Telling Stories With Data“The Data is Dead! Long live the Data!”

#ddj#ejc

Alan McLean• @alanmclean• Art/Design/Development background • Worked at CBC.ca 2005-2007• Working at the NYTimes in 2007-Present

• Afghanistan War Logs• 2008 Election• 2008 Olympics• 2010 Olympics• Guantanamo Docket • Document Viewer• Run-Well• more...

Dom Data /

Dom Data: flickr.com/photos/ogil/2499892047

InteractiveNews

Technology@

InteractiveNews

Technology@

Eric - flickr.com/people/74486811@N00

JournalistDeveloper

The old newsroom/developer

relationship

The new newsroom/developer

relationship

Developer/Journalist

Use the web to tell a story, not just as a delivery medium.

Newsroom ToolsDeveloping at close to newsroom pace

is now possible

Journalism Saved!

It’s almost too easy...• Lots of tools, often free or very affordable.• Progressive Enhancement.• An unlimited supply of “pages”.

<3m

Data Dumps Large collections of source material that aim to

inform, but ultimately over-saturate.

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”

Dr. Ian MalcolmJurassic Park (1993)

“

via @kevinq, Graphic Editor at the NYT

Data Dumps

If you won't find narratives in the data, you might as well be posting the phone book.”

@harrisj via Twitter

“

Data Dumps

Why are data dumps a problem?

• Fail to inform clearly.• It’s very easy to get lost.• They take up precious time.• They are usually low impact.• Often bland.

It’s far too easy to distract or confuse an already compromised online

attention span.

Editing is crucial online

• Should we be doing this?• What is the point? • Will any of our readers/users care?• Is this going to be a core component of the story, or merely supplemental?

Design Decisions Are Editorial Statements

The Afghanistan War Logs

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• Three publications with access to the data under a release agreement.

• 90,000+ incident reports.• Spans several years of the conflict in Afghanistan.• A lot of metadata...

The Afghanistan War Logs

The Afghanistan War Logs

• Data Dives!• Maps!• Timelines!• Charts!• and so so much more...

What can we do with this data?

The Afghanistan War Logs

• Aggregate representations of the reports were out.• Maps needed to be “Locator Maps”.• Timelines? Yes.• Incident Charts? • Story integration? Yes! Context was needed. • Could not publish them all... redactions were necessary.

What should we do with this data?

The Afghanistan War Logs

The Package

• 3 articles.• 1 note to the readers from the Editor.• 1 background article on the data.• An incident report interactive.• A page tying it all together.

• Lead with a Map• Removed the ads• Flopped the columns• Forced a single page view• Relevant maps and photos

were loaded alongside text• Stylized report text within article

The Afghanistan War LogsThe Article

Locator Maps

Timeline

Photos/Maps

Incident Report Text

The Afghanistan War Logs

The Maps

The Afghanistan War Logs

Context

The Afghanistan War Logs

Context

The Afghanistan War Logs / The Interactive

Real Titles Stylized NYT Redactions The Jargonizer Real Summaries

The Afghanistan War Logs / The Interactive

The Afghanistan War Logs / The Series Page