Any of these issues may be worth of an in-depth project. But if you've got only a day or a week, you can produce meaningful stories examining portions of these issues.
Education
The racial achievement gap: Is it widening in your community's schools? Even if you're handed a news release and told to write up the latest test scores, you can quickly dig up additional data from the schools or your state's education agency. (Some state agencies are listing this data on the Internet.)
Method: Compare current high school cumulative GPAs, listed by race, to figures five years ago and, if available, 10 years ago. Use the same procedure for standardized test scores administered at various grade levels. Don't let the school district simply release the "average" score for the entire student populations. Also, examine the scores, listed by race, for each school. You'll see some interesting differences.
Questions: Is the gap between whites and minorities expanding? Why or why not? Can the differences be explained by other "risk factors" such as poverty and high mobility? National education experts say they know of no major school district in the nation that has substantially reduced the racial achievement gap. If your schools have, you've got a huge national story. If they haven't, you've still got a huge story.
Tip: Look for students or schools whose experiences defy the stereotypes. They'll provide inspiring stories of success - and poignant stories of failure.
Population trends
How has the population of your community changed since the 1990 Census? Don't wait for the 2000 Census to find out.
Method: Contact your State Data Center (list of centers available through 301-457-1305). Also check the Census Bureau's homepage, www.census.gov, and particularly the annual county-level estimates for race/Hispanic origin, sex and age at www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/co9094.html (See handout from USA Today's Paul Overberg for details; call IRE at 573-882-0684.) Be sure you understand the limits of the data. Tip: New data became available in July.
Crime
Where is violence concentrated in your community? Which police officers handle most of the violence?
Method: Obtain the police department's database for calls for service, or for reported crimes. Or persuade the department to provide you with such information as the address having the greatest number of violence-related calls, the block with the greatest number of calls, and the officer responding to the greatest number of violence calls. Long after you've published your major package of stories, many quick-hit-stories remain hidden in the data.
Tips: There's great value in stories demonstrating that crime can be traced to specific buildings and to a relatively small number of people. Your stories give the community a place to focus efforts such as rooting out bad landlords and bad tenants, or obtaining more police patrols.
Quick-hit angles include: which cops handle the greatest number of violence-related calls, and what are their perspectives on trends in the community? What types of calls do officers in your community handle? Which date, day of the week or time are most frequently associated with reported violence? How long does it take the police to arrive to incidents? What patterns do you find when you analyze the sex, age and race of violence victims?
Redlining
Are insurance companies excluding minorities from homeowners coverage?
Method: Examine state insurance department records. Start by focusing on a particular company. Determine how much of the market that company holds across the metropolitan area. Determine what share of the market the company holds within each ZIP code. Obtain Census data listing minority population within each ZIP code. Is there an interesting pattern? In 1995, Madison-based American Family Insurance settled a lawsuit over its Milwaukee policy-writing practices for $14.5 million.
Tip: You can do this within one week. Medical waste, voting, state aid, affordable housing, wardens. Got time for more?
Do any hospitals in your area burn medical waste to generate electricity? The pollution may be making patients and employees sick.
As politicians spend millions trying to win votes, check to see how many pols and other local leaders bother to vote.
When your state doles out economic development aid, where does it go? If any ends up in funny places, such as a shaky deal to prop up a factory in the governor's hometown, you've got a hot issue.
When a developer or politician brags that they're creating affordable housing, check it out: How many people can really afford these places?
Who are the wardens of the prisons in your area? These people wield extraordinary power over the lives of inmates and employees, but they're seldom subjected to scrutiny.
Andy Hall can be reached at (608) 252-6100.