The final project has two components: a publication-ready data-driven story and a written narrative reflection that describes how you did the story.
Part 1: The Data Story
The ideal is to use data to produce some newsworthy insight and present it in a compelling way to the audience of a professional news site.
You can either write a 1,500-word news article or a 3-5 minute audio or video story or produce a data visualization and 600 word explanation.
Examples:
- Unlimited permits strain Boston’s parking system (Boston Globe)
- For kids with special needs, more places to play (NPR)
- Florida’s red-light camera intersections issuing more tickets after yellow light times quietly reduced (WTSP-TV Tampa)
- What do the newly released witness statements tell us about the Michael Brown shooting? (PBS Newshour)
Part 2: Behind the Story
This year we’ve had several reporters take us behind the story with their accounts on the IRE website. Now it’s your turn. How did you get the story?
Be sure to include:
- what data sets you used (you need to describe at least two you analyzed, even if only one made it into the final story)
- how you acquired the data
- what you had to do (if anything) to clean the data
- what tools and experts helped you analyze the data
- how you presented the story and why you chose that technique.
Examples: httpss://ire.org/tag/behind-the-story/
Grading Rubric
Is the story accurate and complete? Did it contain factual errors or leave open questions?
How newsworthy is the story? Does it have prominence, proximity, magnitude, emotional appeal, timeliness, and impact?
How interesting is the presentation? Is the story well told and/or the data clearly presented? (Assumption: It will be free of grammar or AP style errors.)
How dogged was the reporting? What obstacles did you face and how hard did you try to overcome them?