How to Think Like a Data Reporter with SoReMo

Join the SoReMo Forum on Friday, October 8 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for a talk and discussion on “How to Think Like a Data Reporter” with David Eads, Data Editor of The Marshall Project.

Data journalists are the alley mechanics of data science. We haven’t spent our lives as engineers or always know the theory. At the same time, we have a lot of practical experience that’s highly relevant to day-to-day data science. This session will cover many tricks of data reporting like developing and interviewing sources, acquiring data via records requests and scraping, and finding hidden data sources. We’ll discuss the technical environment we work in and tools we use, and how our processes are designed to minimize technical debt. Finally, we’ll talk about how we get our work in front of an audience and how we try to present it effectively.

Speaker bio:
David Eads has been trying to make “good internet” for more than twenty years. Eads is a co-founder of the Invisible Institute, where he also built The View From The Ground. He helped create FreeGeek Chicago, a community-based computer recycling organization. He has built editorial products as a reporter and editor at the Chicago Tribune, NPR Visuals, ProPublica Illinois, and The Chicago Reporter. Eads was a member of the team of independent journalists who won the 2019 Premio Gabo for general coverage for their reporting on mass graves in Mexico.

The SoReMo Forum meets on the second and fourth Friday each month, 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
The location is in PS-111 (Pritzker Science building on campus).
The auditorium is hybrid-enabled; we will do our best to enable remote participation for those who cannot attend in person. Zoom links will be sent the morning of the event to our mailing list SoReMo-all-group@iit.edu.