JOU-1526_ COMPUTER-ASSISTED REPORTING
Course Outline 2010
Mondays 19:00-21:00
David McKie
181 Queen Street
1-613-288-6523 (office)
1-613-290-7380 (cell)
1-613-288-6490 (fax)
Teaching Assistant: Lydia Peever
Matt Pulleyblank
Note: When contacting Matt, please make sure the subject line contains the course number, 1526. This specific subject line allows him to distinguish your questions from those of his GIS students.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
To teach students how to find information on the Internet and government hard drives using advanced search techniques and tools such as Excel, pdf-converters and data visualization software such as Tableau to make sense of the information and render it more accessible readers, viewers and listeners through multi-media platforms. We will also learn how to negotiate for data that government officials are reluctant to release. Taken together, these skills comprise”computer-assisted reporting.” Our textbook, “Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Comprehensive Primer” , will be our guide and is available at the Algonquin College bookstore.
At the end of this term, you will become adept searching affectively and with precision for information, analyzing it for story ideas, or for questions that could lead to stories. The story is the end product that we will always keep in mind when running through the exercises, though we will not be writing stories, per se. This is primarily a research methods course with a heavy emphasis on storytelling. As such, we will begin each class with a story that has appeared in the news: either as an example of how computer-assisted reporting, also known as data journalism, was used, or how it could have been used. These discussions and the exercises will help you develop new reflexes that will allow you to examine news more critically. .
This will be a hybrid couse, so described because it will take place in two venues: in class and online. The course will be divided up into modules. Each module, lasting roughly three weeks, will teach a new skill. You will be introduced to a concept and skill in class, and then with the use of our textbook, online tutorials to help learn the material. The tutorials, online discussions and troubleshooting sessions using desktop sharing software will prepare you for the in-class tests. Do the work online, and the modules will go smoothly.
Through three news quizzes, you will also be tested on your knowledge of the day’s current events. Fall is a busy time. Apart from the unforeseen events that will inevitably make news make news, the next several weeks will be filled with significant happenings. You will be expected to stay on top of these events, for they will become grist for our news quizzes. Being informed is your job as a journalist. For those who do so, the quizzes will be easy.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
1) How to find and analyze the credibility of information online
2) How to think offline before searching online
3) How to dig for gold in cyberspace
4) How to use a spreadsheet to analyze statistics
5) How to use technical skills such as exporting tables from pdfs into Excel
6) How to negotiate for data that can be obtained without going the formal route
7) How to create interactive pie and bar charts, using visualization tools such as Tableau
8) How to use visualization tools to help analyze data and improve storytelling
9) How to create a pivot table
10) How to use advanced functions in Excel
11) How to advance your numersey skills
12) How to become critical news consumers
13) How to use mapping software
|
Assignments and Deadlines
|
Percent | |
| Quizzes: There will be three of them during our 15 weeks together. The quizzes, worth five marks each, will deal with stories making news, or material that we’ve covered during the course and in the textbook. Each quiz will be graded out of five marks for a combined total of 15 percent of the course’s final mark. |
15% | |
| Assignment#1: (Sept. 23) In-class Excel assignment | 10% | |
| Assignment #2: (Oct. 21) In-class pivot table test | 10% | |
| Assignment #3: (Nov. 11) (Fusion Tables) |
15% | |
| Assignment #4: (Dec. 9) (Mapping using Qgis) | 15% | |
| Assignment #5: (five o’clock, Dec. 13) Final assignment. Late assignments will be penalized half a grade for every day they’re late. I will NOT accept anything submitted after five o’clock Dec. 15, as I have to submit the final marks on the following day. The goal of the final assignment is to ensure that you can use data to either help tell stories or add context. For those writing a feature with a data component, make sure that you have a data set(s) that allows you to detect the kinds of trends we’ve discussed throughout the term. You will be required to upload your story to this website ( instructions to come within the next week ) and ensure that the trend from your data is visualized using Fusion Tables or Qgis, the mapping software we’ll spend the few remaining weeks learning. The story will also include a “nerbbox” or an embedded side bar explanation of no more than 100 words, explaining how you got the data, and why the numbers are significant. Be sure to cite the source of the data. Failure to do so will lose you marks, as will failure to include the explanation of your methodology!! Those only submitting data MUST write a 300-word pitch, explaining what story you hope the data will tell. You MUST conduct research to solidify the pitch. You will not be allowed to simply “guess” at what kind of story the data might produce. Failure to conduct any research will also lose you marks!!!! Your data, in conjunction with your research, should lead to a solid pitch with a clear focus statement (Example: “The number of prostitution charges increased in 2012 because police conducted major sweeps looking for johns.” Also, be sure to cite the the source of your analysis: Example: “…. according to an analysis of 2012 Ottawa police data, the most recently available crime statistics…..” ). The pitch and the data are to be uploaded in the same manner described for those writing a story. I will spend the next few classes reviewing these instructions. In the meantime, if you have questions, please feel free to ask. | 25% | |
| Participation/professional conduct: For informative participation, completing tutorials, and professionalism displayed in class (no spending time on Facebook while the professor is lecturing) and on-line | 10% |
The emphasis will be learning how to use Excel to perform basic tasks such as sorting, filtering, making pivot tables, doing simple math such as percentage changes and ratios. The way we learn Excel will follow a simple pattern: in-class lesson, practice tutorial which will be posted on this syllabus, and then an in-class test to ensure that you’ve mastered the material. It impossible to learn these skills without lots of practice, so the emphasis will be on repetition, using newsworthy data. When possible, I will attempt to link the exercises to stories in the news, thus emphasizing the practical value of these skills in helping to find and tell stories. If you attend class, pay attention, do the tutorials, and come to class prepared, you will master the material easily and have fun in the process. The course is designed for success. If you regularly miss classes or neglect to do the online tutorials, you will quickly fall behind and find it difficult to succeed. So for this reason, regular attendance is a MUST. If you must miss a class for a reason such as an illness, please give me a heads-up via email, just like you would an editor at work. The instructor also reserves the right to ask for a doctors’s note. We will run this class like a professional newsroom, which doesn’t only mean regular attendance, but being on time, paying attention in class, refraining from distractions such as Twitter, Facebook and email correspondence and chatting with your neighbor. If you miss class and neglect to provide advanced warning, you will receive a zero for the assignnment and will not be given an opportunity for a make-up test.
GRADES
We will be using a 12-point grading scale with the marks to be as follows, meaning the final mark will be out of 120 with the following breakdown:
A+ = 12
A= 11
A-= 10
B+ = 9
B= 8
B-=7
C+=6
C=5
C-=4
Values will be rounded off. For instance, values 10.5 and higher will be rounded off to 11. Conversely, 10.4 and lower will be rounded off to 10.
COMMUNICATIONSWITH STUDENTS
This will be done primarily through e-mail correspondence and phone calls, given that I do not have an office at the college. The protocol will dictate that e-mailed queries will be answered as promptly as possible. As such, it will be important for you to regularly check your e-mail account for communications such as revisions to instructions for assignments or readings. The excuse that “I forgot to check my email”
is unprofessional and will not be accepted. This is a dynamic course, which mean I frequently send e-mails alerting students to significant events.
PROFESSIONALISM
Because we’ll conduct ourselves as professional journalists, you will be expected to exhibit the appropriate behaviour. That means attending class, showing up on time; being prepared and ready to make a meaningful contribution based the preparation work you’ve been assigned; reading the assigned chapters in our textbook; paying attention to your instructor and colleagues and ignoring e-mail correspondence, Facebook and text messages; and promptly responding to e-mails from the instructor. You’ll also be expected to stay on top of current events, which is part of our obligation as journalists. If you must miss class, you will be expected to communicate with the instructor via e-mail.
If an illness forces an absence, then you may be required to provide a doctor’s note. If it’s for an internship, then you’ll have to provide details. And if it’s a family emergency, I only need a minimal amount of information. I will take attendance to track your in-class attendance. Missed classes or on-line sessions will mean missed marks, and possibly missed in-class tests, which will be assigned based on the previous week’s work. You will be allowed to use your textbook for in-class tests.
OUTLINE
Sept. 9 (cancelled class due to schedule mix-up)
Introduction to the course.
Discussion of using Excel as a tool to analyze data.
Political donations in Alberta – 2004 to 2010
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/donations/database.html
Toronto data reveals hundreds of discarded syringes
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/08/15/toronto_data_reveals_hundreds_of_discarded_syringes.html
Number of reported bird strikes at Windsor airport soars (The Windsor Star)
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/05/13/number-of-reported-bird-strikes-at-windsor-airport-soars/
‘Huge, huge overtime’ lifts Ontario nurses into $100,000 salary club
http://www2.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=5088efab-5799-495a-b04a-c94beccfb5a0&p=2
Birth control pill recall expands to Esme-28 as a precaution
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/09/05/birth-control-pill-recall-esme-28.html
Health Canada’s Adverse Drug Reaction Database
http://webprod3.hc-sc.gc.ca/arquery-rechercheei/index-eng.jsp
Download Health Canada’s adverse reaction data by clicking here.
Ottawa seeks to dial down post-quake aid to Haiti, documents show (The Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-seeks-to-dial-down-post-quake-aid-to-haiti-documents-show/article14101878/
Open Data Pilot Project
http://www.data.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En
Data Catalogue (city of Ottawa)
http://www.ottawa.ca/en/city_hall/statisticsdata/opendata/info/index.htm
Ontario public sector salary disclosure
http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/publications/salarydisclosure/2012/
Readings: Chapter two and three of Computer-Assisted Reporting.
Spreadsheet tutorial using day care data from the city of Ottawa.
2) Sept. 16
In class
We will use the 2011 Ontario political contributions and public sector salary data sets, respectively. Please select the links below:
Ontario public sector salary disclosure
http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/publications/salarydisclosure/2012/
Please download the table we’ll be using for the tutorial here
To obtain the tutorial using the salaries database we’ve just downloaded, please click here.
3) Sept. 23
In class
Data to be used for test.
Instructions for the test.
A test sorting and filtering test based on last week’s salaries tutorial.
News quiz
To see rail safety information from the Transportation Safety Board, TSB rail accident stats click here.
Working with the information that you’ve used from the in-class Excel test to learn the following: adding new columns; building a pivot table; and performing calculations to determine who received the largest salary increases.
4) Sept. 30
Online
Re-read chapters three and four, this time paying specific attention to the section on importing data in chapter three and creating pivot tables in chapter four.
Click here for the pivot table tutorial.
Oct. 7
Online
Tory Senate leader received large donations from 17 members of same family (Ottawa Citizen)
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Tory+Senate+leader+received+large+donations+from+members+same+family/8997839/story.html
Elections Canada
http://www.elections.ca/scripts/webpep/fin/select_search_option.aspx
Download federal campaign donation data
Pivot Table tutorial using the federal campaign donations data
Zambito implicates Laval mayor, parties at corruption inquiry (CBC News)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/zambito-implicates-laval-mayor-parties-at-corruption-inquiry-1.1140223
Quebec political contributions
http://www.electionsquebec.qc.ca/francais/provincial/financement-et-depenses-electorales/recherche-sur-les-donateurs.php#
Download the Quebec political contributions data tutorial
Oct. 14 (Thanksgiving)
Oct 21
In class
Pivot table test based on the tutorials from the previous two weeks.
Introduction to mapping and fusion tables.
City of Ottawa’s open data site
http://app06.ottawa.ca/en/city_hall/statisticsdata/opendata/info/index.htm
You will need to download the following files to use for the Fusion table tutorial:
Bicycle thefts
Discarded syringes
Needle drop-off points
Oct 28
Online
Fusion Table tutorial_part one
Nov. 4
Online
Fusion Table tutorial_part two
Nov. 11
In class
CSV file with need drop-off numbers per ward
Fusion Table test
Example of a Remembrance Day story using Fusion Tables
Vital Signs zip file
Introduction to mapping using Qgis
Go to the city of Ottawa’s Data catalogue website and download the Wards2010 “shp” file to download in the tutorial. The Wards2010 file comes in a zipped format. Unzip and save contents in a folder for the Qgis tutorial. NOTE: The shape file is a combination of six, different file formats (dbf,prj,sbn,sbx,shp, and shx), so make sure each one is contained in your file. When you browse for the shape file within Qgis, it will only see the “shp” file.
Download the SyringesQgis file we’ll use for the tutorial. Be sure to download by “saving as”
Download the Qgis tutorial
Nov 18
Online
Qgis tutorial_part two
Nov. 25
Online
Qgis tutorial_part two
Dec. 2
In class Qgis workshops and troubleshooting
Dec. 9
Day Care csv file for Mapping test
In-class mapping test
Dec. 13 (8:00 PM)
Final assignment due