Maverick Russel A.

Flores
2012-40310
J 116 WWX
Assignment 1
January 28, 2015
1. What is computer-assisted reporting?
Sometimes called computer-assisted journalism, CAR is not just anything that involves
the use of computers in gathering news. It also includes database journalism and online research.
2. What is data journalism? How does it differ from computer-assisted reporting?
CAR works as an umbrella term, whereas data journalism involves, more specifically,
writing a compelling story with the use of data and such digital information in the numbersdriven 21st century.
3. Who is Philip Meyer?
In a Pulitzer Prize-winning effort, Meyer, a University of North Carolina professor,
conducted a survey on African-Americans during the 1967 Detroit Riots. He then analyzed the
data with John Robinson, Nathan Kaplan and the aid of an IBM 360 mainframe. Employing
Harvard Data-Text, a higher-level IBM language, their findings revealed that people who
attended college are as much likely to participate in the riots as high school dropouts. In 1973, he
published Precision Journalism, and a newer version in 1991, New Precision Journalism, that
describes the scientific developments, specifically the usage of data, in journalism.
4. Who is Clarence Jones?
Clarence Jones of The Miami Herald pioneered public service journalism, and in turn, the
use of computers in analyzing government records, in his story, A Scientific Look at Dade
Crime. He hired University of Miami law students to enter court records into a computer. Then,
with the use of a COBOL program, and with the aid of the Heralds systems manager Clark
Lambert, he analyzed 13,000 punch cards to unveil bias in the Dade County criminal justice
system.
5. Who are Don Barlett and James Steele?
With the assistance of Meyer, Don Barlett and James Steele of The Philadelphia Inquirer
ran Unequal Justice a series of computer-assisted reports, in February 1973. They inputted city
court system records into computer-readable form to analyze sentencing trends. This was, in
turn, Meyers first time analyzing government data

6. Name at least four modern tools for computer-assisted reporting. Briefly explain what each
does.
There are three basic tools for computer-assisted reporting: spreadsheets, database
managers and online resources.
Spreadsheets are used in number analysis.
Database managers are used in source organization.
Online resources include electronic mail, discussion groups, database libraries and
bulletin boards.
Also in use in this era are statistical software. Meyer discussed high-level programs such
as SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and SAS (Statistical Analysis System),
which are used in statistical analysis. They "let the user invoke them in a way that is almost like
talking to the computer in plain English, Meyer said in his book, New Precision Journalism.
7. In four or five sentences, state how computer-assisted reporting/data journalism has been
practiced in the Philippines.
Data journalism has come a long way from Eric Gutierrezs use of the Lotus123
spreadsheet program to simply sort data of wealthy Congress families and their wealth in the
1990s, to Rappler.coms social media and crowd-sourcing efforts at present.
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) used data a source in writing
stories, most importantly on the wealth of families in politics and how they used such in rising to
power, coming off from Gutierrezs research. They published iSite.ph, which revealed this data
online.
GMA Network also used data in adding context and support to their broadcast reports.
They mandated a team to collect and analyze data from government and private sources, and
eventually built PoliClan, a database of political candidates statements of assets and liabilities.
Data is also being used in online reporting. Rappler.com and Interaksyon.com use
accessible government data to deliver online election results and updates in May 2013.
Interaksyon even used heat maps to visualize the data.
Rappler continues to use data in coming up with infographics for their digital reporting.