WBEZ Public Data Blog and Other Data Journalism

Overview

The WBEZ Public Data Blog is dedicated to examining and promoting civic data in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois. WBEZ is partnering with the Smart Chicago Collaborative to provide news and analysis on open government by producing 200 content items that explain and tell stories hidden in public data.  The goal of the project is to increase the utility, understanding, awareness and availability of local civic data.

This Public Data blog is the most public-facing part of that collaboration.

wbezdatablog

We’re also working with WBEZ on embedding civic data deeper into their operations.

Chicago Public Media is utilizing their web and on-air journalism team to do the following:

1) Work with the project to educate and empower the public on the hidden uses of data and find stories from the data utilizing Metro Chicago Data, and other similar data portals.

Activities to accomplish the first goal include:

  • Inviting the public to create content using datasets available for Chicago Public Media’s online or on-air distribution;
  • Partnering with the public and Smart Chicago to create understanding about how investigating data works around identified community issues and seeking community solutions (via WBEZ’s Curious City); and
  • Participating in or hosting forums that invite public programmers, graphic designers, freelance journalists and others to collaborate intensively on creating content of interest (also referred to as a “hackathon” or data-raiding event) under the Civic Innovation project to promote open government.

2) Work with the project to uncover systemic issues that are relevant to diverse communities that will help inform the project’s efforts to find community solutions utilizing public data.

Activities to accomplish the second goal include utilizing Metro Chicago Data and similar data portals to discover stories in data such as evaluating conditions in Illinois prisons, the Chicago Public School system (investigating the correlation between poverty and academic achievement), pension reform, and more.

Data Blog Highlights

So far, the WBEZ Public Data Blog has covered issues like Housing, Transit, Crime and more. Here are some highlights of the work done so far.

Stories that create understanding about how investigating data works:

  •  CTA, Chicago Sun-Times get into data fight
  • Mapping Chicago’s Political Machine..with garbage

Stories that showcase projects built by Chicago’s civic innovation community:

  • A Slo-Mo Glimpse into Urban Sprawl in Chicago
  • SchoolCuts.org tries to answer: What if…?

Morning Shift Segements

Here’s a number of relevant WBEZ Morning Shift segments covering civic innovation in Chicago.

Through the course of the project, WBEZ has produced over 60 content pieces on civic innovation and open data in Chicago.

Partners

WBEZ

Originally established as an extension service of the Chicago Board of Education, Chicago Public Media first signed on as WBEZ in 1943. Chicago Public Media serves the public interest by creating and delivering diverse, compelling content that informs, inspires, enriches and entertains. Through a broad range of media platforms, we connect diverse audiences in our service area and beyond to one another. We help them make a difference in our communities, our region, and our world.

You can find more information on WBEZ  on their website and on Twitter at @wbez.

Media Inquires

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