David McKie
181 Queen Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1K9
david.mckie@cbc.ca
613-288-6523 (office)
613-290-7380 (cell)
@mckiedavid
David and Fred are co-authors of
“The Data Journalist: Getting the Story“
David McKie and Jim Bronskill are co-authors of
Your Right To Know: How to Use the Law to
Get Government Secrets
Using Data for Great Story Ideas
Introduction: What is this course
Generally speaking, data journalism describes three disciplines. First, the use of data analysis and mapping software to spot newsworthy trends; second, the ability to make people see your trend with the help of cloud-based visualization programs such as ArcGIS Online, Google Fusion Tables and Tableau Public; third, using coding skills to create interactive web pages and news applications.
This two-day course will focus on the first set of skills, allowing reporters and producers to conduct more in-depth research to get original ideas for daily stories and longer-term projects. The tool of choice will be a spreadsheet, the “Swiss Army knife of data journalism.”
By the end of the two days, you’ll be ready to return to your newsroom and begin employing your new skills.
Content: Learning objectives
What you will learn on day one
- How to type information into a spreadsheet and properly format the material
- How to copy and paste information into a spreadsheet
- How to sort and filter
- How to create pivot tables
- How to make a story pitches based on the data we’ve analyzed
What you will learn on day two
- How to take a deeper dive into the data by performing basic math such as summing, counting the percentages in spreadsheets
- How to calculate ratios
- How to find data online
- How to find stories from this slightly more sophisticated analysis of datasets
- Strategies for incorporating these skills into your workflow
PowerPoint Presentation
Using Data for Great Story Ideas.pptx
Stories based on data
50 ideas in 60 minutes #NICAR15//ATL
/50ideas.html#/
Alcohol sends more Canadians to hospital than heart attacks: report
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/alcohol-sends-more-canadians-to-hospital-than-heart-attacks-report
Ontario Sunshine List of highest-paid public sector employees reveals thousands earn more than premier
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-sunshine-list-1.3505138
Walmart: Thousands of police calls. You paid the bill.
http://www.tampabay.com/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/investigations/unfounded-sexual-assault-canada-main/article33891309/
The Deadliest Jobs in America
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-dangerous-jobs/
The Ottawa Citizen ‘Huge, huge overtime’ lifts Ontario nurses into $100,000 salary club
http://http-server.carleton.ca/~dmckie/The%20Ottawa%20Citizen%20sunshine%20list%20story%20nurses.pdf
This fire hydrant costs Toronto drivers the most in parking tickets (The Canadian Press)
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/08/11/this_fire_hydrant_costs_toronto_drivers_the_most_in_parking_tickets.html
Toronto cop guilty of assault made Sunshine List while suspended
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/04/24/toronto-cop-guilty-of-assault-made-sunshine-list-while-suspended.html
GOVERNMENT OPEN-DATA WEBSITES(TOP)
Alberta
http://data.alberta.ca/
Alberta Government Salary disclosures
https://www.alberta.ca/salary-disclosure-table.cfm
ACOA Project Information (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)
http://pub.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/atip/e/content/default.asp
BC
http://www.openinfo.gov.bc.ca/ibc/search/search.page#cateloguehttp://www.openinfo.gov.bc.ca/ibc/index.page?http://www.data.gov.bc.ca/
Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS): Main Menu
http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/2/cadors-screaq/m.aspx?lang=eng
Charities Listings (Revenue Canada)
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/lstngs/menu-eng.html
Edmonton
http://data.edmonton.ca/
Elections BC (Political Contributions System)
http://contributions.electionsbc.gov.bc.ca/pcs/SA1ASearch.aspx
Elections Canada – Political Financing
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=fin&&document=index&lang=e
Halifax’s Open Data Catalogue
http://www.halifax.ca/opendata/
Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations
http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&id=2520051
Merchandise imports, exports and trade balance, customs and balance of payments basis for all countries, by seasonal adjustment and principal trading partners
http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&retrLang=eng&id=2280069&&pattern=&stByVal=1&p1=1&p2=31&tabMode=dataTable&csid=
National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) datasets
http://www.ec.gc.ca/inrp-npri/Default.asp?lang=En&n=0EC58C98-1
Newfoundland and Labrador
http://open.gov.nl.ca/
Nova Scotia
https://data.novascotia.ca/
Ontario
http://www.ontario.ca/government/open-data-ontario
http://www.ontario.ca/government/open-government
Ontario’s Public Sector Salary Disclosure
http://www.ontario.ca/government/public-sector-salary-disclosure
Open Government Portal (Federal)
http://open.canada.ca/data/en/datase
Ottawa
http://data.ottawa.ca/en/?page=1
Québec Ouvert (les données ouvertes pour le Québec)
http://quebecouvert.org/
Record Suspension Program 2015-2016 Report to Parliament
https://www.canada.ca/en/parole-board/corporate/transparency/reporting-to-canadians/record-suspension-report-to-parliament-2015-2016.html
Statistics Canada Trade Data
http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&retrLang=eng&id=2280069&&pattern=&stByVal=1&p1=1&p2=31&tabMode=dataTable&csid=
Toronto
http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=1a66e03bb8d1e310VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
Trade Data Online
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/tdo-dcd.nsf/eng/Home
Vancouver
http://data.vancouver.ca/
Vehicle Recalls Database
http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/1ec92326-47ef-4110-b7ca-959fab03f96d
DATA SETS FOR DOWNLOAD (TOP)
Ontario Public Sector Salaries_2014-2016.zip
To download the National Parole Board of Canada’s pardon data, please click right-click here and save to your hard drive.
To download Canadian Institute for Health Information heart attack
hospitalization data, please click or right-click here.
2016 Monthly Service Requests.zip
Revenue Canada’s charities database
To download the National Energy Board’s pipeline incident database, please click here.
To download the narratives from the National Energy Board’s pipeline incident database, please click here.
To download the Excel file the Prime Minister’s Office sent to reporters, please right-click here and use the “save-as”.
To download federal political donation data, please right-click here and use the “save-as”.
Tutorials
DAY ONE – Tutorial for sorting and filtering with the Ontario government_2018.pdf
DAY TWO: Instructions for downloading Elections Canada leadership contestant campaign contributions.pdf