Dianna Hunt, watchdog/news editor for The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, La.), offers tips for improving your data journalism during the free investigative workshop, "Accountability in Indian Country - Be a Better Business Watchdog," on July 18, 2013. Presented by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, this workshop was part of the Native American Journalists Association's annual conference in Phoenix. For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org. For additional resources on using data to empower your coverage, please visit the training archive page at http://businessjournalism.org/2013/07/17/accountability-in-indian-country-be-a-better-business-watchdog-self-guided-training/.

1. How
Data
Empowers
You
Dianna
Hunt
Watchdog/News
Editor
The
Daily
Adver;ser
Lafaye>e,
La.
dhunt@theadver;ser.com

3. Facing
your
Fears
• Numbers/data
add
credibility
to
your
repor;ng
• Anecdotes
tell
the
human
element;
numbers
back
up
the
anecdotes
• Anyone
who
can
add
and
subtract
can
use
numbers
effec;vely
in
a
story
• Percentages
are
nice,
too

4. Wri;ng
with
Authority
New
policy,
rise
in
arrests
lead
to
concerns
about
school
safety
By
Amanda
McElfresh
amcelfresh@theadver;ser.com
In
her
20
years
of
teaching
in
the
Lafaye>e
Parish
School
System,
Nancy
Romero
has
seen
fights,
handled
disciplinary
problems
and
been
one
of
the
area's
most
vocal
proponents
of
safety
on
school
campuses.
This
year,
though,
something
is
different,
Romero
says.
Teachers
are
not
necessarily
more
afraid
of
their
students,
but
there's
a
tense,
uneasy
feeling
on
school
grounds
that
a
discipline
problem
could
erupt
at
any
;me.
"Most
teachers
are
feeling
the
campuses
are
not
as
safe
for
students
or
for
teachers
as
they
have
been
in
the
past,"
Romero
said.
"They
don't
feel
that
things
are
being
done
or
preventa;ve
measures
are
being
taken
that
would
stop
it
before
it
starts.
It's
a
heightened
awareness
that
things
are
going
on.”
Photo
by
flickr
user
Tony
Margiocchi

5. Wri;ng
with
Authority
New
policy,
rise
in
arrests
lead
to
concerns
about
school
safety
(con<nued)
By
Amanda
McElfresh
amcelfresh@theadver;ser.com
Lafaye?e
school
arrest
records
appear
to
support
teachers'
concerns.
Since
a
new
disciplinary
policy
went
into
effect
this
year
making
it
more
difficult
to
throw
problem
students
off
campus,
arrests
at
school
have
soared
more
than
51
percent,
par<cularly
in
middle
schools,
according
to
arrest
records
analyzed
by
The
Daily
Adver<ser.
In
October
alone,
10
arrests
were
made
for
ba?ery
of
a
teacher,
and
two
for
aggravated
assault.
Disturbing
the
peace
was
the
most
common
reason
for
arrest,
with
41
instances,
and
arrests
for
simple
ba?ery
trailed
in
second
place
with
14.
Carencro
schools
saw
a
similar
rise,
par<cularly
at
Carencro
Middle
School
where
26
arrests
were
made
this
year
—
five
<mes
more
than
last
year.
Carencro
Police
Chief
Carlos
Stout
said
officers
assigned
to
schools
do
as
much
as
they
can
to
maintain
order
on
campus.
But
he
said
students
should
suffer
the
consequences
for
causing
trouble.
Photo
by
flickr
user
Tony
Margiocchi

6. Backing
up
your
anecdotes
'Enough
is
enough':
Teachers
leaving
classrooms
in
droves
By
Amanda
McElfresh
amcelfresh@theadver;ser.com
Edward
Gauthier
spent
more
than
three
decades
teaching
in
Louisiana
public
schools,
including
16
years
at
Carencro
High
School
teaching
special
educa;on,
English
and
computer
science.
He
could
have
re;red
in
2009,
but
he
was
having
so
much
fun
teaching
and
learning
alongside
his
students
that
he
stayed
in
the
classroom.
Then
came
changes
in
the
state
educa;onal
system
that
cut
his
promised
monthly
re;rement
income,
and
Gauthier
began
to
worry
that
his
re;rement
would
be
gone
before
he
could
ever
take
it.
"I
took
some
of
this
news
hard,"
he
said,
"and
my
feelings
were,
'I
give
my
life
to
train
other
people's
kids
to
go
to
college
and
the
state
rewards
me
with
a
salary
that
won't
let
MY
sons
go
to
college.'"
He
re;red
last
June.
Photo
by
flickr
user
audio-­‐luci-­‐store.it

7. Backing
up
your
anecdotes
'Enough
is
enough':
Teachers
leaving
classrooms
in
droves
(con<nued)
By
Amanda
McElfresh
amcelfresh@theadver;ser.com
'I
figured
I
had
a
few
more
years
le`
in
me,
but
when
I
learned
of
(Gov.
Bobby)
Jindal's
ideas,
I
got
nervous,"
he
said.
Gauthier
is
not
alone.
A
Daily
Adver<ser
analysis
of
teacher
re<rements
and
resigna<ons
the
past
two
school
years
shows
that
teachers
are
leaving
the
Lafaye?e
Parish
School
System
even
faster
than
they
are
leaving
the
classroom
statewide.
From
August
through
January,
teacher
resigna<ons
have
nearly
tripled
in
the
Lafaye?e
Parish
School
System,
from
29
to
102.
Re<rements
more
than
doubled
during
that
period,
from
19
to
41.
The
large
number
of
departures
come
amid
dras<c
changes
in
public
educa<on
at
the
state
and
local
levels,
including
statewide
changes
in
the
way
teachers
are
evaluated;
reduced
re<rement
benefits;
and
a
shi^ing
focus
to
private
school
vouchers.
Photo
by
flickr
user
audio-­‐luci-­‐store.it

8. Excerpt:
By
Claire
Taylor
Local
judges
spent
nearly
$900,000
in
public
funds
in
five
years
for
such
expenses
as
fish
tanks,
handmade
judicial
robes,
a
concealed
gun
permit
and
conferences
at
the
beach.
A
review
of
judicial
expense
accounts
by
The
Daily
Adver;ser
found
local
judges
charged
to
eat,
drive,
dress,
travel
and
decorate
their
offices
between
2008
and
2012
–
and
even
to
hang
their
portraits
on
the
courthouse
walls.

9. Finding
the
right
numbers
• What’s
the
total?
• How
much
have
they
increased?
• What
areas
have
seen
growth
or
decline?
• Which
areas
are
growing
fastest?
• How
much
did
it
cost?
Photo
by
flickr
user
Zach
K

10. Where
to
look
• Use
FOIA
laws
to
ask
for
what
you
want
• Audits
• 990
forms
for
nonprofits
• Budgets
• Government
reports

11. Audits/Annual
Reports
• Look
for
the
summary
at
the
end
• Look
for
no;ces
of
li;ga;on,
problems,
shornalls
• Look
for
any
plans/recommenda;ons
for
correc;ng
the
problem
• Some;mes
you’ll
see
no;ce
of
criminal
inves;ga;ons

12. Percentage
change
Do
journalists
like
to
do
math?
NOO!
Formula:
(New-­‐Old)/Old=
Move
decimal
2
places
to
right.
Image
by
Flickr
user
krossbow

13. Grit
your
teeth
and
give
it
a
try:
calculate
this
%age
• If
100
people
le`
the
school
district
last
year,
and
150
le`
the
school
district
this
year,
how
much
did
resigna;ons
increase?
• Subtract
100
from
150.
The
difference
is
50.
Divide
50
by
100.
Move
the
decimal
over
two
spaces
to
the
right
to
change
the
number
to
a
percentage.
• There
was
a
50
percent
increase.
150
-­‐
100
-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
50
50
/
100
=
.50
*
Photo
by
flickr
user
Jenn
Durfey

14. Talk
to
People
• Numbers
are
not
the
story.
Numbers
are
the
beginning
of
the
story.
• Talk
to
real
people,
get
real
anecdotes
to
bring
those
numbers
to
life
• Use
the
numbers
to
support
your
anecdotes
• Anecdotes
without
numbers
make
a
good
story
• Anecdotes
with
numbers
make
a
powerful
story
Photo
by
flickr
user
Eternos
Indicadores

15. Ques;ons?
Thanks
for
listening!
Dianna
Hunt
Watchdog/News
editor
The
Daily
Adver;ser
Lafaye>e,
La.
dhunt@theadver;ser.com
Twi>er:
@diannahunt
Photo
by
Flickr
user
Xurble