The Rise of Investigative Data Journalism

Abstract

My journey into data journalism did not begin with some massive database. It was a long way off before I would get involved in combing through secret diplomatic cables or the Snowden trove of spy documents. It was before I really appreciated how statistics could further my journalism, to the point where it would be using statistics that would lead to the recall of a quarter of a million Nissan Altimas because its airbags were blinding passengers. The arrests of those involved in defrauding a major railway’s disability pension system. Or spark the Pentagon to overhaul the way it delivers medical care to its soldiers and their families. It was before I learned about computerized mapping, and how it could help uncover policing that disproportionally targets African Americans, or how real estate developers reshape flood maps that later haunt unsuspecting property owners when hurricanes strike.