1. New Digital Tools
for Investigative Journalism
Sponsored by the Gannett Foundation

2. AAJA 2010 Conference
Los Angeles, California
Kate Marymont Bill Church
Vice President/News Editor
Gannett Statesman Journal
Alison Young
Investigative Reporter
USA TODAY

3. Digital Tools for
Watchdog Reporting:
Social network Maps
analysis
Interactive graphics
Embedding
documents Data visualization
Crowdsourcing
Timelines

4. WASHINGTON POST: TOP SECRET IN AMERICA
JULY 19, 2010

5. THE NEW YORK TIMES: STOP, QUESTION, FRISK
JULY 11, 2010

6. STUMP INTERRUPTED: BILL WHITE
TEXAS TRIBUNE

7. Social Network Analysis:

8. FLIPPING FRAUD
PROJECT
SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
DATE REPORTERS
JULY 2009 MICHAEL BRAGA, CHRIS DAVIS & MATTHEW DOIG

9. Social Networking
Analysis:
Interviewed Adams' former
business partners and analyzed
land deeds, mortgage
documents and other records
related to his real estate deals.
Found he used a network of
professional associates and a
stable of regular buyers to
control every aspect of his real
estate flips.
Multiple flips made Adams
hundreds of thousands of dollars
in real estate sales
commissions.

10. Embedding
Documents:

11. California Watch:
Documents detailing
Palin’s speaking fee
shredded by university
-University lied about
shredding documents.
-Obtained copy of
speaking agreement.
- Officials who willfully
refuse to disclose public
documents can be
prosecuted for.
misdemeanors.

12. Crowdsourcing:

13. Crowdsourcing and
Investigative Reporting:
The use of crowdsourcing allows the audience to
become involved by generating a story idea or
assisting with investigation.
Information is usually gathered through a website
or other automated agent.
By requiring additional information like first and
last name, and zip code (to ensure locality) users
can be verified.

14. ENGULFED: PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL
PNJ.COM AND CONTENT ONE

15. Crowdsourcing:
The Telegraph’s investigation into Sites like HelpMeInvestigate
MPs expenses led to an recruits users to assist make
enormous crowdsourcing investigations possible and
investigative reporting project – produced an in-depth
by the Guardian investigation into the most
ticketed streets in Birmingham.
Giving power to the users to
investigate or review documents Spot.Us brings readers in by
asking them to sponsor reporting
projects – community-funded
reporting

16. CROWDSOURCING THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
CNN.COM

17. Timelines:

18. Tools for creating a timeline: Capzles
- The Detroit Free Press used Capzles to produce “Interactive
timeline of the text-message scandal” showing events leading
up to the resignation of the mayor.

19. Tools for
creating a
timeline: Dipity
- The Dispatch Online
created a timeline for
their report Broken
Homes which detailed
the city’s poor
planning and its
impact on
impoverished
neighborhoods.

20. Data visualization

21. USA TODAY: Toxic
Air and America’s
Schools
- Investigation on air
pollution around
hundreds of schools
nationwide.
- Innovations:
searchable database
and graphic
visualizations.

22. USA TODAY: INVESTIGATION OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACH SALARIES
INTERACTIVE DATABASE OF SALARIES

23. Data-driven Stories:
- Special Report “Drunken Driving” (series)
- Reporters discovered The Nevada
Department of Corrections failed to adjust
the parole-eligibility dates for the eight DUI
offenders who were sent back to prison to
serve a full two-year term.
- Following the investigation, the
department reviewed an opinion by
Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto
that said the two years is mandatory and
adjusted the parole-eligibility dates for
seven offenders. Most will spend another
year in prison.
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
REPORTER: MARTHA BELLISLE

24. ON NORTH CONCORD, IT'S DESOLATION ROW INDYSTAR.COM
REPORTER: JEFF SWIATEK

25. How they did it:
Compiled an array of personalized data
from property records, crime reports,
tax statements and interviews.
Gathered historical, countywide
vacancy data to give our readers the
“macrocosm” look at what has
happened over time across the city.
Interviewed residents (past and
present).
Included a Google street view map
embed.

26. WILMINGTON NEWS JOURNAL
PROJECT
SHUT OUT OF SOCIAL SECURITY
AWARD REPORTER
FOI WINNER MIKE CHALMERS

27. LIVING WITH CRIME IN BOOKER T. - FLORIDA TODAY
JOHN A. TORRES, CRAIG RUBADOUX, CAROLINE PEREZ, DENNIS LOWE

28. Cashing in on kids: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Reporter Raquel Rutledge
spent over a year
investigating state funded
childcare system called
Wisconsin Shares, and
discovered millions of
taxpayer dollars were
being stolen.
Result: State crackdown
yielding $45 million
dollars in savings for tax
payers and prosecution of
daycare owners

29. Investigative reporting
tools allow us to:
Data visualization allows us Crowdsourcing brings
to generate story armies of assistants into
foundations and simply play.
depict information for
readers Online platforms allow us
to tell deep and media rich
GIS or mapping stories.
technologies allows us to
see nuances and
relationships between
information and place

31. “The problem with all these bribery and corruption stories is
they are often quite complicated, financial and dry. Because
of the legal problems, of which there are many, you have to
be quite roundabout with the things you say.
But to find ways of doing it online that can bring it alive for
people and give them a handle on it is a really exciting thing.
You’ve seen these stories which say ‘Complex web of
financial transactions’, and people’s eyes glaze over. This is
about trying to find a way past that.”
---David Leigh, Guardian