Reporting & Writing

The heart and soul of what we do is the written word. Behind every word is a source, a question, an answer and context. Learn how to find the story and communicate it in beautiful prose.

See how to make the most out of every meeting, including a better attack on print and digital, and a bona fide roster of enterprise stories in the future.

How to Automate Data-Driven Stories

Learn how to write data-driven templates in this content automation training for reporters and editors.

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    • The Business of Covering Food and Restaurants

    Tips for searching and finding data in coverage of the food and restaurant industry.

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    • Covering Natural Disasters: Preparedness Training

    There are multiple resources journalists can prepare ahead of a natural disaster. Data + Journalism author and trainer Mike Reilley of University of Illinois-Chicago walks USA TODAY Network journalists through tools you may not have considered using.

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    • How to Find and Plan Trending Stories

    Cincinnati’s News of NOW team walks through the process and tools they use in this session on trending stories.

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    • About ChatGPT and DALL-E

    What to know about Generative AI and Automation featuring Senior Director Jessica Davis of USA TODAY Network.

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    • Focus on Your Writing: Writing With Data by Mike Reilley

    Writing with numbers isn’t easy. The best data-driven stories don’t read like data stories. They focus on the humans, those impacted by the data and the issues.

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    • Google Earth Studio

    Learn how to use Google Earth Studio, Google Earth Pro, Google Earth Timelapse and Earth Measure Tool with training by author and data journalism expert Mike Reilley.

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    • To the Point 101 — Why we’re doing it and what successful TTP looks like

    We know our younger digital readers are seeking scannable, easy-to-digest content. Here’s what it is (and isn’t), how our efforts so far are helping us reach readers with premium and metered content and some successful examples on how newsrooms are putting it to use and making it a priority.

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    • Google tools for journalists

    Google Fact-Check Explorer, Google Public Data Explorer, Google Trends, Google search shortcuts/advanced search), MapChecking for crowd size estimates, PhantomBuster, VisualPing for tracking website updates and other cool tools and hacks.

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    • Microsoft Excel 05 – What if

    The more data you have, the more questions you will have about it, and the more answers it can provide. Excel has a variety of conditional formulas that let you evaluate subsets of your data to find the stories to tell: If…Then formulas; Conditional Functions; XLOOKUP; Array Functions.

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    • Microsoft Excel 04 — Pivot tables

    Pivot table are the simple solution for some, and a rare kind of magic to others. In this session, we’ll demystify pivot tables and show you how you can use them to simplify your analysis and give you more options than ever in how you extract your story.

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    • Business tools and investigating companies

    Learn how to scrape real-time and historical stock data from Google Finance into a Google Sheet and track it. It’s useful for anyone covering a specific industry or company.

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    • Microsoft Excel 03 — Top of the charts

    Numbers gives us the facts, but images tell us the story. In this session, we’ll show you how to create charts from your data, leverage Excel’s suggestions, modify them to […]

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    • Investigating Nonprofits

    Learn how to read a Form 990 and where/how to go about obtaining these documents to track how money flows through non-profit organizations. We’ll also look at other tools for researching charities and also government agencies that investigate them.

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    • Microsoft Excel 02 – Fill it out

    In this session, we’ll explore how Excel helps you add data in a flash. We’ll explore new data types that pull information from the internet and help you spot the important stuff at a glance: Conditional Formatting; Auto Fill; Flash Fill; Geography and Stock Data Types; Leveraging Tables for Expanding Data Sets  

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    • Excel 01 – Welcome to Excel

    In this session we’ll start at A1 and introduce you to the basics of Excel, how it’s structured, and how to get around in it. We’ll show you how you can start using formulas to take Excel beyond just a list of stuff.

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    • Cool tools for journalists

    We’ll dig into several investigative and productivity tools you can incorporate into your reporting right now. We’ll explore VisualPing.io for tracking website updates, PhantomBuster.com for scraping Google Maps, the Salo App for recording front/back camera videos on your phone, 123apps.com for file conversion and dozens of phone apps and other tools

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    • Transcription and translation in Microsoft Word

    In this session, we’ll teach you how to create transcripts of your interviews in Word on the web. We’ll explore Word’s dictation features and highlight its ability to translate between different languages.

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    • Converting criminal justice coverage to social justice coverage

    A conversation around how social justice storytelling can help humanize even the most tragic of stories and how we can ensure our reporting serves both our communities and our readership goals.

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    • Covering retail and inflation

    Learn how to use tools like Google Shopping, Keepa and CamelCamelCamel to track prices. Also: How to use the Consumer Price Index, use inflation calculators and other tools for tracking prices and fraudulent online sellers/reviewers.

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    • Don’t count words. Make your words count.

    Writing concise, to the point stories isn’t about cutting until you’re under the limit. It’s about writing the story with the right words and nothing more. We’ll talk about finding the one thing that will drive your story, how a zero draft can start you in the right place, the magic of reading aloud and the secret sauce of short yet authoritative writing (that one, as they say, may shock you).

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    • Data visualization: Canva and Venngage 201

    Students will use a set of data points and data sets to build static and interactive graphics. We also will show how Flourish interfaces with Canva, since Canva now owns it.

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    • Data visualization: Datawrapper 301

    A deep dive on building choropleth and location maps. In 75 minutes we will build three maps, based on both US and global data. We will work on a more advanced chart and focus more on adding tooltips and footnotes in the charts.

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    • Google Trends 301

    How to download data from the Google Trends store and create Flourish graphics with it. Also: Tracking midterm election issues and candidates. How can you use Trends during an election?

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    • Reddit: How journalists can use the platform to grow audience, find sources and more

    With 430 million active users, Reddit is a gold mine of opportunity for journalists — but diving in can be challenging. In this session, we’ll help you learn how to confidently navigate the platform to discover and promote stories, find sources, cultivate relationships with new and existing audiences, and more.

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    • Google MyMaps 301

    Students will build layered maps. We will show them how to work multimedia into the map. We’ll use real data they can download. Bonus: We also will show how to use PhantomBuster to scrape data OUT of Google Maps.

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    • Data visualization: Flourish 201/301

    Easily turn your data into stunning charts, maps and interactive visuals for your stories. We will unlock the advanced features and settings in Flourish that will help you animate and bring your stories to life, while remaining true to our styles and branding.

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    • How to tell a story in 60 seconds or less on vertical video

    Learn how to easily tell a story for audiences on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube. Led by Wisconsin DOT Manager Lainey Seyler and producer Brooke Eberle, the session give tips on planning, creating and writing a script for vertical videos.

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    • Instagram for journalists

    What are all these Instagram terms I hear and why do they matter to my work? Get a crash course on the basics of Instagram and how the platform can help your stories reach a different audience in this one-hour course led by Des Moines Register Audience Strategist Brian Smith.

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    • Tips for sharing premium content on social

    premium content on social from Content Strategist Jaime Cárdenas.

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    • Protected: Scrape-a-palooza and Google Flourish

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    • Protected: Advanced sports coverage using Google Earth Pro

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    • Protected: Google Finance scraping and other tools for business beats

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    • Protected: Data-scraping websites, PDFs and Flourish

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    • Environment tools, Part III

    me new tools, such as the Environmental Justice Atlas that documents cases around the world of environmental infractions. We’ll also look at Protected Planet, which tracks conservation measures, and the Wildlife Dashboard.

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    • Data portals: Datahubs, USA Facts and the Humanitarian Exchange

    How to use three portals to find datasets and even some pre-built graphics.

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    • Sports databases: Google Flourish and AirTable

    Sports are built on data. We’ll work through a series of exercises to build interactive databases of sports data.

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    • Business tools, Part IV: Covering inflation and consumer prices

    Learn how to use inflation calculation tools and track prices on Amazon, eBay and other digital platforms. Tools include the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Keepa.com, Google Shopping, FormDs.com and several other resources. We’ll also look at tools for spotting fake online sellers and fake reviews on online sales sites. 

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    • Productivity: 123Apps and TinyWow

    ok at browser-based Swiss Army knife tools that will help your productivity. They help with file management and conversion, quick video edits and more.

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    • Scraping Google Maps with PhantomBuster

    PhantomBuster.com lets you scrape up to 200 locations off Google Maps and drop them into a spreadsheet with ease. It allows you to scrape by address, phone number, Instagram photos and more.

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    • Reporting tools for early-career journalists, Part I

    Google Basics: Advanced search, micro-search sites, Trends, MapChecking, fact-checking, etc.

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    • Protected: High school and college sports coverage tools, Part II

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    • Protected: High school and college sports coverage tools, Part I

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    • Empower your research with Lexis/Nexis

    How to conduct basic research for news stories.

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    • Protected: Tools for covering inflation and consumer prices

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    • Trans 201

    How to tell holistic stories about trans and gender-diverse individuals. Topics include: Where are all the trans men? Where are the non-white trans folks? Reporting outside the framework of the gender binary. And understanding how your own gendered lens influences story bias.

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    • Tools for investigating non-profit organizations

    A look at tools for tracking non-profit finances, what their CEOs earn and much more. We also spend some time looking at Form 990s of charities and give you a chance to pull some on organizations in your area.

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    • Build your own reporting robot

    How to use the automation function of Github, a tool for programmers, to create a web scraping bot to automatically gather information and data from the web. Our example will be using it to automate a tedious beat check. No prior coding knowledge needed.

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    • Protected: Business reporters and editors: Tools for covering companies and industries

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    • Libel refresher: What reporters need to know to work within the law

    ou don’t need to be a legal expert, but having this basic framework will keep you in compliance with the law while you carry out your duties. We’ll teach you how to spot possible problem areas, ask for help and prevent potentially libelous phrasing.

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    • Protected: Google Earth tools for your newsroom

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    • Writing headlines that win with new audiences

    The right words aren’t just a powerful way to summarize a story — they’re the best tool we have to reach occasional readers and convert them to paying subscribers.

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    • Data-scraping web pages, PDFs and Google Finance

    How to extract data from the web and PDFs and flow them into a spreadsheet. You’ll also learn how to scrape real-time and historical stock data into Google Sheets to track specific companies or industries. Code: data

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    • Identifying discrimination through data

    Jayme Fraser of the I-Team and Robbie Gutierrez of the DOT will show how to pick out patterns hiding in data sets.

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    • Master classes for business reporters and editors, Part II

    We will cover Charity Watch, SEC filings, Form 990s on Guidestar, etc. Google Dataset Search, Google Scholar, including ways to analyze case-law. We will learn to scrape Google Finance to isolate stock data and historical stock data. And will finish by learning how to scrape data from business sites and visualize it using Flourish. Code: business

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    • Diversity and the newsroom: Tips for expanding coverage and supporting reporters of color

    The Columbus Dispatch’s Erica Thompson explores a few big stories and offers tips on advocating for diverse coverage and better support of reporters of color.

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    • Master classes for business reporters and editors, Part I

    We cover Charity Watch, SEC filings, Form 990s on Guidestar, etc. Google Dataset Search, Google Scholar, including ways to analyze case-law. We will learn to scrape Google Finance to isolate stock data and historical stock data. And will finish by learning how to scrape data from business sites and visualize it using Flourish. Code: business

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    • Protected: Reporting tools for sophisticated shopping season retail coverage

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    • Mapping tools that reveal inequalities in our communities

    This will use Census data and two new network tools: Diversity Dashboard and Pass the Mic, to see where stories land and how to cultivate follow ups with sources.

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    • Write better headlines and captions

    Learn how the pros at the Design Center zero in on the heart of the story, using just a few words.

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    • Conducting a source audit and building a diverse source database

    You likely know the racial and ethnic makeup of your newsroom, but what about your sources? Let’s talk about why diverse sourcing is important, how to find out how well your sources represent your community and ideas on creating and retaining those sources.

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    • Reporters toolkit for search

    Use this tool to track and visualize search trends on Google. You can compare terms or sub-topics, and use the tool to compare keywords you can use in SEO tags and headlines. The comparison graphics, maps and list are easy to embed and share.

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    • News values and judgment

    We tackle the fundamentals of what makes a story newsworthy, the essential practices of journalists and the shared values that differentiate journalism from other forms of content and storytelling.

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    • Improving our relationship with readers

    A primer on the the audience funnel. First, we will do an audience health checkup and what we can do to help move readers through the loyalty funnel. Then we explore what a reader NEEDS from our content  – and making sure we deliver.

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    • Reporting with Pinpoint

    Learn how to probe through millions of documents, including audio, video, PDFs and more, to find patterns or that proverbial needle in a haystack. You’ll see case studies of how Gannett journalists have used this software to break big investigative stories.

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    • Using specialized search engines to find sources, data and fact-checks

    Execute deeper, more precise, more sophisticated web searches by harnessing specialized search engines. Diversity your stories, angles, sources and readers.

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    • Using search trends to stay ahead of the curve

    Narrow parameters, create comparisons and overlays and discover what local audiences are looking for in real time.

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    • Reporting on the Census

    How to be prepared for the huge release of Census data due in mid-August.

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    • Backgrounding a business

    How to search for proxies and tools for covering business, non-profits and the economy overall.

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    • Secure communications with sources and tipsters

    Tips and traps: Tools such as Signal app, Freedome and VPNs to keep you, your data and your sources safe.

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    • How to find diverse sources to build trust, better serve our readers and grow audience

    Enterprise reporters Romi Ruiz, Marc Ramirez and Jessica Guynn talk about how they work to build trust with diverse audiences and find story ideas about communities that represent different experiences in the United States.

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    • Basic databases in Google Flourish and other tools

    A few easy tools to help you show your work: Google Flourish, Airtable and Tableizer.

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    • Advanced fact-checking for reporters

    Fact-checking images, video and verifying facts.

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    • The best data on education

    What education data sets out there, and what stories can they help us tell?

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    • Advanced search techniques for reporters

    Google Advanced Search, search operators, deep searching a government website with a lousy search tool, Google Dataset Search, Google Scholar. Data sources

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    • Google Earth Suite

    We explore three free tools that will help you visualize stories in a whole new way.

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    • What do you mean, it’s “statistically significant?”

    Advanced math for journalists.

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    • The best data about inequality

    What are the best datasets out there and what stories can they tell?

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    • Investigative/data skills series: Data visualization using DataWrapper

    In part I of our two-part series, “Data visualization for everyone,” we explore DataWrapper — an easy but powerful tool available to journalists across Gannett.

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    • Finding diverse expert sources

    This session will show you how to use expert databases to find vetted sources, what to look for with “faux experts” and how to follow experts when they publish.

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    • Fact-Checking IV: Fact-Checking Videos

    Was the video doctored? How can we see when and where a video was first published? We’ll explore how with Watch Frame-by-Frame and Amnesty International’s YouTube Dataviewer.

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    • Fact-Checking III: Put Your Photo Fact-Checking Skills to the Test

    We’ll give you three photos to fact-check with context shared (for real) on social media about each photo. Your job is to reverse image search each photo to see if the context is accurate or if the photo has been misrepresented.

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    • Fact-Checking II: Fact-Checking Photos

    How can we see when and where a photo was first published? We’ll explore how with Google Image Search, TinEye and FotoForensics.

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    • Fact-Checking I: Basic Fact-Checking Tools

    Introduction to basic tools like Google Fact Check Explorer, Google Earth, the Verification Handbook and First Draft News resources.

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    • Google Public Data Explorer

    The Google Public Data Explorer is linked to reliable datasets that can help you build charts in minutes.

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    • Google basic search tools

    We’ll cover all kinds of search tips and tricks in this video. Make sure you have Google.com open as well as the search operators handout linked off this page.

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    • Data scraping with Google Sheets and Tabula

    In this training video and hands-on exercises, you’ll learn how to scrape data tables out of web pages.

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    • Intro to mapchecking.com

    Do you need to estimate a crowd size at a large outdoor event such as a protest, parade, concert or other ticketless event? Then MapChecking.com is the tool for you.

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    • Scraping online databases with Google Sheets

    An accessible way for anyone to quickly capture data that would otherwise require hundreds of hours at the keyboard to query.

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    • How to pry public records from a reluctant agency

    Government databases are public records, yet most agencies treat records requests for data as something exotic and fraught with challenges. Anticipate the objections and defeat them for the win.

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    • Hands-on with fast.ai

    Automatically sort text or images with machine-learning. Got too much text to read, or too many images to dig through? Make the computer do it, by teaching by example.

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    • Google Earth Engine Timelapse

    Google Earth Engine Timelapse features 37 years (1984-2020) of satellite imagery over a given area on Earth.

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    • Unlocking the power of Excel pivot tables

    Slice and dice data to to organize your reporting, find patterns and reveal better stories.

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    • Data visualization introduction

    Visualizations can help make a complex story simpler. Play with simple data visualization tools, learn how to automatically import data into a map, and explore the elegant templates of Flourish.

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    • Introduction to using data in your reporting

    An overview of the key data analysis tools and techniques used to produce investigative stories, with examples of stories that were made possible with these tools.

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    • Backgrounding like a boss: Reporting on people and companies with free tools

    Even great reporters can get tricked by fake names or sketchy backgrounds. We’ll walk through some websites and strategies you can use to create a routine and spot potential red flags before you get burned.

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    • Advanced Search: Power tools for search, research and analysis

    See what users in your area are searching and discover story ideas on Google Trends. Explore Backlight, an AI tool for parsing massive amounts of documents.

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    • Verification tools

    Bad information is dangerous, especially in uncertain times. Learn how to verify images and video, investigate social media posts, and identify misinformation with open-source intelligence tools.

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    • Building a public records mindset

    A discussion on developing a documents state of mind — the key to doing solid watchdog work on a beat.

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    • Safely reporting from protests and other tense events

    These are stressful times. Being out in the world as a journalist carries an element of risk. But a world without engaged journalists watching over it is risky, too. Our aim is to identify as many risks as we can and take steps to reduce them, prepare for them, and neutralize them if they do arise.

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