For more than a year, the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism has covered the distribution of opioid settlement funds in the Bay State. Led by data painstakingly mined by reporter Jonathan Gerhardson and quarterbacked by Editorial Director Chris Faraone, the project has so far included seven features, a dashboard, and accompanying opinions and articles too.
Much of this reporting has been supported by a grant from the Data-Driven Reporting Project (DDRP) at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. And last week, Faraone joined others in the grantee cohort—Aallyah Wright of Capital B News and Erica Peterson of Mountain State Spotlight—along with Pam Dempsey from Northwestern to discuss their work so far at the annual IRE & NICAR data journalism conference in Indianapolis. The panel was titled “How to do data-driven work in small communities.” You can watch Faraone’s talk in the YouTube clip below.
Panel Description: The Data-Driven Reporting Project was founded to support newsrooms who might otherwise lack the tools, training or capacity to do more technically-focused investigative reporting. These are often smaller newsrooms with fewer resources. This in-person panel discussion at NICAR will show examples of how journalists, who have received support from the Data-Driven Reporting Project, are navigating complex and data-driven stories on small and underserved communities. Speakers will share stories and how they problem-solved connecting with the people behind the data. Good for beginners.
