Storytelling (Craft II)

An impossibly erratic jumble of thoughts, ideas, examples and conversations about telling compelling stories.

[datajournalismlinks]

As readers will see, the G20 leaders had a tendency to inflate statistics that put their country’s performance in a better light.

[reporthers]

ANNA SALE is the host and managing editor of the WNYC show Death, Sex & Money, an interview-based podcast. Before launching the show, she covered politics in New York City, Connecticut and West Virginia. She’s contributed to This American Life, NPR, Marketplace, PBS Newshour, and Slate....

[slavin]

The city’s comptroller has approved a contract for rooftop sensor technology for the NYPD to help pinpoint and reduce gunfire. Comptroller Scott Stringer approved the contract for the ShotSpotter Flex System on Monday. The technology will pinpoint the exact location of a gunshot, allowing officers to respond quickly. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two-year $1.5 million contract will allow the NYPD to target about 15 square miles with the new technology. Officials say that’s up to five separate coverage areas in the five boroughs.

NYC Approves Rooftop Sensors to Pinpoint Gunfire | NBC New York (via slavin)

I was under the impression that these things don't work. Too many false positives and whatnot.

[willjardine]

No video, no problem: Creating interactive video effects with JavaScript

Matt Campbell shows how JavaScript and a few image layers can produce impressive video-quality animations you can enhance with interactive elements like motion controls and head-tracking.

[datajournalismlinks]

The first way to visualize dollars over time is with current dollars.  Current dollars are the dollar value at the point in time in which it was the present. The second way to use real (or constant) dollars.  Real dollars are the dollar value interpreted in values conceptualized for the present day (our present day).  

[lifeandcode]

Datawrapper — an open source, online data visualization tool.  

[poofgonebyebyesolong]

genuine questions:

1- where the heck does all of that money come from to pay the abused kids/adults?

2- this ACS quote- “There are much more sophisticated systems in place today that would never allow this kind of fraud to be perpetrated on the city or our children.”  Really?  So curious what they are.  I can’t imagine any new sophisticated system since 2007.  Maybe case workers are wearing wire taps during home visits?

[craft-ii]

Deep listening: you can fill in the gaps in this story. Go for it.

[samjoonyuh]

Perspective. 

[lifeandcode]

ICYMI:  Here’s a guide to doing your own immersive, tablet-friendly style feature stories with all that scrolly, fullscreen goodness.  

[brooklynmutt-deactivated2021090]

Facebook’s algorithm is not news. And it’s not bad. Truth is every way of accessing the news has an algorithm. Before the Internet, what was on the front page of the NYT was determined by a human-implemented algorithm, that was in no way transparent. We had to trust the editors of the paper the same way users of Facebook trust them.

Facebook’s algorithm isn’t news (via brooklynmutt)

[algopop]

The average story about the Ice Bucket Challenge was much more heavily promoted by Facebook’s algorithms (a factor of 8x) than the average story about Ferguson.

Self segregation on social-networks and the implications for the ferguson MO story - Ethan Zuckerman.  (via algopop)

Important context for viral messaging.

[poofgonebyebyesolong]

And regarding those plums

which were $7 a carton, I got them using the WIC Farmer’s Market checks. I LOVE the farmer’s market WIC checks. We get around $60 worth for the season. I posted about them years ago with Jacket and how the program has a really hard time getting participants to use them. They were so desperate to get folks to try them out that they were telling us we could use the checks to get a pumpkin for Halloween. I’m glad the program has lasted.

[craft-ii]

This is a story. Go find this story.

[unionmetrics]

Here’s a quick summary of our four favorite ways for getting more followers on Instagram and Tumblr.

1. Post great content.

First, you need to post content people actually want to see. Instagram and Tumblr are all about the visual aesthetic, so embrace it. The best brand...

[skunkbear]

i love npr, and didn't realize there were any tumblrs actually run officially by the organization - is there any way someone could send me a few links to other npr run blogs? i'd love that! thanks for doing what you're doing :)

Oh man! We are all over the tumblrs. Pick your favorite flavor:

NPR - The mothership.

Fresh Air - Curated by WHYY’s Fresh Air Associate Producer

NPRchives - Not to be confused with NPR_Chives (our ongoing project examining the smallest species in the onion genus) this tumblr shares highlights from the NPR Archives, starting with 1984. Hilarious and profound.

NPR Books - Books

NPR’s Backseat Book Club - Also books, but for the wee folks (featuring book selections and Q&A’s with their author’s)

NPR Code Switch - Race, ethnicity and culture … how these things play out in our lives and communities … how all of that is shifting

NPR Interns -  The people who will one day steal my job

NPR Music - GIFs of Adele. What more do you want?!

NPR Plays - Pew! Pew pew pew! I’m not excited about church furniture. That’s the sound of laser blasts in a video game. Cause this tumblr is about gaming.

NPR On The Road - See the world through the eyes of NPR’s traveling reporters.

NPR Radio Pictures - The prettiest NPR tumblr? Curated by NPR’s multimedia department

Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me - Curated by WWDTM Producer Ian Chillag

Cook Your Cupboard - Got random stuff in your fridge? We can help you cook it.

Social Media Desk - The only people who understand what twitter is actually for.

Skunk Bear - Science!

[hackthemold]

[craft-ii]

In the coming weeks, a New York Times reporter, Damien Cave, and photographer, Todd Heisler, will travel the length of I-35, chronicling how immigration and changing demographics are transforming communities along the route. Where should they visit?

[kenyatta]

Here’s an example of lock-in: imagine if vanilla ice cream were sold in 90% of restaurants, but chocolate ice cream was only available at 30% of restaurants. Vanilla would become the most eaten ice cream choice because of a supply-side decision. Eventually, supplying chocolate ice cream would become so expensive due to a perceived lack of demand that less and less restaurants would offer it until no restaurants offered it. News discovery is like adding more and more supply-side vanilla ice cream to restaurant menus until we no longer hear about any other kind of ice cream.In academic circles, lock-in has well-known negative affects. As you read these, consider if they sound familiar to any news organizations you read:* It creates a perception of popularity, which many people incorrectly equate to value. * It creates barriers for suppliers to offer other options, because (over time) other options become more expensive to offer. * It can eventually create monopolies, which have a host of additional negative effects on competitive, free-market economies As long as media organizations act in ways that limit the spread of information, they are undercutting their own market value.

Path Dependency and News Discovery Algorithms (via kenyatta)

[webcodepro-deactivated20170223]

Help us improve twXplorer, our Twitter search tool for journalists | Knight Lab | Northwestern University

[craft-ii]

Northwestern University Knight Lab is a team of technologists and journalists working at advancing news media innovation through exploration and experimentation.