{
  "id": "2004-september-october-guiding-the-project-from-start-to-finish",
  "slug": "2004-september-october-guiding-the-project-from-start-to-finish",
  "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/2004-september-october-guiding-the-project-from-start-to-finish.html",
  "year": 2004,
  "month": "September • October",
  "monthNum": 9,
  "headline": "Guiding the project from start to finish",
  "kicker": "SPOTLIGHT: EDITING & MANAGING",
  "author_name": "Tim Ragones",
  "author_title": "",
  "affiliation": "IRE and NICAR",
  "summary": "Veteran project editor John Ullmann offers essential guidance for newsroom managers on how to effectively lead and edit computer-assisted reporting projects.",
  "keywords": [
    "project management",
    "newsroom editors",
    "investigative reporting"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Investigative Methods",
    "Journalism & Newsroom"
  ],
  "technologies": [],
  "full_text": "Working on a computer-assisted reporting project can mean dealing with slow record requests, dirty data and uncooperative software. But untrained editors may pose as much an obstacle to projects as these other hurdles. That's what John Ullmann, IRE's first full-time executive director and the current executive director of the World Press Institute in St. Paul, Minn., told a room of newsroom managers at a CAR boot camp for editors earlier this year in Columbia, Mo. If project reporting is a team sport, Ullmann said, editors are its weakest members. Ullmann, tapping into his experience as a former project editor, provided guidance to the editors and news managers at the boot camp on how to build better computer-assisted stories from conception to publication. Ullmann served as the assistant managing editor for projects at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis for six years. He supervised projects that won more than four dozen awards. In 1990, a series showing how members of the St. Paul, Minn., fire department profited from arson won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. In Ullmann's experience, the typical computer-assisted or investigative project lasts three to six months. Ullmann liked two-person investigative teams because he could partner people with different skills, and they would finish more quickly. Ullmann said good stories come from good editors who are well-read and good reporters working out in the field. While data is a valuable resource for finding story ideas, it's just a starting point, he said. Reporters should not be too proud of themselves when they get the data because the data is rarely the story. Journalists are in the business of storytelling, not describing numbers. Stories are always about victims and protectors, and it's important to look beyond the data to find them. When a reporter pitches a prospective story, Ullmann said an editor should ask two questions. First, what is the best-case scenario of the story? Second, would the reporter read the story if his or her name wasn't on it? Once a news organization approves a computer-assisted project and the reporting begins, Ullmann said it's important to give meaning to the data. That means the reporters need to find people who can reflect what the data shows and identify experts who can help interpret conclusions. Ullmann recommended transcribing soon after the interview. He said reporters should throw out any notes they took during the interview because these are not as accurate as the transcribed tape. Numbers can mean many things; Ullmann said it's important to include numbers that can support other interpretations in the story. He suggested working just as hard to disprove a story's thesis. Show the findings to the 'enemy' early in the reporting to avoid surprises after publication or broadcast. Reporters and editors should meet frequently for story conferences. When he was an editor, Ullmann said he barred computer printouts and notebooks from these meetings so numbers would not rule reporters. Reporters should never wait until they finish reporting before starting to write, Ullmann said. He liked to see drafts from his reporters every few weeks. Reporters should write what they know as they report. This strategy allows the news organization to publish or broadcast earlier than planned if necessary. In addition, it gets the reporters to focus on the story, not on each individual document or source. Ullmann suggested that reporters distribute their drafts to editors around the newsroom to find out if they get excited about the story. Ullmann said it's important to allow substantial time for editing and rewriting. That may involve shortening the story, but not always. Ullmann said long stories work if readers and viewers care about them. Charts, graphics and pictures are one way to increase a story's pace by cutting number-heavy material out. Ullmann said editors should include the photo and graphic staff from the beginning. They are partners in the presentation of the project, and they are critical to making it work. When the project is ready for publication or broadcast, Ullmann stressed one final step: line-by-line editing. Reporters should do this with their data. When Ullmann supervised projects, he wanted to see the source of every number in the story, whether it was in a document or came from a formula. He asked his reporters to redo calculations in front of him to make sure they were correct. If editors follow these steps, Ullmann said they would not be stuck on the bench; instead they will become valuable members of the team.",
  "provenance": {
    "extracted_by": "pre-v2",
    "extracted_at": "",
    "verified": true
  },
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  "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/2004-september-october-guiding-the-project-from-start-to-finish.html",
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}