News

08 Feb Reporting beyond Google: Learn to dig up data in rich new places

— by board member Randal Beam

Google is great, but the Internet is rich with resources beyond search that focus issues and make stories stronger. Do you know where to find them?

Kellie Cheadle, KING 5

Join us Monday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. at Fisher Plaza as four Seattle-area media pros demonstrate useful online tools for search and data visualization in the fourth session of the 2012 Western Washington SPJ Continuing Education Series. “Going Beyond Google” is a hands-on program, so bring your laptops.

Spots fill up fast, so don’t wait. RSVP today!

Scheduled to present:

• Kellie Cheadle, KING-5 News, on fast ways to find online information.
• Kathy Gill, UW digital media program, on using Twitter as a reporting tool.
• Cheryl Phillips, The Seattle Times, on using the free download Tableau Public to visualize Census data.
• Matt Rosenberg, Public Eye Northwest, on using the Public Data Ferret to search for public documents.

Public Data Ferret is just one example of the easy-to-use online tools that will be demonstrated Monday.

“Journalists and other stakeholders can use Public Data Ferret to find a good sampling of underreported and newsworthy stories drawn from government documents and data, archived in a user-friendly format by jurisdiction and topic,” Rosenberg explains. “Public Data Ferret is continuing to model what can be reported as a result of online, voluntary government transparency. There’s a lot of fruit to be picked, and processed, from the trees at the edge of the orchard.”

The session starts at 7 p.m. at Fisher Plaza, 140 Fourth Avenue North in Seattle. Members attend FREE, non-members pay $10 for each session. As always, pizza is included, thanks to the generous donation from Seattle’s Zeek’s Pizza.