{
  "id": "2004-september-october-starting-small",
  "slug": "2004-september-october-starting-small",
  "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/2004-september-october-starting-small.html",
  "year": 2004,
  "month": "September • October",
  "monthNum": 9,
  "headline": "Starting small",
  "kicker": "",
  "author_name": "David Donald",
  "author_title": "",
  "affiliation": "IRE and NICAR",
  "summary": "David Donald provides a strategic list of ten 'dos' and ten 'don'ts' for journalists attempting to establish computer-assisted reporting practices in smaller newsrooms.",
  "keywords": [
    "small newsrooms",
    "CAR techniques",
    "professional development"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Investigative Methods",
    "Journalism & Newsroom",
    "Technology"
  ],
  "technologies": [
    "CD-ROM",
    "Internet",
    "World Wide Web"
  ],
  "full_text": "What's next? That's the question I face most often when I finish teaching an introductory session of computer-assisted reporting to journalists from small news organizations. What they're often really asking is simple: How do I go back to a small- or medium-sized newsroom that has never done CAR? Sad to say, even today some larger newsrooms exist without doing much CAR. But for reporters in smaller organizations, the thought is intimidating. They know that with CAR, as with most skills, it's use it or lose it. The real trick is changing that mind set. When working in a small- to medium-sized newsroom, you must not use size as an excuse, even if you have fewer CAR converts and resources than your counterparts in larger newsrooms. Easier said than done. But journalists in some smaller newsrooms are doing outstanding CAR work. A good place to see this in action is in Uplink's First Venture feature, which provides useful lessons for journalists in smaller newsrooms. A recent example: Dave Moore of the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune wrote about his analysis of racial disparity in juvenile arrests in the May/June 2004 issue. When Dave got the records on a CD, they were a mess. He could have given up. But with some help from NICAR, he got the data straightened out and a good story into the paper. When I worked in a smaller newsroom, I had some rules to keep on track. What follows are 10 of those dos and 10 don'ts. Cut out the ones that make sense to you and paste them on your computer. Do: 1. Have reporters sit next to you while you do your analysis. 2. Insist your reporters gather all documents electronically if possible. 3. Attend news meetings at which brainstorming for story ideas happens. 4. Get to be the 'numbers person' in your newsroom. 5. Start small. Editors adore daily copy that makes their lives easier. 6. Broaden your definition of CAR. 7. Get to know your graphic artists. 8. Bookmark 10 Web sites you can use to find data. 9. Carve out a neglected niche in your newsroom that is CAR-intensive. 10. Stay passionate and love what you do. Don't: 1. Take no for an answer when asking for hardware or software. 2. Be a recluse. Keep networking with CAR folks. 3. Let public officials win when they refuse to give you data digitally. 4. Stay in a newsroom that has absolutely NO appreciation for CAR. 5. Forget the IRE Resource Center when trolling for CAR ideas. 6. Get totally caught up with the computer and forget about stories. 7. Be afraid to think big. 8. Fall for Stockholm Syndrome in your newsroom. 9. Try to make everyone in your newsroom a CAR believer. 10. Get discouraged. You're doing work vital to journalism and those you serve.",
  "provenance": {
    "extracted_by": "pre-v2",
    "extracted_at": "",
    "verified": true
  },
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  "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/2004-september-october-starting-small.html",
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}