Homework: Reading Reflections #1 – May 14

Part 1: Read:

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Meyer
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Meyer_Journalism_Award
  • https://www.unc.edu/~pmeyer/book/Chapter1.htm

In the 2002 print edition of this book, this chapter is titled “The Journalism We Need”. Describe in about a paragraph the journalism the Phil Meyer thinks we need. What are its characteristics, and why does he say we need it?

Do you see this journalism being practiced today? If so, where?

How close is Meyer’s vision to the journalism you think we need?

What three questions would you ask Phil if you had a chance to grab lunch with him?


Part 2

Now read httpss://source.opennews.org/en-US/learning/finding-stories-structure-data/

What is Matt Waite’s vision of data journalism, and how does it compare to Phil Meyer’s? Is there a story that you’ve worked on lately that might have benefited from Waite’s approach? How would the story have been presented differently, and would you have reported it differently?


Part 3

Read https://ire.org/resource-center/tipsheets/1548/ (IRE membership required)

Now read https://www.ire.org/blog/uplink/2015/04/29/parking-permit-data-leads-stories-new-reporting-to/ and the stories linked from it.

Use Sarah Cohen’s tipsheet to critique the stories. Which of her techniques did Todd Wallack use? How well did  follow her guidance?


Part 4

Read https://schoolofdata.org/handbook/courses/what-is-data/

Take the 10 most recent Casualty Releases at the bottom of https://www.defense.gov/releases/ and convert them into a CSV file. Upload the file to Sakai.


Part 5

Read https://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Find your happy place and meditate on it. It will serve you well young Padawan.

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