Term: Winter 2025
Instructor: David McKie
Email: davidmckiec@gmail.com
Phone: 613-290-7380
Office Hours: By appointment, via Zoom
Classes: Fridays: 2:35 pm ADT from Jan 6 to April 7, 2025 with synchronous remote delivery
No sessions/classes: Feb. 7, Munro Day;
Feb. 24, reading week
King’s and Halifax (Kjipuktuk) sit on unceded Mi’kmaw land in Mi’kma’ki.
African Nova Scotians are a distinct people whose histories, legacies and contributions have
enriched Mi’kma’ki and Nova Scotia for more than 400 years
About me
I am an Ottawa-based, award-winning journalist who spent 26 years honing his skills at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as an investigative producer.
I am the National Observer’s deputy managing editor.
I teach at the schools of journalism at Carleton University, the University of King’s College, and Toronto Metropolitan University, and have co-authored three journalism textbooks and two user guides on freedom-of-information laws and privacy, respectively.
In addition to my teaching, I’m a data-journalism trainer who has conducted workshops for the Canadian Association of Journalists, the U.S.-based National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, and the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations. I also continue to offer data-journalism training to the CBC.
I’m a judge for the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting’s Philip Meyer Journalism Award, and the Investintech – Canadian Association of Journalist Data Journalism Scholarship.
I have a Bachelor of Journalism degree and a Master of Journalism degree from Carleton.
You can find more information about me on my online cv.
Course Description
So what kind of problems can we solve using data journalism (there’s that term again!) tools?
We can quickly find the biggest construction contract or the smallest car (or CAR). We can
answer questions such as how much? How many? Answers to those questions, and many others, are buried in datasets, some easier to obtain than others.
And there are many ways to analyze the data. For instance, we can sort and filter a table to see what pops to the top. We can use pivot tables to summarize the data in such a way as to see newsworthy patterns. Or we can take two different datasets to see how they compare or what they have in common. And we can visualize our findings with a bar or line graph, scatterplot, or whatever we like.
And speaking of visualizations, we can also make maps to how the patterns we’ve discovered in our data are displayed within geographic boundaries such as neighbourhoods, census tracts or political ridings.
Ultimately, we can use these skills to tell original stories, or stories that give newsworthy events, additional context. If your journalism exists behind a paywall, as is the case with many media outlets, this is the kind of original content that will entice subscribers.
We’re going to Excel use an open source SQL database program called MySQL for our analysis, and simple queries that will slice through the data in seconds. MySQL also allows you to combine tables from the same dataset (Statistics Canada, or municipal restaurant inspections, for instance), or tables from different datasets such as lobbying records and political donations.
A note about tools This kind of work gives us a lot of choices, and one of those is which tools we will use to work with our data. Some prefer the point-and-click familiarity of a spreadsheet and others the raw power of structured query language, usually written as SQL. Some like doing everything in code. Yet others use proprietary platforms such as Tableau. Much of it comes down to personal preference and perhaps what you happened to learn first. The key is having a base knowledge about data journalism, and then finding the tool(s) to fit your purposes and level of expertise.
Tools have evolved, however, as has their usage by journalists, even while the underlying intellectual practice has stayed relatively the same. Our goal, therefore, is to understand those methods while learning about them using a technology that is relevant today. We’ll begin with Excel, referred to as data journalism’s Swiss army knife, capable of accomplishing many tasks with minimal effort. The advantage of Excel and Google Sheets, is the relatively shallow learning curve. Once you have a basic knowledge, learning advanced techniques to give your analysis more depth is easier than you think. However, Excel can only take you so far. A database containing hundreds of thousands, or even millions of rows, is too large for Excel. Enter one solution: the database manager MySQL.
The SQL queries produce tables that can be exported and opened in Excel to continue your analysis that could lead to stories.
Those stories will contain more than words. In our increasingly multimedia universe, our stories possess contain graphics. For this we can use Datawrapper or Tableau. While Datawrapper is the easier of the two to learn, Tableau has more raw power, allowing users to create more complicated visuals and interactive dashboards. We will be using both programs in this course, giving you the choice of which one to use for your final project.
While both programs can produce maps, the best tool for creating these visualizations is ArcGIS Online, a mapping tool that can create layers to show audiences the census tracts with the highest level of poverty, expensive houses, or the highest rates of property crimes such as break-ins and car thefts.
We will also learn the different ways to obtain this data. Many datasets reside on federal, provincial and municipal open-data portals. Other datasets are available for the asking. And when all else fails, we must file a formal access-to-information or freedom-of-information request. We’ll learn how to use these data-gathering techniques.
And, of course, once we obtain this data, we need to learn techniques to clean and analyse it.
Because we will be on Zoom, the classes will be recorded, allowing you to review the technical parts as instructional videos.
The tools you’ll need
Excel;
Google Sheets;
MySQL;
Datawrapper;
Tableau;
ArcGIS
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course you should be able to:
●Think critically about the role and use of data in journalism.
●Obtain data from a variety of sources for use in your reporting, including downloading data from open-data portals and filing formal and informal access-to-information requests.
●Adopt a problem-solving approach to using data and correcting its deficiencies.
●Choose the appropriate tool for solving a journalistic problem.
●Identify problems in data and correct them.
●Work with data: cleaning, sorting and filtering, summarizing, joining,
locating and visualizing.
●Use a relational database program to query data for patterns and outliers.
●Use a mapping application to find patterns and relationships in geographic data.
●Make charts and graphs to make the results of data analysis more accessible.
Additional learning objectives for each week will be posted in Brightspace and on the WordPress site I have created for this course.
Expected time commitment
You may need to put in an average of six to eight sustained hours into this course weekly, but this is just an estimate. By sustained hours, we mean hours on task, not including breaks. How much time it takes will depend on your own working habits and will also vary weekly with the content, hence the wide estimate.
Texts/Learning Materials
● Vallance-Jones, Fred, David Mckie, (2016) The Data Journalist, Toronto: Oxford
University Press. The best and cheapest way to obtain this book is to buy the e-book
version available at https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-data-journalistgetting-
the/9780199020089-item.html. You can view it in the free Kobo app on a
smartphone, tablet or your computer. You can also buy a physical copy of the book in the university bookstore.
● Various websites
Required software
You will need to install necessary software on your own computer, beginning with Excel. You can use a Windows 10/11 PC or a Mac using MacOS. You will need to install the MySQL Community Edition database manager program from MySQL.org. We’ll discuss in class. We’ll use Datawrapper, Tableau and ArcGIS Online. You can set up a free account at Datawrapper.de. We will also sign you up for a Tableau account and provide a ArcGIS account.
We assume you already have Excel installed on your computer. If not, you can get it free from your my.dal account. We do have some older Windows PCs available for loan if you don’t have a computer suitable for the course, which normally means a Windows 10/11 PC or a Mac, with its operating system still supported by the manufacturer and sufficient hard drive space and memory (100 gb and 8 gb respectively recommended).
Please let me know if you are unsure. If you do borrow a computer, you’ll need to sign a contract promising to return it or pay to replace it. We’ll figure out if your computer is suitable in the first class.
Ground Rules/Protocol
This course is hands-on, because learning by doing is always the best way to learn journalism methods and thinking.
Absences Reasonable accommodations at the discretion of the instructor will be made for students who, because of illness, are unable to attend class. Such accommodations may include rescheduled assignment due dates and presentations (where feasible), or alternate coursework (consistent with the integrity of the class evaluation). As a rule, if you are sick, you shouldn’t attend class.
For absences of UP TO THREE consecutive calendar days including a missed test or graded assignment, students must contact the course instructor in advance of the date of the academic requirement. They must then complete and submit a Student Declaration of Absence Form (Journalism) to the instructor in person, via email or through Brightspace no later than three calendar days after the last day of the absence.
Note: The form does not provide an automatic exemption from academic requirements that were missed or late during the absence; any alternate coursework arrangements for missed or late academic requirements are at the discretion of the instructor. For courses weighted three or six credit hours, a Student Declaration of Absence can be submitted for two separate absences, up to three days each, per course per term. For a nine-credit hour workshop, a Student Declaration of Absence can be submitted for a single such absence.
For absences of MORE THAN THREE consecutive days, a student should follow the same procedure and contact their course instructor within five calendar days after the last day of the absence. Documentation from an on-campus or other health care professional is required to support a long-term absence and should describe how the medical condition affects the student’s ability to fulfill academic requirements.
For a LONGER-TERM ABSENCE or MORE THAN TWO SHORT-TERM ABSENCES, a student is encouraged to meet with the School’s Graduate Coordinator or the Director of Journalism.
Ways to contact me
You can email me for non-time-sensitive matters. Please start the subject line with JOUR6705. I respond promptly.
Assessment
- Data FOI request. File a request for a dataset and follow it through the course. Write a summary of your experience. If you are lucky, you can use your FOI data for the final project. We will review wording of requests to provide you with the necessary guidance. 15 per cent of the grade
- Data story presentation. You will find a data-centered news story online, interview the reporter and prepare a 15-minute presentation to your classmates introducing the story, explaining the data and techniques used in the story, why you chose it as a good example of data techniques in practice, and how it contributes to public understanding of the topic. By data-centered we mean a story that has its origins in data and data analysis as discussed in class. By story, we mean journalism, so do a presentation on a news site online. We will have one or two presentations per week, starting about a third of the way into the course, depending on your progress. There will be a signup sheet. We will allow up to 30 minutes including questions. General questions your presentation should answer: What dataset was used? How did the reporter get it? What was the main finding that led the story? What is the story’s nut graph? Was the story easy to understand? Who were the main characters? What graphics or visualizations did the reporter use? What suggestion would you have for a follow-up? Assignment Q&A :
Q: How recent should the story be?
A: Within the last two years.
Q: Does the medium matter?
A: No, it can be print, TV, radio, podcast, or a combination of all of the above.
Q: Do I have to talk to the reporter?
A: Yes.
Q: Answers to emailed questions or an interview?
A: Ideally, an interview. Failing that, emailed questions about the data, how it was obtained, etc.
The idea of this assignment is to teach you how to critically assess data-driven stories, using the analytical skills for your own end-of-term assignment.
15 per cent of your grade - Mini-technical assignments. You will do four, mini in-class tests to gauge how well you have acquired technical skills with the following: Excel, MySQL, data visualization and mapping. Each test will be 5 per cent for a total of 20 per cent of your grade
- Final project. In this multi-part assignment, you will bring together data analysis and visualization techniques with text storytelling and basic photography. In the first part of the assignment, you will find and clean your dataset and complete your analysis and visualizations, by an agreed deadline in early March. Then, you will complete your conventional reporting and, and hand in a draft and visualizations revised per feedback by an agreed deadline. Finally, after receiving more feedback, you will submit a final version of all of the work in the form of a draft Signal post, by an agreed deadline about when classes end. Key questions you need to answer when conducting research for your final project: What public institutions are in charge of the program you are researching? Is there more than one institution? For instance, if it’s guns and gun safety, Public Safety Canada would be the main federal institution involved. However, Public Safety is an umbrella institution that includes the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency, Corrections Canada and Emergency Preparedness. So, depending on your topic, you might have to research relevant records produced by each of these organizations, depending on their level of their responsibility. At the provincial level, institutions responsible for law enforcement would also have to be checked out, as would municipal police forces in cities and towns. In addition to public bodies, there could be advocacy groups who track the progress — or lack of it — of the issue you are researching. Bottom line, if you don’t know who is responsible, who the players are, it’s difficult — no, virtually, impossible — to determine where to start looking for sources like public records and possible human sources. I know who is responsible, now what? Deploying the techniques learned in this class, begin searching for records by asking the following questions: What records does the public or private body produce? Can I get them from websites, open-data portals, previously released records released through provincial freedom-of-information laws, or the federal Access to Information Act? At what point do I need to make a formal request under the federal or provincial law? Who are the spokespeople in the previously mentioned institutions I should be contacting? What have they said on the record or publicly? Do they have information that can be shared? Should I be putting these new developments in my Google Sheet and IRE storyboard? Yes, constant updates are crucial. Is it okay to have a thesis or hunch about what an issue or problem might be? Yes, but it MUST be backed by evidence, from a public record or human source. Rarely will you be given the green light for a project based on an unsubstantiated hunch.
Final project weighting: First draft of story, 15 per cent. Final draft of story, plus revised visualizations and your photos, 25 per cent. You will have regular individual check-ins with your instructor as you progress through the work. Word length: The word length will be 1500 words. If you’re about 50 words under or over, that’s fine. Anything more, you will be deducted half a grade. Number of voices: At least three, including a main character and expert voice who can put your story into a broader context, and an accountability interview from an official in charge of the issue you are investigating. Given the difficulty of obtaining interviews from government sources, an emailed response will be allowed. However, I must have evidence you have attempted to contact someone for an interview. Filing an access-to-information request: Because we have stressed that filing a request should come at the end of your research, it makes sense to file one now, even though you won’t get anything back on time. You’ll be graded on: the wording; sending it to the correct institution and using the proper time period of no less than a year. If you eventually get something back that is worthwhile, you can always update your story. Visualizations: A photo; and map at the very least. You can also include a chart constructed in Datawrapper. Multimedia components: A short video clip, which means at least one of your interviews must be recorded for video. Publishing: Final assignments that receive a grade of at least a B+ may be published in The Signal if publication standards are met. What if I don’t finish the final version before grading deadline? I will grade what I receive. It will then be up to you do determine whether you want to keep working on the story so that it can be published. If your end-of-term story is a jumping off point for your professional project, continuing with the assignment makes sense. If not, you may choose to move on. The choice is yours.
Submission of Assignments
Assignments will be emailed.
Assignments reviewed
Data FOI request: 15 per cent – due date: TBD
Data story presentation: 15 per cent – due date: TBD
Four mini technical assignments: 20 per cent – due date: TBD
Initial data work and visualizations: 15 per cent – due date: TBD
First draft of story: per cent 10 – due date: April 7
Final draft of story, plus revised visualizations and photos: 25 per cent – due date: April 14 at 11:59.
Readings schedule reviewed
By week two: Chapters 1, 2 and 3 by next week ;
By week four: Chapter 5;
By week five: Chapter 8
By week eight: Chapters 6 and 7
Deadlines & Late Penalties
The late penalty is 10 per cent of the assessed grade for every full or partial week an assignment is late, up to four full weeks late, after which assignments will not be accepted and will receive 0, except for the final assignment final draft, which cannot be more than one full week late. There is a one-day grace period before each week’s penalty kicks in, so an assignment handed in up to one day after the due date will not be penalized. There will be no individual extensions without extenuating circumstances such as illness or a family emergency
| Grade Scale | |||
| Grade | Grade Point Value | % | Definition |
| A+ | 4.30 | 90-100 | |
| A | 4.00 | 85-89 | |
| A- | 3.70 | 80-84 | |
| B+ | 3.30 | 77-79 | |
| B | 3.00 | 73-76 | |
| B- | 2.70 | 70-72 | |
| F | 0.00 | 0-69 | |
| INC | 0.00 | Incomplete | |
| ILL | Neutral and no credit obtained | Compassionate reasons, illness | |
Grading Rubrics
| Outstanding to Excellent (A- to A+) | Good to Very Good (B- to B+) | Below Standards (C+ and below) | |
| Required tasks and skills (100%) | Required tasks completed in such a way as to demonstrate mastery of the assignment’s specific skillset, as detailed in the individual assignment requirements. | Required tasks completed in such a way as to demonstrate good understanding of the assignment’s specific skillset, as detailed in the individual assignment requirements. | Required tasks completed in such a way as to demonstrate limited understanding of the assignment’s specific skillset, as detailed in the individual assignment requirements. |
Course Schedule
Note: This schedule will be adjusted as necessary depending on class progress. If it takes
longer for the class to master something, we will slow down. Conversely, if the class is slicing
through a topic, we can move on more quickly. The class will always be consulted on changes
to the schedule. Most importantly, if you are having trouble with something, please tell me. This is often-technical material that may be more challenging for some than for others. I won’t know if you don’t tell me.
Because of the George III/Munro Day holiday and reading week, we lose two
Fridays. Dal has given us the last Monday and Tuesday of term to catch up. That’s a bit awkward for regular classes, so we’ll use those two days to review skillsets that may be giving you problems.
Class 1-January 10 , 2025
Class recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQtRPbrTLAc
What you will learn
– General discussion about the course and assignments;
– General discussion about data driven-stories and what distinguishes them from regular stories;
– An introduction to different ways to obtain data: open data portals; information access-to-information requests and formal access-to-information requests;
– Data and data formats;
– Downloading tables from open-data portals and opening them in Excel.
Links:
Population growth in N.S. now mainly driven by international migration
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/population-growth-in-n-s-now-mainly-driven-by-international-migration-1.7401844
IRE announces winners of the 2023 Philip Meyer Journalism Award
https://www.ire.org/2023-meyer-winners/
Why so many Americans bleed to death after a traumatic injury
https://interactives.dallasnews.com/2023/bleeding-out/bleeding-to-death-traumatic-injury-preventable/
Refinery has been cloaking parts of Vancouver in ‘repugnant’ stench for years: documents
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/07/18/news/refinery-has-been-cloaking-parts-vancouver-repugnant-stench-years-documents
Refinery has been cloaking parts of Van…pdf
Data used in National Observer story
http://www.davidmckie.com/Monthly odor complaints_Master.xlsx
Sudan’s cemeteries swell with fresh graves as hunger and disease spread
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/sudan-politics-hunger-graves/
Why did more than 1,000 people die after police subdued them with force that isn’t meant to kill?
https://apnews.com/article/associated-press-investigation-deaths-police-encounters-02881a2bd3fbeb1fc31af9208bb0e310
How We Crunched the Data on Disaster Survivors
https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/04/03/How-We-Counted-Data-On-Disaster-Survivors/
Unemployment dipped to 6.7% while job gains beat expectations in December
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/labour-force-survey-december-2024-1.7427801
Labour Force Survey, December 2024
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250110/dq250110a-eng.htm
Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle, last 5 months
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410028701
Labour Force Survey in brief: Interactive app
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/14-20-0001/142000012018001-eng.htm
Question Period Notes
https://search.open.canada.ca/en/qp/
Completed Access to Information Requests
https://open.canada.ca/en/search/ati?_ga=2.69692565.406018153.1536604353-1818651053.1522773341
Open by Default
https://theijf.org/open-by-default
Open Government – Proactive disclosure and access to information
https://open.canada.ca/en
Secret Canada – The Globe and Mail’s access-to-information search tool
https://www.secretcanada.com/
Access to information
Access to Information and Privacy Coordinators
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/atip-aiprp/apps/coords/index-eng.asp
Information about programs and holdings
https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/access-information-privacy/access-information/information-about-programs-information-holdings.html
Access to Information: general info
https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/hgw-cgf/oversight-surveillance/atip-aiprp/ai/index-eng.asp
Access to Information request forms
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/tbsf-fsct/350-57_e.asp
epost Connect
https://www.canadapost.ca/cpc/en/business/postal-services/digital-mail/epost-connect.page
PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES
Alberta
http://www.servicealberta.ca/foip/
British Columbia
Main: http://www.gov.bc.ca/citz/iao/foi/
Completed requests:
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/search?id=4BAD1D13C68243D1960FECBBF7B8B091
Manitoba
Main: http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/fippa/
Completed requests: https://www.manitoba.ca/openmb/infomb/fippa.html
Proactive disclosure:
https://www.manitoba.ca/openmb/index.html
https://manitoba.ca/openmb/infomb/departments/index.html
New Brunswick
https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/finance/office_of_the_chief_information_officer/content/rti.html
Newfoundland and Labrador
Main: http://www.atipp.gov.nl.ca/info/accessrequestform.html
Completed requests: http://atipp-search.gov.nl.ca/
Northwest Territories
https://www.justice.gov.nt.ca/en/access-to-information-held-by-public-bodies/
Nova Scotia
Info: http://novascotia.ca/is/programs-and-services/information-access-and-privacy.asp
File a request online: https://iaprequest.novascotia.ca/
The Right to Know Coalition of Nova Scotia
http://www.nsrighttoknow.ca/
Nunavut
http://www.gov.nu.ca/eia/information/how-place-atipp-request
Ontario
https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-make-freedom-information-request
Prince Edward Island
https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/justice-and-public-safety/freedom-information-and-protection-privacy-foipp
Quebec
Main: http://www.cai.gouv.qc.ca/english/
Yukon
Main: http://www.atipp.gov.yk.ca/
Completed requests: https://open.yukon.ca/data/sites/default/files/20200800-Release.pdf
CITIES
Calgary
https://www.calgary.ca/CA/city-clerks/Pages/Information-Access-Privacy/FOIP-request.aspx
Information disclosure: https://www.calgary.ca/ca/city-clerks/legislative-services/confidential-information-release.html
Edmonton
http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/city_organization/freedom-of-information-and-privacy.aspx
Fredericton
http://www.fredericton.ca/en/right-to-information-and-protection-of-privacy
Halifax Regional Municipality http://www.halifax.ca/AccessPrivacy/index.php
Completed requests: https://www.halifax.ca/city-hall/accountability-transparency/access-information/completed-requests
Hamilton
http://www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartments/CorporateServices/Clerks/MFIPPA_adn_PHIPA.htm
Moncton
https://www.moncton.ca/my-govt-work/right-information-and-protection-privacy-act
Montreal
http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=5798,39687582&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
Ottawa
Main: http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/your-city-government/access-information-and-privacy
Completed requests: https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/accountability-and-transparency/accountability-framework/freedom-information-and-protection-privacy/disclosure-mfippa-requests
Regina
Main: https://www.regina.ca/city-government/administration/office-of-the-city-clerk/#outline-access-to-information-and-protection-of-privacy
Completed requests: http://open.regina.ca/group/freedom-of-information
Saskatoon
https://www.saskatoon.ca/city-hall/send-comments-concerns-city/freedom-information
Completed requests: https://open.toronto.ca/dataset/freedom-of-information-requests-summary/
Vancouver
Main: http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/foi/index.htm
Completed requests: http://vancouver.ca/your-government/information-released-through-foi-requests-this-year.aspx
Winnipeg
Main: http://winnipeg.ca/clerks/fippa/
Completed requests: http://winnipeg.ca/clerks/fippa/AccessToInfo.stm
COMPLETED ACCESS REQUESTS
Federal
https://open.canada.ca/en/search/ati
British Columbia
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/search?id=4BAD1D13C68243D1960FECBBF7B8B091
Vancouver
http://vancouver.ca/your-government/information-released-through-foi-requests-this-year.aspx
Manitoba
https://www.manitoba.ca/openmb/infomb/departments.html
https://www.manitoba.ca/openmb/infomb/fippa.html
Winnipeg
http://winnipeg.ca/clerks/fippa/AccessToInfo.stm#1
Regina (Note: not all are freedom-of-information responses)
http://open.regina.ca/group/freedom-of-information
Nova Scotia
https://informationaccess.novascotia.ca/
Halifax
https://www.halifax.ca/city-hall/accountability-transparency/access-information/completed-requests
Newfoundland
http://atipp-search.gov.nl.ca/
Yukon
https://open.yukon.ca/data/sites/default/files/20200800-Release.pdf
Additional resources
Dean Beeby’s access-to-information tipsheet.pdf
Example of an Ontario request:
http://www.davidmckie.com/Ontario%20Data%202018%20Request.pd
Click here to see a complete example of federal, provincial and municipally-based access-to-information requests required for the assignment.
Click here to see an example of a formal federal access-to-information request.
Click here to see an example of a provincial request.
Click here to see an example of a municipal-based request
Dean Beeby’s blog about journalism and transparency
https://www.deanbeeby.ca/blog
Dean Beeby’s access-to-information tipsheet.pdf
Readings: 1, 2 and 3
Class 2-January 17 , 2025
Class recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDnSuO4p5Rw
What you will learn:
-Discussion of a CBC Investigates story on refugee claimants using data from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and the methods the reporter used to obtain the data;
– Access-to-information alerts;
-A review of last week’s discussion about open-data portals, access to information and downloading data;
– Finding patterns in data by sorting, filtering, counting and grouping and pivot tables;
– Visualizing these patterns in Excel, then in Datawrapper, time permitting
Links:
Explore the views and experiences of newcomers with CBC News’ special series “Welcome to Canada”
https://newsletters.cbc.ca/q/1foREZAXyhQ5AhI2b1195gj/wv
Canada’s acceptance of refugee claims has ballooned in last 6 years — more for some countries than others
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-refugee-claims-acceptance-rate-1.7424323
Two women fleeing domestic violence sought asylum in Canada. The system treated them very differently
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/domestic-violence-asylum-claims-canada-1.7425240
Refugee claims statistics
https://irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/statistics/protection/pages/index.aspx
Claims by Country of Alleged Persecution – 2024
https://irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/statistics/protection/Pages/RPDStat2024.aspx
Sean Rehaag open-data portal
https://refugeelab.ca/projects/refugee-law-data/
Refugee Protection Division (RPD) Decisions
https://ouvert.canada.ca/data/dataset/6e47f705-71ed-41f0-8fd5-d1a8508a3b63
Statistics Canada’s data tables
How to use Statistics Canada’s data tables
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/sc/video/howto
Labour Force Survey in brief: Interactive app
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/14-20-0001/142000012018001-eng.htm
Labour force status by period of immigration, admission category, highest level of education and location of study, for immigrants since 1980: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810044101
Orders in Council
https://orders-in-council.canada.ca/results.php?pageNum=1&lang=en
Resources
Refugee data
http://www.davidmckie.com/Refugee Protection Division (RPD) Decisions_2013-2024.zip
Class 3-January 24 , 2025
Class recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8D8PeMOf9s
What you will learn:
-Continue working with Excel using more advanced functions to analyse and clean data;
-Finalize choices of data-driven stories to analyze for assignment;
-Continue discussion of ideas for end-of-term project.
Links:
Google sign-up sheet for data-story presentations
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Y-4H8o4aqABwIsLns-zG2B_xGX50nn_QznIWUPCe0cQ/edit?gid=0#gid=0
IRE announces winners of the 2024 Philip Meyer Journalism Award
https://www.ire.org/announcing-2024-philip-meyer-journalism-award-winners/
How intense pressure from for-profit daycares has transformed Ontario’s rollout of $10-a-day child care — and sparked a political standoff
https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/how-intense-pressure-from-for-profit-daycares-has-transformed-ontario-s-rollout-of-10-a/article_87c85eb4-235d-5f03-8067-b75b24cfdab0.html
Toronto parents less likely to see reduced daycare fees than almost anywhere else in Ontario
https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/toronto-parents-less-likely-to-see-reduced-daycare-fees-than-almost-anywhere-else-in-ontario/article_11067af3-e14d-512a-8cd2-02a11306d2a2.html
Most provinces have dropped daycare costs to $10/day. Why are some Toronto parents still paying full fees?
https://www.thestar.com/life/most-provinces-have-dropped-daycare-costs-to-10-day-why-are-some-toronto-parents-still/article_262c59ca-c145-11ef-962d-a3715aeff873.html
Why some Toronto parents are still paying high daycare fees.pdf
Refinery has been cloaking parts of Vancouver in ‘repugnant’ stench for years: documents
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/07/18/news/refinery-has-been-cloaking-parts-vancouver-repugnant-stench-years-documents
Refinery has been cloaking parts of Van…pdf
Enbridge received billions of dollars in green loans tied to curbing its impact on the environment. So why have its emissions grown?https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/enbridge-received-billions-of-dollars-in-green-loans-tied-to-curbing-its-impact-on-the/article_8dbf4514-cde0-11ef-ad3e-23e56d1ac6e8.html
Enbridge emissions growing despite billions in green loans.pdf
Ukrainian families question Canada’s commitment as residency applications appear ‘lost’
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ukrainian-families-question-canada-s-commitment-as-residency-applications-appear-lost-1.7425031
Lead-tainted drinking water at Ottawa-area public schools and daycares prompts parent concerns and action
https://ijb.utoronto.ca/news/lead-tainted-drinking-water-at-ottawa-area-public-schools-and-daycares-prompts-parent-concerns-and-action/
Meet the groups spending the most on social media ads attacking the carbon tax
https://theijf.org/carbon-tax-meta-ads
Meet the groups spending the most on social media ads attacking the carbon tax.pdf
An algorithm was supposed to fix Canada’s food safety system. Instead, it missed a deadly listeria outbreak
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-cfia-food-safety-algorithm-listeria-outbreak/
An algorithm was supposed to fix Canada…pdf
Open Government – Proactive disclosure and access to information
https://open.canada.ca/en
Question Period Notes
https://search.open.canada.ca/en/qp/
Completed Access to Information Requests
https://open.canada.ca/en/search/ati?_ga=2.69692565.406018153.1536604353-1818651053.1522773341
Previously released Global Affairs record on Donald Trump
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25503152-global-affairs-canada-jan-22-2025-informal-release-of-records-re-canadian-interests-presidential-election-and-impact-of-donald-trump-policies-from-june-1-2020-to-aug-2020-a-2020-00294/
Previously released Global Affairs record on Donald Trump and the right wing
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25503153-global-affairs-canada-jan-22-2025-informal-release-of-jan-19-2024-request-for-records-re-right-wing-pro-trump-protests-etc-about-election-from-nov-6-2020-jan-26-2021-a-2020-01002-redacted/
Open by Default
https://theijf.org/open-by-default
Library of Parliament – sessional paper catalogue
https://parl-gc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,%3F&tab=SESSIONAL&search_scope=SESSIONPAP&vid=01CALP_INST:01CALP&lang=en&offset=0
Nova Scotia
Info: http://novascotia.ca/is/programs-and-services/information-access-and-privacy.asp
File a request online: https://iaprequest.novascotia.ca/
Statistics Canada’s data tables
How to use Statistics Canada’s data tables
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/sc/video/howto
Consumer Price Index visualization tool
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-607-x/2018016/cpilg-ipcgl-eng.htm
Reading: Chapter 5
Class 4-January 31, 2025
Class recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkJlhQfPefs
What you will learn:
– Presentations 1;
– Scheduling the rest of the presentations
– Continued work with Excel creating pivot tables with Labour Force Survey data;
-Introduction of Consumer Price Index data
– Begin discussing data visualizations, time permitting.
Links:
Refinery has been cloaking parts of Vancouver in ‘repugnant’ stench for years: documents
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/07/18/news/refinery-has-been-cloaking-parts-vancouver-repugnant-stench-years-documents
Refinery has been cloaking parts of Van…pdf
Trump set to impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada starting on March 1, sources tell Reuters
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/trumps-tariffs/article/trump-set-to-impose-tariffs-on-mexico-canada-starting-on-march-1-sources-tell-reuters/
‘I won’t sugar coat it’: PM Trudeau says Canada could be in for hard times if Trump imposes tariffs tomorrow
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/trumps-tariffs/article/trump-promised-tariffs-will-come-tomorrow-trudeau-says-canada-is-ready/
National Newswatch
https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/
https://open.canada.ca/en/search/ati?search_api_fulltext=A-2017-56191&sort_by=year&sort_order=DESC
Federal information holding website
https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/access-information-privacy/access-information/info-source.html
Asylum report request to Investigative Journalism Bureau’s Open by Default website
https://theijf.org/open-by-default/search?sort=score&q=%22asylum+reports%22&orgs=Immigration%5C%2C+Refugees+and+Citizenship+Canada
Emailed exchange with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
(David McKie, Jan 31, 2025) IRRC email correspondence re monthly asylum reports.pdf
Statistics Canada’s data tables
Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, Canada, provinces, territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Canadian Forces Military Police
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510017701
How to use Statistics Canada’s data tables
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/sc/video/howto
Labour Force Survey in brief: Interactive app
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/14-20-0001/142000012018001-eng.htm
Class 5-February 7, 2025
No class Munro Day
Class 6-February 14, 2025
Class recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcRc-F4Fvkk
What you will learn:
– Presentations 2 and 3;
-discussion of end-of-term projects
– IRE storyboard
– continuation of Excel and lookahead to next week
Links
Unemployment rate unchanged in July, though jobless rate for young people continued to rise
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/jobs-july-stats-can-1.7289784#:~:text=The%20unemployment%20rate%20for%20youth,years%20of%202020%20and%202021).
Archived – Labour force characteristics by immigrant status, three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality, inactive
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1410008201
Archived – Labour force characteristics of immigrants by sex and age group, three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality, inactive
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv!recreate.action?pid=1410008401&selectedNodeIds=2D3,2D6,3D8,5D2&checkedLevels=0D1,3D1&refPeriods=20230701,20240701&dimensionLayouts=layout2,layout3,layout2,layout2,layout2,layout2&vectorDisplay=false
“It’s worrying:” Unemployment rate for young immigrants more than doubles in past year
Postsecondary enrolments, by International Standard Classification of Education, institution, and program and student characteristics
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710023201&pickMembers%5B0%5D=4.1&pickMembers%5B1%5D=5.1&pickMembers%5B2%5D=6.1&pickMembers%5B3%5D=7.1&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2018+%2F+2019&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2022+%2F+2023&referencePeriods=20180101%2C20220101
Nova Scotia disaster assistance briefing note uploaded to DocumentCloud
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25536254-public-safety-canada-jan-31-2025-formal-release-of-bn-re-disaster-financial-assistance-arrangements-for-nova-scotia-a-2024-00408-my/
Canadian Disaster Database
https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/1c3d15f9-9cfa-4010-8462-0d67e493d9b9
Grants and Contributions
https://search.open.canada.ca/grants/record/ps-sp,088-2023-2024-Q1-00071,current
https://search.open.canada.ca/grants/
https://search.open.canada.ca/grants/?sort=agreement_start_date+desc&search_text=%22Disaster+Financial+Assistance+Arrangements%22&page=1
Orders in Council
https://www.canada.ca/en/privy-council/services/orders-in-council.html
Canadian Statistical Geospatial Explorer
https://gaia.statcan.gc.ca/csge/main/app/index-en.html
IRE storyboard
http://www.davidmckie.com/Pitching,%20self-editing%20and%20storyboarding_NICAR%202020.pdf
Class 7-February 21, 2025 (READING WEEK. WILL HAVE TO MAKE UP THE CLASS)
Class recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBLM_u4XwWU
Class 8-February 28, 2025
What you will learn
– Presentations 2X;
– the first of our four mini tests, this one to gauge your general knowledge of the concepts we have discussed the first few weeks;
-progress reports on end-of-term assignments;
– Continuation of data work using Statistics Canada tables;
-lookahead to next week.
Canada’s fentanyl czar sees ‘very positive’ reaction in Washington meetings
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fentanyl-czar-washington-1.7470437
U.S. Customs and Border Protection public data portal
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-public-data-portal
Statistics Canada’s data tables
How to use Statistics Canada’s data tables
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/sc/video/howto
Labour Force Survey in brief: Interactive app
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/14-20-0001/142000012018001-eng.htm
Politicians are pushing pipelines amid tariff threats. But companies are past that
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2025/02/14/analysis/politicians-pipelines-companies-tariffs
February 18, 2025 Intro to MySQL Workbench tutorial by Rory White
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVvqTPjg9Nc
Readings: chapters 6 and 7
Class 9-March 7, 2025
Class recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDnM65mtEqk
What you will learn:
– Presentations;
– the second of our four mini quizzes, this one simple manipulation of a Statistics Canada table we review the previous week;
– Introduction with MySQL.
Links:
Canada’s labour market at a standstill in February, with unemployment unchanged, few jobs added
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/labour-force-survey-february-1.7477391
Labour Force Survey, February 2025
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250307/dq250307a-eng.htm
Labour Force Survey in brief: Interactive app
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/14-20-0001/142000012018001-eng.htm
Canadian homebuilders say U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum would hurt more than they did in 2018
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-canadian-homebuilders-say-us-tariffs-on-steel-and-aluminum-would-hurt/#:~:text=Since%20Mr.%20Trump%20imposed%20tariffs%20on%20the%20two%20metals%20during%20his%20first%20term%20in%20office%2C%20the%20cost%20of%20residential%20construction%20across%20the%20country%E2%80%99s%20largest%20cities%20has%20climbed%20about%2070%20per%20cent%2C%20according%20to%20Statistics%20Canada%20data.
Canadian homebuilders say U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum would hurt more than they did in 2018 – PDF version
http://www.davidmckie.com/Canadian homebuilders say U.S. tariffs …pdf
Building construction price indexes, by type of building and division
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810028901
Class 10-March 14, 2025
Class recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOgBEHHOTMs
What you will learn
Continuation with MySQL
Links:
Download MySQL
https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/
How to Install MySQL on Windows: A Simple Guide
https://www.dataquest.io/blog/install-mysql-windows/
Rory White’s MySQL Download Tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKEpbZG5Npw
Class 11-March 21, 2025
Class recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-df3tMLnd0
What you will learn:
–Justin Brassard’s introduction of ArcGIS Online discussion of mapping by going under the hood of ArcGIS and discovering similarities to databases;
– the third of our mini-tests to be determined;
– Continuing with ArcGIS, taking an even deeper dive into map making.
Links:
Justin Brassard’s introduction to ArcGIS Online video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtztTTEQQ3w
Provinces/Territories, Cartographic Boundary File – 2016 Census
https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/a883eb14-0c0e-45c4-b8c4-b54c4a819edb
2021 Census – Boundary files
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/geo/sip-pis/boundary-limites/index2021-eng.cfm?year=21
App Gallery
https://gallery-esrica-apps.hub.arcgis.com
Tests showed potentially dangerous lead levels at hundreds of Ontario schools last year. A new report urges the province to act
https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/tests-showed-potentially-dangerous-lead-levels-at-hundreds-of-ontario-schools-last-year-a-new/article_78e0408a-010c-11f0-aa61-e3f8df7b17e2.html
Lead in water still surfacing at hundreds of Ontario schools.pdf
Class 12-March 28, 2025
Recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeoWaQ0ECVo
What you will learn:
– Catch up, review and discussion of final project.
Class 13-April 4, 2025
Class recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gAxcf3VbmA
April 7, 2025, mapping session with Haruka, cleaning and import csv files, joining & symbolizing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNdsBWClR-8
What you will learn:
– Mini mapping test;
– Filing access-to-information requests;
-Catch up, review and discussion of final project.
– Postmortem
Learning to code
https://www.w3schools.com/
MySQL Crash Course
https://www.amazon.ca/MySQL-Crash-Course-Ben-Forta/dp/0672327120
Why MSQL
https://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/
Navigating Socioeconomic Obstacles: Impact on the Well-being of Canadian Youth
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230920/dq230920a-eng.htm
Explore the Canadian labour market
https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis/job-market-reports
Population estimates on July 1, by age and gender
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1710000501
Other important information
Learning & Support Resources
Accessibility
Students may request accommodation as a result of barriers to inclusion related to disability, religious obligation, or any characteristic under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act. If you experience barriers related to the design, instruction, and/or experiences within this course please contact the Student Accessibility Centre. Please note that a classroom may contain specialized furniture and equipment. It is important that these items remain in the classroom, untouched, so that students who require them will be able to participate in the class. Accommodations are provided by means of approved accommodations plans only. If elements of an approved accommodations plan are unworkable in the context of this course, I will work with you and your advisor in the Accessibility Centre to find practical alternatives. If you seek further accommodations not included in your approved plan, I will refer you back to your advisor.
Student support advisor
Students seeking support in navigating resources, life changes, mental health, goal setting or problem solving can contact Isaac Wright (they/he), the student support advisor, to make an appointment. < isaac.wright@ukings.ca> In addition to resources at King’s, many are available to you at Dalhousie University. These include the Student Health & Wellness Centre, the Indigenous Student Centre, the Black Student Advising Centre, the International Centre and the South House Sexual and Gender Resource Centre, among others.
Ethical Conduct
All students are expected to familiarize themselves with the Journalism programs’ Handbook of Professional Practice and abide by its ethical standards.
Fair & Inclusive Conduct
All students in the School of Journalism, Writing & Publishing should feel they are participants in a respectful, fair and safe learning environment. Classrooms, newsrooms and online course delivery systems are spaces where everyone should feel welcomed and supported. The School expects students, staff and faculty to abide by the highest standards of collegial learning. The University has policies, procedures and resources to guide students’ experience, whether in a class or as part of a reporting assignment. If you are concerned about your learning environment you may take a range of steps to initiate a discussion or a process:
Meet with the Course Instructor: You are encouraged to discuss concerns about a particular course first with the instructor. This instructor may be able to address concerns informally. Such concerns may relate to grading, course content, interpersonal issues with other students, or any other issue. The instructor may also direct you to other resources within the University. If you have an unresolved issue with an instructor, you can also:
● Appeal a final grade in a course by filing a Request for Reassessment of a Final Grade form.
● Provide written comment on an instructor in the Student Learning Experience Questionnaire, distributed near the end of the course. Evaluations are reviewed by the Director each year and used in tenure and promotion decisions for Faculty.
Meet with the Director of Journalism: The director welcomes any comment on the experiences of students within the Journalism programs. Concerns may be addressed informally — especially as they relate to the curriculum, academic environment and interpersonal issues. The director may refer students with more specific or serious concerns to individual policies, procedures and resources of the university. Inclusion and respect for others are key values of King’s. An experience of racism, intolerance or inequitable treatment will typically prompt co-operation between the director of journalism and the equity officer in working toward immediate and longer-term resolutions.
● Write a letter to the director of journalism to express a strong concern about an experience in the journalism programs. The director may bring it to a meeting of journalism faculty and will keep the letter on file.
Sexual Health and Safety Officer: The SHSO provides support around experiences of sexualized violence and administers King’s Sexualized Violence Policy. This support is confidential and can include informal discussion, academic accommodations, and assistance with disclosures and reports. All decisions regarding disclosure of sexualized violence are in the hands of the individual disclosing. Academic accommodations may be available to those who do not wish to make a formal report. The SHSO is also available if you are supporting someone who has experienced sexualized violence. The SHSO is Jordan Roberts jordan.roberts@ukings.ca, 902 229-6123.
Review the Journalism Programs’ Safety Guidelines: The Journalism programs’ Handbookof Professional Practice contains safety guidelines for physical safety while reporting. To do journalism well, you must sometimes be uncomfortable, but you should never be unsafe. If you run into trouble or if you feel a situation might put your or others’ personal safety at risk, call your instructor right away.
Equity Officer: At this time, the position of equity officer is vacant. Further announcements will be forthcoming from the university.
Contacting the Police
Journalism students must talk to their instructor before they contact Halifax Regional Police or RCMP. On approval of their request, they must send the police an email from their official school account that is cc’d to their instructor.
Use of generative artificial intelligence tools
Students in Journalism courses are not permitted to use generative AI tools such as ChatGPTor Midjourney to create draft or final versions of any written, audio, visual or computer-coding material for classes or academic credit, except when specifically authorized in writing by an instructor. Any other such use constitutes academic misconduct.
When permitted by an instructor and under their guidance, generative AI tools may be used for journalistic research purposes or as part of classroom exercises. However, you must verify output from these tools with non-AI sources. You must make clear to your instructor any research that is the product of AI.
Never upload personal or private information or material that does not already exist on the open web to a generative AI tool, as these services may be used by the service in ways you cannot predict.
Academic Integrity
At King’s and Dalhousie, we are guided in all of our work by the values of academic integrity: honesty, trust, fairness, responsibility and respect. As a student, you are required to demonstrate these values in all of the work you do. Plagiarism — stealing someone else’s work and presenting it as your own — is a form of academic fraud and unethical journalism. The most common instance involves copying material from the Internet without attributing it. If you have any doubt about proper citation for an academic paper or proper attribution in a piece of journalism, contact your instructor. For more information, consult the section on Intellectual Honesty in Dalhousie’s Graduate Studies Calendar or the King’s academic calendar.
Appeals
Disputes over academic performance and assessment will be dealt with according to the Academic Regulations of the School. Students may appeal decisions of the Journalism Studies Committee to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. For more information, see p. 240 of King’s Academic Calendar.