diGJamaica: The Gleaner Makes Information Accessible

© The Gleaner Co. Ltd.

diGJamaica.com
The Gleaner Makes Information Accessible

Deika Morrison @deikamorrison Director, Gleaner Online


Agenda

1. What is diGJamaica.com
2. Making Information Accessible
3. Using Data Journalism To Enhance Understanding
4. How to use diG and connect with diG


What is diGJamaica.com

diGJamaica stands for digital information (from) The Gleaner.

Inspired by the Handbook of Jamaica, it is an online collection of
information you need to know about Jamaica, taken from the most
trusted sources, including The Gleaner’s 179-year-old archive and
government documents.

It’s your Jamaican digital resource for the “stuff behind the news”.


What is diGJamaica.com
Front Page Screenshot


Making Information Accessible
The Philosophy

ac-ces-si-ble: adjective
1. obtainable
2. easy to use
3. readily understandable


Obtainable

We wanted people to be able to get their hands on information
they needed. That drove decisions about:
1) what kind of information/content

Everything ‘you’ need to know, where ‘you’ is everybody – citizens,
foreigners, students, businesspeople, Government, Diaspora, journalists
Emphasis on practical and relevant.

2) how the information is to be made available

Broadest possible access.


Obtainable

Interactive
Visual

Searchable

Online 24/7

21st Century Handbook of Jamaica


Easy To Use and Readily Understandable

We believe that if information is easy to use, then people will use
it. That drove decisions about how to convey content using different
formats and technology

We also believe that making information truly accessible means
helping people to understand that information.


Examples: Some Of The Features

Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text

Images - New Photos, Old Photos and Historical Front Pages that
stand alone, are integrated with text, presented in Slideshows,
Timelines.



This Day In Our Past

Front pages from the
past with interesting
news items from
various years on a
given day



Trivia Game
Make Jamaican facts fun



Government
documents in
flip
magazine
format with
search, zoom
etc.


Directories with non-
traditional
information with
drop down boxes



Filterable
comprehensive
calendar.

Search by type,
parish, name or
date.

Add your own
events.



Dashboard of Indicators
Click on each tab for a
drop down page of
colour coded – red
(worse), green (better).

Click through each
indicator to static and
motion charts


Examples: Some of the Features

Charts
Static and Motion


Using Data Journalism To Enhance Understanding

We created a site that presented data and information in
many different ways that made it ‘accessible’ – i.e.
“obtainable”, “easy to use” and “readily understandable”.

But we wanted to enhance understanding, and so we evolved
into data journalism…



According to the BBC:

“Broadly the term ‘data journalism’ covers projects that use
data to do one or more of the following:
•  Enable a reader to discover information that is personally
relevant
•  Reveal a story that is remarkable and previously unknown
•  Help the reader to better understand a complex issue

These categories may overlap and in an online environment
can often benefit from some level of visualization.”


First,
instead of
just
putting up
the data,
we
started to
‘diG’
deeper

Cost per yard of road for select JDIP roads
(Based on GOJ data)



Ja racks up $J12.5m per Next,
hour in new debt: data and
analysis
“Put more simply, Jamaica were used
has added debt at the for front
rate of J$299 million per page
day or J$12.5 million per stories we
hour, or J$207,000 per created
minute or, finally, almost
J$3,461 per second.”



Ja racks up $J12.5m per hour Next,
in new debt: data and
analysis
“In context, Jamaica added were used
debt at a rate per day that for front
could have paid the annual page
salaries of 167 new primary stories we
and secondary level teachers. created
The nation added enough
debt per hour that could buy
three state-of-the-art
ventilators and leave change
for machine maintenance.”



Ja racks up $J12.5m per hour in Next,
new debt: data and
“The Government of Jamaica analysis
has agreed to new debt, which, were used
per minute could have almost for front
paid for a University of the page
West Indies' student's education stories we
and finally, new debt has been created
incurred each second that could
alternately have comfortably
bought a patty, coco bread
and box drink for a dozen
homeless persons.”



Jamaican exports not worth Next,
cost of imported fuel: data and
analysis
“Trade data unearthed were used
through website for front
www.diGJamaica.com has page
revealed that the value of stories we
all the island's exports from created
January to August this year
would fail to cover the cost
of importing petroleum
products for the same
period.”…


….the dollar climbs….

Then,
we
started
regular
blog
posts
with
….the NIR sinks….
charts



Some of
our Blog
Headlines


Summary

diGJamaica.com was created to address
an articulated need – by the public - to
make facts, figures and data more
‘accessible’, i.e. obtainable, easy to use
and readily understandable.

Data Journalism was a natural
evolution. We use the tools we
created to tell stories to meet our
original objective. And we
encourage others to use those
tools to tell their stories.


7 Quick Ways To “diG”

1) Use the search bar
2) Click on the blue Dashboard Tabs

3) Click on main menu options. Drop down and explore the sub-menus.

4) Click on one of the sections on the front page
5) When you are on a page, click links on related information
6) Explore diGJamaica.com/blog which has categories and tags to
enable easier search
7) Use the ‘sitemap’ in the menu at the bottom of the
front page


Connect with diGJamaica.com

We want to hear from you! Is there something you think we should diG up? Do you
have information that you'd like to share? Email us at dig@digjamaica.com or use the
‘suggest diGs’ tab in the yellow section at the top of the page.

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THANK
YOU

diGJamaica: The Gleaner Makes Information Accessible

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