Local data goes big — interview with David Ottewell
David Ottewell is head of the biggest data journalism team in Britain. The Reach (formerly Trinity Mirror) data unit has been running for more than five years, with its stories published in 240 local papers, as well as national titles like the Daily Mirror and the Sunday People. Ottewell, spoke to Interhacktives about how data journalism is more than just “nerds in a corner,” how to use data from unusual sources like JustEat, and he also shared his advice for aspiring data journalists doing work experience at local papers.
How did you start your career in data journalism?
My background in journalism was traditional to start with: I did a journalism Masters in Cardiff and then worked for a newspaper in Carlisle as a political editor. After about one and a half years, I moved to Manchester Evening News, where I went from a local government reporter to political editor very quickly, and then (I became) a news editor.
Somebody from Trinity Mirror (now Reach)’s central team got in touch with me about the unit. Data was a buzz thing at that point, and I liked the idea of setting something up from nothing. I had already used data in the political unit, so I had an interest in it.
Although I really liked getting stories from contacts etc., I liked the investigative side of journalism. I found that there was a huge amount of information pumped out by people that were being underused or ignored: so many stories were hiding in plain sight!
Why do you think that data journalism in local newsrooms struggled before the introduction of data units like Reach, the BBC’s Shared Data Unit and Bureau Local from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism?
There is a certain amount of tech skills required to look through spreadsheets and datasets that were lacking. It’s also about having the imagination to see what is hidden away from the back of spreadsheets, and uncover the potential. There is so much more support now from these units to do that.
What’s the goal with Reach’s data stories and projects, and what do you want the unit to be known for?
Modern journalists judge the value of a story on 2 axis: stories with public interest impact that people want to share and actively engage with, and the journalist themselves wanting to tell important stories and making people want to read them. To say that we don’t care about audience metrics is very dangerous because we should still want to worry about people reading our stories.
These are our goals, and we want the unit to be known for data stories that make a difference and are not otherwise being told. As well as long-term investigative projects, we focus on day-to-day stories like performance of schools and the NHS. There is still so much data within topics like these that still isn’t being looked at, and so many stories can be told with local insights.
What sources have you found the most valuable for local data-led stories?
Most of the sources from our stories have come from what is made available by government departments and ONS data to help form on-diary stories, and they often give us a decent local breakdown. Other stories come from our own ideas, which have been supported by FOIs, or broader ranges of data that we have scraped or collected from third parties. This has led to stories ranging from MPs expenses to information on people’s favourite foods based on data from JustEat.
The hardest thing is having your own ideas, so being aware of government statistics is the most important, and is a fundamental building block for stories.
What data project or story are you the most proud of and why?
I’m proud of the on-diary stories like the schools guide that we produce every year, but am also very proud of the journalistic ideas that form some of our stories. I get sent emails of the data stories being produced across Reach, and every week I look at it and see so many amazing things just based on ideas from journalists.
The Reach data unit publishes its school performance guide every year: “we try and be more creative with the ways that we visualise our data, even for mobile, and we concentrate on creating interactive visualisations and visualisation-led print pages”.
Where do you see both Reach’s unit, and the importance of data journalism, heading now? Are there any potential gaps that could be explored?
The challenge for data journalism now is that people are aware of it, and so must move from innovation to delivery. Publications need to see what does well and what does badly: it’s important as an industry to cement its position as a fundamental part of general journalistic output. It’s more than just nerds in a corner!
For Reach, our next step is tweaking, and we just need to keep doing what we’re doing really well. It’s also more about live data for us, and whether some of our data would work better as commercial apps.
Some students reading this interview may currently be on work experience at local newspapers. What tips or advice would you give to them to help them make the most of their placements as aspiring data journalists?
Keep an eye on figures and data in the week before going in. Thursdays are a key day for official data to be published, and you can use that time to try and find really good local stories for the Monday that you come in. Work experience is about making yourself stand out, and those are the ones that you remember.
Pictures from: David Ottewell, Medium
This article was written by Pavan Mahal. Originally published at www.interhacktives.com on February 6, 2019.
