This handout accompanies a presentation, "Data-Driven Enterprise off Any Beat," by Manuel Torres, enterprise editor at The Times-Picayune | Nola.com. It details what data journalism can do for a journalist, how to get started with data journalism, how to find data and how to learn more about data journalism. It also lists links to many data sets by beat. NewsTrain is a training initiative of Associated Press Media Editors: http://bit.ly/NewsTrain

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Data-driven enterprise off your beat
Manuel Torres | NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | mtorres@nola.com |
@1manueltorres
What can data journalism do for you?
1. Sets your work apart. Data add depth and texture in a way that an anecdote
never could.
2. Reveals really good stories that can make a difference and win prizes.
3. Makes you a better journalist. You’ll be able to ask better questions to
hold public officials accountable. Data are powerful, strengthening your
watchdog role.
4. It can make you sometimes smarter than the agencies, which seldom
analyze data they collect.
5. Good data stories and databases hosted on your website can generate
excellent Web traffic.
How to get started
1. Learn Excel. It’s a powerful tool that is easily mastered. Ask a colleague to
teach you, or Google it! There are simple online tutorials for every function.
2. Start small. A guaranteed success will impress your editors and your
audience. You’ll convince yourself this is doable.
3. Find work that interest you and replicate it. Many national data stories
can be localized. Follow the path set by others.
4. Master one skill at a time. You don’t need to learn everything at once. Add
mapping and graphic-building abilities as you go.
5. Use Excel often. Reporter Jill Riepenhoff suggests using Excel track FOIAs,
your Rolodex, passwords, recipes. “It isn’t a bicycle – you will lose it if you don’t
use it,” she says.
6. Join Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). Members ($70
annually/$25 for students) get access to thousands of how-to tip sheets, practice
datasets, training opportunities, clean datasets and listservs.
http://ire.org/membership/

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How to find data
1. Google it. Tons of data are online ready for the taking. Use Google’s advanced
search to find Excel files in .gov and/or .edu domains. You’ll be amazed what’s
out there.
2. Get record-retention schedules from agencies you cover. Here, for
example, is Texas’ state records schedule https://goo.gl/LBvnEm.
3. Read the how-to boxes in other journalists’ work.
4. Ask the agency how they track data. Get a blank copy of every form it uses to
collect information; it will reveal what data are available.
5. FOIA it! Get familiar with federal and state laws, and use them often. (See
separate handout on FOIA resources.)
6. Collect your own data. This is the slowest and hardest route, but with
patience it can reveal great stories. Good for small data sets.
Data by beat
Must haves on any beat
 Inspection reports: nursing homes, taxi cabs, amusement-park rides, stadium
food, restaurants
 Licensing: nurses, massage therapists, mortgage brokers, food trucks, florist
(yes, in Louisiana florists needs a license)
 Disciplinary actions: teachers, doctors, lawyers, coaches
 Property records: slumlords, foreclosures, unequal property assessments,
nonprofits getting breaks for money-making property
Sports
 Minor league baseball: http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/
 College athletic department salaries. See USA Today for top coaches’ salaries in
football: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/salaries/
and basketball: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/salaries/ncaab/coach/
 NCAA research data: http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research
 Major NCAA infractions: https://web1.ncaa.org/LSDBi/exec/miSearch
 Academic progress rates for college athletes:
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/NCAA/data.html
 High school participation rates:
http://www.nfhs.org/ParticipationStatics/ParticipationStatics.aspx/

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Health
 Vaccinations
 Medicare nursing home database:
https://www.medicare.gov/NursingHomeCompare/Resources/Downloadable-
Database.html
 Health department databases. Here’s Arkansas’, for example.
Business
 Sheriff’s sales
 Wildlife bird strikes at airports: http://wildlife.faa.gov/
 Data breaches: http://www.privacyrights.org/data-breach
 Consumer complaints database
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaintdatabase/
Government
 Housing-code violations
 Parking tickets
 Time sheets
 Federal datasets: http://catalog.data.gov/dataset The federal government’s
catalog of datasets
 Census’ Federal Audit Clearinghouse
https://www.census.gov/econ/overview/go1400.html Audits of nonprofits, and
local and state agencies that spent at least $500,000 in federal dollars. (Site
down until Oct. 31.)
 Federal contracts, spending and grants by state, county, city
https://www.usaspending.gov/Pages/Default.aspx
 Arkansas state and local salaries, contracts, expenses and revenues
http://transparency.arkansas.gov/Pages/default.aspx
 Louisiana database on more than 187,000 state contracts
http://wwwprd.doa.louisiana.gov/latrac/contracts/home.cfm
 Mississippi state expenses (including travel), contracts, revenues and other fiscal
info http://www.transparency.mississippi.gov/
 Texas state and local fiscal data http://www.texastransparency.org/
Education
 Campus crime 2001-2013: http://ope.ed.gov/security/ Clean dataset can be
purchased from IRE for $25 for members ($75 non members).
Environment
 EPA enforcement data http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/data-and-results

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 Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality documents
http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/querydef.aspx Agency records and
correspondence, including enforcement.
 EPA Toxic Release Inventory http://www2.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-
program
 USDOT hazmat accidents http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/library/data-
stats/incidents and pipeline accidents http://goo.gl/lzjf6m
Cops and courts
 Jail-booking data: Stories – domestic violence, immigration, drunk drivers
 Sex offenders
 Mapping: Where is crime taking place. Example: Shreveport
https://www.shreveportla.gov/index.aspx?NID=426 and New Orleans
http://www.nola.gov/nopd/crime-data/crime-maps/
 FBI crime statistics https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/crimestats
Census
 Census’ Stats for Stories: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories.html
 Census’ American FactFinder:
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml
Nonprofits (including the arts, churches)
 Guidestar for IRS Form 990 or tax return http://www.guidestar.org/
 Catholic clergy accused of child abuse http://bishop-accountability.org/member/
Features
 Dog licenses: popular breeds/names, location of pitbulls
 License plates: banned phrases
 U.S. Census Bureau Facts for Features: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-
for-features.html
 U.S. Department of Labor violations for clothing manufacturers, retailers and
fashion-media companies: http://ogesdw.dol.gov/homePage.php
Need more ideas?
 60 ideas from data journalists Mary Jo Webster and Jodi Upton.
http://goo.gl/9EKDfz
 Sunshine in Government’s FOIA Files
http://sunshineingovernment.org/wordpress/the-foia-files/ Searchable synopsis
for 700+ stories that used records obtained under FOIA laws.

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 IRE’s NICAR databases http://ire.org/nicar/database-library/ A few dozen
government databases ranging from workplace safety to campaign contributions
and health care. Most free or for nominal fees for members.
 IRE’s Story Packs http://ire.org/resource-center/story-packs/ Collections of IRE
tipsheets for in-depth coverage in beats ranging from cops to sports to business
and local government.
How to learn more
(Compiled by reporter Jill Riepenhoff.)
Training
 Free online course on data journalism. Register your email to be notified when
next session opens: http://datajournalismcourse.net/ Offered by the European
Journalism Centre.
 Computer-assisted reporting boot camps through Investigative Reporters and
Editors: http://ire.org/events-and-training/boot-camps/ Fellowships available:
http://ire.org/events-and-training/fellowships-and-scholarships/
 Webinar: The Basics of Data Journalism
http://stateimpact.npr.org/toolbox/2013/04/15/webinar-the-basics-of-data-
journalism/ Created by the NPR StateImpact pilot project.
Books
 Data Journalism Handbook: http://www.datajournalismhandbook.org/ Free e-
book from the European Journalism Centre and Open Knowledge Foundation.
 Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide, 4th Edition, e-book:
http://store.ire.org/collections/frontpage/products/pre-order-computer-
assisted-reporting-a-practical-guide-4th-edition By Brant Houston, $45 from
Investigative Reporters and Editors.
 Data+Design: https://infoactive.co/data-design/ free e-book on data
visualization from Infoactive and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute.
 Getting Started with Data Journalism: Writing Data Stories in Any Size
Newsroom https://leanpub.com/datajournalism By Claire Miller, $14.99 from
Leanpub.
Other resources
 Top data journalism resources from the International Journalists Network:
http://ijnet.org/blog/top-data-journalism-resources
 Join Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) for $70 ($25 for students)
http://ire.org/membership/ Access more than 3,000 tip sheets, many about data

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journalism, and join the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting
(NICAR) listserv for help with computer-assisted reporting questions:
http://ire.org/resource-center/listservs/subscribe-nicar-l/
Other tools
 For IRE members http://ire.org/files/static_files/video/toolvideos.html Free or
discounted software, including free Esri (mapping), Tableau (visualization) and
others.
 Document converters such as Cometdocs.com (free for IRE members) or
Freepdfconvert.com
Questions?
Manuel Torres
Enterprise Editor, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Cell 504.352.2543
mtorres@nola.com