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Chapter 15 Computer-assisted reporting Introduction – the aims of this lecture are to help you understand: • • • • • • Computer-assisted journalism The web and internet The impact of computers on journalism How to find valid information online How to avoid online dangers The basics of spreadsheets What is computer-assisted reporting (CAR)? • Using computers to gather data and information • The data and information can then be used to: – Generate story ideas – Add to an existing story (research/investigative journalism) – Find people to interview – Generate exclusive articles which could not have been developed otherwise What is computer-assisted reporting (CAR)? • At a basic level, it is something most journalists do today – use computers to help find information for stories • At a more complex level, it is finding information many people do not know exists • It is also about researching online without being fooled by false information • And it is about interpreting statistics What CAR is not • CAR is about online news gathering and research (or input) – it is not about online publishing (or output) Levels of CAR • At its shallowest level CAR is about going online to check a fact, find a phone number, or contact someone by email • At its most complex level, it requires journalists to ‘dig’ for information to inform stories by using computers to analyse complex databases and statistics Some basic concepts • The web and the internet are not the same • The internet is the network. It supports the world wide web, email, file transfers and other functions • The web relies on browser software such as Microsoft Internet Explorer to find and download page images, sounds, graphics, photos, and video More basics • Anyone, anywhere, can put anything online • The web is not a lawless frontier – there have been some monumental lawsuits resulting from online defamation • There have also been major problems with breaches of sub judice contempt on the web Legal perils • Something that may be legally safe to publish in one jurisdiction may be fraught with danger legally in another – for example, the Gutnick defamation case • ‘Lifting’ information you find online is highly dangerous – questions about ethics and plagiarism aside, fines for breach of copyright can be up to about $60,000 for an individual and $300,000 for a company Don’t make a fool of yourself • It is as important to check your facts in the online world as it is in the real world • Do not take online information at face value unless it is from a totally trustworthy site • If you are tricked by a hoax, it could be the end of your career Verifying what you find online • • • • Ask who put the information online? Is the author mentioned on the website? Does the website have contact details? Is there a street address as well as an email address? • Does the author have the authority to be saying what they have put online? (beware of celebrity endorsement) Clues to identifying fake sites and false stories • Look at the address of a web page (its URL) • Read the content – is it plausible or does something seem wrong with the content or how it is written? • Is there a street address and a fixed-line telephone number? • Who is behind the site? Is there a way of checking if they are legitimate? Searching newspaper archives • A good way to find background information • You have to be an insider, a student with access via a university library, or pay to gain access • You can expect to pay upwards of $1.75 per article downloaded when searching News Limited or Fairfax papers The two biggest news archives • NewsText is the most comprehensive newspaper archive in Australia. It can be accessed at http://www.newstext.com.au • Fairfax papers can be searched through Fairfax Digital at http://www.fairfax.com.au/index.ac Tips for web searching • There is much more to the web than Google • Think carefully about appropriate search terms – the better your key words the more likely a good result • Use advanced searches • Make a habit of Boolean searching • Use meta-search engines Searching the hidden web can reveal • Original documents • Documents which were prepared or created in the past but which are no longer generally available • Photographs and recordings as well as written information • Court documents • Government documents • Statistics Shortcuts to the hidden web • Two websites designed for Australian journalists which aim to make it easier to access the hidden web are Computer-AssistedReporting.Com and the OzGuide OzGuide • Those sites contain links to diverse areas ranging from court transcripts to odd spots and hoaxes Using spreadsheets • Number-crunching is a very powerful CAR technique that can be used to generate stories • Put raw data into Excel/SPSS spreadsheets • Extract meaning from the data by using formulae and sorting • Interview informed sources about your new findings