tools

53. Example: Michigan CAFOs

55. Jaimi Dowdell
jaimi@ire.org
Jaimi.dowdell@gmail.com
@JaimiDowdell
datalib@ire.org