Maryland

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Comment by Kimberly Davis on April 27, 2009 at 1:39pm

A couple of weeks ago,the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism (specializedjournalism.org) hosted a seminar on campus about the
economy. As part of that seminar, Erica Smith of the St. Louis Post-
Dispatch did a pre-seminar about visualizing data online. This week,
she has started posting tutorials based on what she covered in that half-day
session.

Some of the things are not new, but easier to follow in this tutorial
style.

http://graphicdesignr.net/blog/

Best,
Kimberly

Comment by Michael Frost on April 27, 2009 at 1:10pm

Immigrant unemployment rate now exceeds that of native-born, a change from recent past (courtesy of Center for Immigration Studies; full report to be released Wednesday at midnight).

Comment by Andrew Smith on April 7, 2009 at 2:08pm

Here's a map I made that shows some current trends of immigration in the U.S.

Making this has given me some ideas for user-friendly graphics that we could use over the summer. The next step would be to show which candidiate each state voted for. It would be nice to be able to overlap various maps and allow the user to toggle through different views.

We could first do this for the 2008 election, then repeat the process for older elections. The visuals help establish trends, which could lead to story ideas.

For example, the map I made shows that California has a number of cities with the highest proportion of foreign-born immigrants. But the Southeast has many cities with the fastest-growing number of foreign-born immigrants. How is this going to change the South? Can we learn something from these cities in California to possibly predict changes in the South?

Comment by Chris Harvey on April 6, 2009 at 1:32pm

Ellyn Angelotti ends the April 5 session with links to help tell stories interactively. Here is her powerpoint:

http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dcftmshh_1041cchwwnds&skipauth=true

Comment by Chris Harvey on April 6, 2009 at 1:24pm

Maryland crew--at your convenience, please view the professional Web projects outlined in my earlier post below by Ellyn Angelotti of Poynter. They'll give you a good sense of the mix of linear and nonlinear storytelling going on at professional sites today.

We'll be looking to push those boundaries with our summer reporting project.

To help us think about tools we can use to innovate -- including new-model cell phones, which geocode (or insert map coordinates) in all photos taken with them -- here are some more concepts and tools to think about:

* ASU's Dan Gillmor suggests that after taking photos with a cell phone that we try uploading them into Flickr. Because of the geocoding in the images, Flickr can be used to organize them along a rough map, with photo pop-ups, which would be useful for a story about a gallery walk, for instance, or a protest that occurs over several blocks. It lets users visualize what happened where.
* Consultant Amy Webb's presentation on social networking and mobile tools is outlined here: http://webbmediagroup.com/News21.html.

Her links to cool applications are here:
http://webbmediagroup.com/News21.pdf

Specifically, Webb asked us to think about:
* The geospatial Web by looking at Google Earth.
* Loopt, which transforms your mobile phone into a compass and allows you to track locations of people by their phones. (Editors could use it to keep track of their reporting teams, for instance.)
* Boxee, which will let users stream TV onto their computers.
* We need to think about how users consume news throughout the day--on many different "screens" that include cell phones, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, computers, and more. We need to figure out ways to meet their news needs on each "screen."
* APIs--application programming interfaces--which allow you to repackage and republish content on multiple screens (see above).
* hyperpersonal content. People want info on what is fun, about and interesting to them.
* reverse image searches on Tin Eye. It allows you to see earlier versions of photos--can help determine if they've been doctored.

Good technology blogs to follow, according to Webb: Life Hacker, Tech Crunch, Paid Content, Mashable.

A last thought: The AP may be partnering with NAVTEQ to funnel targeted stories through users' navigation devices. (So news is becoming more and more targeted.)

Comment by Chris Harvey on April 4, 2009 at 10:23am

Projects that Poynter's Ellyn Angelotti recomments checking out:
* Ivory Wars on Media Storm (outstanding photos/maps/compellingvideo slide show)
http://www.mediastorm.org/0016.htm--
plus an interactive map uses google earth to show Annie's journey--which is interspersed with a photo blog --plus dots show where elephants were killed. Bigger dots show more were killed. Diffeent colors on dots show whether elephants are alive or dead. They use an external tool but still use it to bring users back into their project.
* Soul of Athens (for Athens, Ohio) --http;//www.soulofathens.com
--It's a student Web site with interesting navigation: Mind, Body, Spirit, Place. Have photo and video elements, but guide users through stories differently. And use interactive timelines to see stories unravel. Also created a cusom map.
* washingtonpost.com's OnBeing--video with the kicker at the end; allows for a sense of discovering. http://specials.washingtonpost.com/onbeing/
* Budget Hero from Minnesota Public Radio: It's a game. It's something that you do, rather than just see. Users get to be engaged through play. Could be used in a classroom to teach how budgets work. Even 12-year-olds could enjoy. Entertaining. Ultimate user control model. Very involving. But you need to explain the situation first, before giving the game. Also have to be careful of the results you give. It's some expert's view; other experts could disagree. Need to be transparent with sources.
* Super Bowl Twitter Chatter: on New York Times--they tell a story using Twitter. Map graphically shows what people tweeted about during the game. Compelling way to see what people are talking about at the same time. Incorporates a slider rule to show time lapse. Can customize sorts by sports or ads. Brings together elements of time and geography and an event. Could be done in our projects possibly with data.... http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/02/02/sports/20090202_superbowl_twitter.html?scp=1&sq=Tweet%20the%20Super%20Bowl&st=cse

* Hack the Debate on Current TV -- allowed for real-time feedback on what candidates were saying, using tweet feeds.
http://current.com/topics/88834922/hack_the_debate/default/0.htm

Comment by Chris Harvey on April 4, 2009 at 8:37am

Early thoughts for our project:

We will be coding, sorting and analyzing brand new ANES exit polling data from the 2008 presidential elections, which is scheduled for release April 30. This analysis will play a significant role in identifying and/or shaping the stories and interactives we ultimately pursue on our project on the influence of race and ethnicity on politics.

Here are a few broad areas that we’ve identified as ripe for exploration:

• We will take a look at the emerging Latino population and their attitudes and influence. Lation voters -- the fastest growing subgroup in the U.S. -- have been and continue to be severely under-represented. But it’s a group that turned out in record numbers in the last election. By going deep into the data and, on the ground, in particularly interesting case-study communities, reporters will identify the most significant aspects of the Latinos’ political emergence in this country -- what's propelling them forward, what's still holding them back, who/what's influencing their political affiliation and what influence they’re exerting, what issues are most important to them and how they might change the country's political landscape in the future. Students have already staked out some really interesting angles -- the impact and influence of Latino growth in new immigrant destinations in the South, with close looks at Virginia, North Carolina and Arkansas. We can peel off angles and stories they identify for other fellows to pursue. This area also seems ripe for using social networks to help with our reporting.
• Churches have played a key historical role in black politics. Are they playing the same or a different role in Latino political engagement? Students will take a close look at the relationship between minority and majority groups, their
churches and politics.
• Minority groups tend to be social conservatives even as they are overwhelming Democratic. So while they helped put a Democrat in office, they also helped to defeat Proposition 8 in California. We will look at minority attitudes and influence on social issues in their communities, with a special focus on gay marriage initiatives.
• Blacks vs. Latinos v. whites : Historically blacks and Latinos have been rivals for political power and resources. But they came together in record numbers to help elect the first African-American president. We will look at new exit data
to identify the reasons for the Latinos’ strong show of support for an African American and talk to members of those communities and experts to see what it portends for the future. We also will look at their complex and changing relationship with the white majority, and the impact of minority groups’ growth in population and power on white political attitudes.


We will, of course, be looking for innovative ways to report and present our findings—with words, pictures, sound, video, graphics,other interactives and databases. We will be seeking community involvement through social networks. We hope to find cool and innovative ways to display our data to help tell our story.
--Chris Harvey, Deb Nelson, Leslie Walker

Comment by Chris Harvey on April 2, 2009 at 11:02am

Jody, agreed. We'll get them moving. And we'll be posting up some early story thoughts before the weekend.

Comment by Jody on April 2, 2009 at 10:59am

Will be good to have all UMd fellows on the Maryland group, specifically!

Comment by Chris Harvey on April 2, 2009 at 10:11am

Ditto.

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