{
  "id": "1997-february-nashcar-ready-to-roll",
  "slug": "1997-february-nashcar-ready-to-roll",
  "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1997-february-nashcar-ready-to-roll.html",
  "year": 1997,
  "month": "February",
  "monthNum": 2,
  "headline": "NashCAR: Ready to roll",
  "kicker": "NICAR and IRE Notes",
  "author_name": "Brant Houston",
  "author_title": "Managing Director",
  "affiliation": "NICAR",
  "summary": "NashCAR, a national computer-assisted reporting conference in Nashville (March 6-9), will feature new panels, speakers, and comprehensive training reflecting the dramatic growth and evolution of CAR in journalism, including topics on Internet data, visualization, math/statistics, and ethical practices.",
  "keywords": [
    "reporting",
    "journalism",
    "data"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Investigative Methods",
    "Journalism & Newsroom",
    "Technology"
  ],
  "technologies": [
    "Internet",
    "World Wide Web",
    "Lotus Notes"
  ],
  "full_text": "New subjects, new panels, new faces. NashCAR, our national computer-assisted reporting conference in Nashville, Tenn., March 6-9, has been programmed by NICAR and the local committee from the Tennessean to have all of these.\n\nIn the past year and a half, CAR has grown dramatically and in different directions. The Internet, through the World Wide Web, has not only become a worthwhile and constant source of data and information, but also a way to distribute databases within a news organization.\n\nReporters have become more savvy about software programs, math and how to slice national data for local stories. Steps have been taken toward better visualization of information - so that it can be better understood.\n\nDuring this time, different levels of teaching have been required. Introductory training continues for those just getting to CAR, but NICAR has also developed new curricula for the intermediate and advanced journalists.\n\nAll these changes need to be reflected at NashCAR, and they will be. Among the topics will be:\n\nUsing the Internet for quick hits in broadcast.\nUsing Intranets and Lotus Notes to distribute data to the whole newsroom.\nFinding free data on the Internet.\nMaking federal data useful for local stories.\nUsing math and statistics without making critical errors.\nUsing CAR for international stories.\nManaging CAR projects.\n\nWe will have panelists from throughout the country and from news organizations who have never spoken before. There will be more speakers from broadcast on our panels and panels for special concerns of broadcasters, who have less time and space to work with.\n\nWe also will have few key experts from outside journalism who can tell you about hidden sources of data.\n\nAt the same time, we will make sure to cover the basics and include the knowledgeable veterans of CAR, who have been learning and teaching for the past decade.\n\nYou will be able to get the best ways to start in CAR and hundreds of good story ideas to which CAR can be applied.\n\nAs you enter this new arena, there will be panels on the legalities and ethics in the world of CAR to help guide you. And there will be panels on how to present the story so that it doesn't get lost in numbers or overloads of data.\n\nMeanwhile, our hands-on training is the most ambitious ever. We are offering 20 different classes in four days ranging from beginning searches of the Internet to using statistical software to analyze datasets.\n\nWe also will provide tutorials and specialized workshops in our demonstration rooms, have dozens of reprints and video clips of stories to share, and will offer seminar for impromptu gatherings on particular subjects.\n\nLast, NashCAR will have the first ever job fair to connect those looking for the right place and those looking for the right journalist. So don't miss this great event and the chance to get on the fast track to better journalism.",
  "provenance": {
    "extracted_by": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "extracted_at": "2026-07-05",
    "verified": true
  },
  "similar": [
    {
      "slug": "1996-december-gearing-up-for-nashcar",
      "score": 0.452
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    {
      "slug": "1996-october-nashcar-on-track",
      "score": 0.393
    },
    {
      "slug": "1996-november-gearing-up-for-nashcar",
      "score": 0.392
    },
    {
      "slug": "1997-january-nashcar-97",
      "score": 0.335
    },
    {
      "slug": "1997-february-nashcar-97",
      "score": 0.317
    }
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  "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1997-february-nashcar-ready-to-roll.html",
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}