Emmanuel Martinez leading a walk-through on understanding and organizing data.
Journalists from around the state of North Carolina and surrounding areas gathered at Wake Forest’s Innovation Quarter to learn about data journalism and how it is used in investigative reporting on June 18-19. The two-day workshop was organized by the UNC Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media with partnership from Reveal Center for Investigative Reporting and Wake Forest University.
During the first day, participants learned how to use Excel to sort and organize data. Emmanuel Martinez, a reporter for Reveal News, guided everyone through using basic functions of Excel and how these can be utilized when examining data in investigative reporting.
The second day consisted of learning how to import data into Excel and understanding how this data can ultimately be used back in the attendee’s communities. The second day was lead primarily by Mandy Locke, a fellow working with UNC-Chapel Hill’s Reese News Lab and Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Journalism. Mandy is an independent investigative journalist based in Raleigh; after 13 years with The News & Observer in Raleigh, Locke is now focussed on building capacity for accountability journalism across North Carolina.
Those who came gleaned not just innovative knowledge and skills but tools to bring back to their newsrooms to better inform their communities. The knowledge of finding and working with data adds another layer of verification to the work of all journalist.
“Our communities need and deserve the best journalism we can deliver. Data allows us to deepen our reporting, enabling us to sharpen stories about people whose lives are shaped by complex systems. It’s not enough to report what’s happening. Our audience wants to know why, how much and what can be done. Data helps us get those answers,” Locke said.
Reporters from WFDD and Mandy Locke during a breakout session.