After nine years and over 60,000 requests, MuckRock — the Massachusetts-based news site that specializes in using the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) — has been witness to some pretty impressive efforts to keep public information from the public. In the spirit of Sunshine Week, they compiled some of the weirdest, wildest and downright hilarious redactions they’ve received since launching in 2010.
In a sweeping set of charges, federal officials announced “the largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.” Dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues” by the FBI, prosecutors used RICO — federal anti-racketeering laws — to allege that some 50 people conspired to cheat on standardized tests or bribe coaches and other school officials to accept students into elite colleges. At the alleged center of the conspiracy: a for-profit college prep agency and an associated nonprofit foundation.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from March 4 to 10 finds several interesting tools and feature releases: @FinancialTimes’ chartmaking tool, @datavized’s data sonification tool and a new feature on @Microsoft’s Excel app that converts printed tables into editable spreadsheets, as well as @alice_corona’s discussion of building 3D data experiences, and @alyssafowers coining the term “hedgehog maps.”
A new report highlights the obstacles to survival for media startups in the Global South, and checks in on the progress of two dozen of them to see how they’ve fared over the past three years. It includes advice from some of these outlets’ editors for those thinking of launching their own startups. A recurring theme: Before you do anything else, secure a couple years’ worth of funding.
In Hungary, nonprofit news site Átlátszó has hired a full-time data team to create a wide range of data visualizations and data-driven stories, notably on corruption. Amanda Loviza spoke to the team’s leader Attila Bátorfy about his plans to raise the bar for data journalism in Hungary.
Sustainable revenue and audience trust are two of the biggest challenges faced by media organizations all over the world — and neither are getting any easier. Engaging with audiences is one way to address these two interconnected issues. In the latest addition to GIJN’s Resource Center, Emily Goligoski brings to bear her experience as research director for the Membership Puzzle Project to explain various forms of audience engagement.
Funding by private foundations is filling gaps in mainstream news coverage, especially in areas like investigative, international and local journalism. However, researchers have found that this funding is inadvertently shaping the boundaries of international nonprofit journalism.
What’s the global data journalism community tweeting about this week? Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from February 25 to March 3 finds a @nytimes profile of its much admired data editor @amandacox; a flu tracker by @morgenpost; and a double dose of skepticism in @amandabee’s roundup of bad data interpretations and @albertocairo’s “How Charts Lie” book.
Women muckrakers are breaking important stories around the world, but there are still relatively few female investigative journalists. To help them find communities and support, GIJN has compiled a comprehensive list of global resources designed for women journalists.
