the kdmcinfo weblog

Thanks to all the great participants we had in our first data visualization workshop. The Interactive Census Workshop brought together 23 professionals from around the country, including computer assisted reporters, graphic artists and web producers. It was great to see all the great work they produced using American Community Survey data just days after it's release. And nearly everyone went home with templates for their coverage area that they could immediately start working with.

Speaker webcasts available

We especially want to thank our speakers, who added context for story planning and visualization decisions. Many of the sessions were webcast and archives are available online. Don't miss Dante Chinni and William Frey.  Howard Hogan and Jerry Wong of the US Census offered a comprehensive guide to the decennial census and the American Community Survey. And Shan Carter and Geoff McGhee offered great tips for telling stories with maps and data.

I feel like we packed a semester's worth of content into a week. Many of the sessions were introductions to topics that will require much more exploration once I get home, but I feel well-armed with both conceptual understandings I didn't have before as well as specific technical skills. Most importantly, I'm going back to my paper armed with a long list of story ideas and projects I want to pursue.

Sean Lahman, Database Specialist, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Work examples

Here is a small sampling of the graphics that our Fellows produced during the workshop:

Wm Pitzer, News Graphics Editor, The Charlotte Observer

Pai, Graphics Director, San Jose Mercury News

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Kevin Wiatrowski, Reporter, The Tampa Tribune

Using the Protovis JavaScript charting library

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Apply for a workshop now

Don't forget to check out and apply to our other workshops. The Knight Digital Media Center delivers hands-on, newsroom-focused computer training for mid-career journalists. The workshops — delivered to accepted fellows at no charge — are funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation and are held at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.