One of our flyers about NashCAR, our annual computer-assisted reporting conference, talked about racing to the future. Once we got to Nashville, however, it looked the future was racing toward us. Four years ago at a conference in Raleigh, our panels and training dealt mostly with spreadsheets and database managers. The use of the Internet was an afterthought and there was no mention of the World Wide Web. But in Nashville the ante was raised. Our speakers and instructors covered spreadsheets and database managers, two of the basic tools for journalists doing CAR. They also spoke about using mapping software, SPSS (statistical software), intranets, programs for cleaning up databases, and writing CD-ROMs. But they didn't stop there. They talked about the role of computers in the newsroom (whether broadcast or print), the role of database editors and the best ways to train colleagues. At the same time, they gave advice on how to use computers to cover particular beats and specialties, how to use CAR for breaking news and how to tailor CAR for broadcast. The range of offerings through more than 50 panels and dozens of hands-on classes left most first-time CAR conference attendees dazzled and left repeat attendees satisfied that new and advanced courses were plentiful. Furthermore, we had our highest number of attendees ever - more than 500 - and we strained our largest number of computers for hands-on training - about 140 - to meet demand. For those who could not get to this conference, we have tape recordings of panels. (They are still valuable even if speakers sometimes refer to computer screen projections that you can only imagine.) We also have a bag of handouts that is startling in its breadth and depth.
Here's a sampling:
Paul Overberg of USA Today, showed how to profile your community with Census data. Elizabeth Marchak, recent winner of a Polk Award, gave 11 solid tips on covering aviation. while Byron Acohido of the Seattle Times described how to do an investigation such as the amazing ones he has done on Boeing. Penny Loeb of U.S. News and World Report and Carol Napolitano of the Omaha World Herald teamed up to do an actual newsletter on housing just for NashCAR. And Mike Himowitz checked in with another sharp tip sheet on housing. Neill Borowski of the Philadelphia Inquirer gave a quick lesson in adjusting for inflation and advice on avoiding math errors. If it moves (transportation excluding planes), Heather Newman of the Detroit Free Press and Loeb of U.S. News put it together in tip sheets that tell where the databases are and how to use them. Chris Schmitt of the San Jose Mercury News and Griff Palmer of the Daily Oklahoman analyzed the coverage of state government. Rob Covey of U.S. News gave six steps to improve graphics. A CAR kit for local reporting was assembled by four journalists: Rose Ciotta of the Buffalo News, Margot Williams of the Washington Post, Napolitano of the World Herald and Tom Torok of the Philadelphia Inquirer. When it comes to crime, Bill Ruberry of the Richmond Times-Dispatch outlined a plan for coverage and Bob Warner of the Philadelphia Daily News reviewed a project that followed violence in schools. On sports, Tom Witosky of the Des Moines Register, had nine story ideas and provided actual story clips. Jeff South of the Austin American-Statesman created a handout of can't miss ideas for localizing federal databases. Jim Specht of the Gannett News Service and April Lynch and Aurelio Rojas of the San Francisco Chronicle offered two primers on covering immigration issues. Diagnosing hospitals were Robert Benincasa of the Burlington Free Press, Rick Linsk of the Asbury Park Press, and Tom Gaumer of the Plain Dealer in Cleveland. Lise Olsen and Pedro Enrique Armendares of IRE's Periodistas de Investigacion (our new program in Mexico City) collected and distributed a list of web sites on border issues while Robin Rowland of the Ryerson Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting in Canada summarized the way international data can be shared. CAR pioneer Philip Meyer and Barbara Hansen of USA Today explained the careful use of significance tests. Janet Roberts of the Wilmington Morning Star in North Carolina gave out strategies for making CAR work in a small newsroom. And to help reporters on the run, Tom Boyer of the Seattle Times gave an overview of how to deliver relational databases through a Web browser and Mike Himowitz of the Baltimore Sun talked about friendly front ends. In the coming weeks, the handouts will be collated and distributed in hardcopy form or at our Web site. (www.nicar.org) At IRE and NICAR, no one believes that we did everything right at NashCAR. Panels can be adjusted, training improved and scheduling of events can go smoother. Although half of our speakers were first-time presenters, we are looking hard for even more new panelists and viewpoints at our next conference, which is planned for Indianapolis in March 1998. We will also try to get more broadcasters and new media people on panels and continue to push for more women and minority journalists to participate. We do know that we should keep the program flexible enough so that impromptu meetings, special demonstrations and on-the-fly workshops can always find a home at the conference. Thanks to those who came to Nashville and made it such a great conference and for those who didn't we hope to see you next year in Indiana. Brant Houston can be reached at (573) 882-0684, or send e-mail to brant@nicar.org
Newcomer's tips
The sea of paper
If they give you too much information on paper, they want you to drown. Hire a keypunch firm.
Our investigative reporter Carolyn Tuft asked the city (six months before the primary in the mayoral race) for a copy of cellular phone bills. The city replied that it would infringe on privacy of our city officials, that it would stall all work at City Hall and that they didn't keep the bills. They just pay them.
Two months later, the case was settled out of court and piles of paper started arriving every day. Soon the stacks were covering the floor in my office, and we were losing our sanity.
I tried scanning the bills, but they were too dirty. We tried to do the data entry ourselves. We used Access, designed a form and assigned three clerks to punch the data.
Two days later, we realized it would take us months to finish. We hired a professional data entry firm.
The story documented widespread abuse: hundreds of calls to girlfriends, liquor stores, gambling boats and 2 a.m. calls to a city contractor.
Never again will I attempt to enter thousands or records in-house. Measure the price in terms of your salary and time. Unless it's a developing database of unique things happening on a beat, it's silly to the waste newsroom's time on typing.
A couple of quick points:
Write weekly (daily, if you can discipline yourself) memos summarizing your projects, data negotiations and technical progress. It helps to divide projects into more manageable chunks. On a slow week, it helps to see what I've been doing with my life - and keep my spirits up.
Document. I log all the data cleaning and restructuring and put it in a program right away. Often, start with a program. It helped me a great deal when I was updating databases or when I made mistakes and had to go back to the original data. Make a CD with your original data, the clean database and all the documentation and programs.
As I work with the data, I try to keep my notes in the same place-electronically. Lotus Notes, a groupware the Post-Dispatch uses for e-mail and Web publishing, works pretty well. I log my conversations with officials, write technical notes and keep my requests in a Lotus Notes database I call "Fish Tank."
Natalya Shulyakovskaya can be reached at (314) 340-8183 or send e-mail to natalya@pd.stinet.com.