Bits, Bytes and Barks
The survey says
More news organizations are doing computer-assisted reporting. University of Miami Professor Bruce Garrison is tracking that growth, and wants journalists to respond to his annual survey. The eight-page questionnaire was sent to the managing editors of all U.S. newspapers with a daily circulation exceeding 20,000. If you have not seen the survey form, ask your managing editor, or contact Garrison at 305-284-2265, or bgarriso@umiamivm.ir.miami.edu.
The 1994 results showed 29 percent said they had computer-assisted reporting desks, and 30 percent said they plan to add them. Few local broadcast outlets are trying computer-assisted reporting, and, at those that do, the effort comes from the reporter.
AP hires Port; St. Pete job opens
Bob Port is leaving the St. Petersburg Times in Florida to join the Associated Press in New York. He will be a special assignment editor to work on investigative reporting projects.
The move means the St. Petersburg Times is seeking a computer-assisted reporting editor familiar with a wide variety of equipment. If interested, call Susan Taylor-Martin, Deputy Managing Editor, at 813-893-8869 or e-mail her at susanskate@aol.com Send a resume and clips to her at St. Petersburg Times, 490 First Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Miami Herald promotes Gordon
The Miami Herald recently named Rich Gordon as the newspaper's newsroom technology coordinator. The two-year assignment includes establishing computer-assisted reporting training programs, and helping design technological improvements that will benefit reporters.
Computers shadow groundhog
Even an old story can be given new life with a little computer analysis. That's just what some of the IRE and NICAR staff did Groundhog Day. In trying to come up with new training curriculum, Jennifer LaFleur, NICAR training director and Rosemary Armao, IRE executive director, thought getting the database of Punxsutawney Phil's predictions would be a unique idea.
Unfortunately no one in the marmot's Pennsylvania hometown had that information, so with the assistance of their mothers, LaFleur and Armao dug up the history of this meteorological mole by researching 109 years of Feb. 3 issues of the Punxsutawney Spirit and the Puncsutawney Plaindealer. They input the information into a spreadsheet and ran some quick statistics: The groundhog sees his shadow 91 percent of the time, based on 97 years for which data were available. For nine years, no data were available and in 1943, the results from the Quarryville, Pa., groundhog were used. The average time of day Phil looks for his shadow is 8:19 a.m. By graphing the prognostication times, we also were able to see this event appears to have more planning. While times throughout the past 110 years have varied from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., during the last 15 years, those time have leveled to between 7:20 and 7:30 a.m.
The next step is to test Phil's accuracy with a more sophisticated analysis using National Weather Service data.