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NewsTrain instructor Jill Riepenhoff provided this handout of tips on obtaining public records, as well as resources to learn more about data journalism, as part of the NewsTrain workshop in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 20, 2014. Please see an associated PowerPoint presentation -- Data-Driven Enterprise on Any Beat. NewsTrain is a traveling workshop for journalists sponsored by Associated Press Media Editors. For more information, visit http://www.apme.com/?AboutNewsTrain
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More help with obtaining public records and
How to learn more about data journalism
Jill Riepenhoff | The Columbus Dispatch | [email protected] | @jriep
More help with obtaining public records
Ohio
Ohio Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/ohio-foi-resources
Ohio sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/ohio-sample-foia-request
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/pennsylvania-foi-resources
Pennsylvania sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/pennsylvania-sample-foia-request
West Virginia
West Virginia Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/west-virginia-foi-resources
West Virginia sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/west-virginia-sample-foia-request
Indiana
Indiana Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/indiana-foi-resources
Indiana sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/indiana-sample-foia-request
Mighigan
Michigan Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/michigan-foi-resources
Michigan sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/michigan-sample-foia-request
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Kentucky
Kentucky Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/kentucky-foi-resources
Kentucky sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/kentucky-sample-foia-request
Other states
Freedom of Information Resources for all states from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/state-foi-resources
Sample records-request letters for all states: http://www.nfoic.org/state-sample-foia-request-letters
Federal
A treasure trove of resources on public records at SPJ’s Journalist’s Toolbox: http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/archive/public-records/
FOIAMachine.org: https://www.foiamachine.org/ A letter generator and tracker with
social support
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: http://www.rcfp.org/
Its iFOIA.org (letter generator and tracker): https://www.ifoia.org/#!/
Its Digital Journalist’s Legal Guide: http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-
resources/digital-journalists-legal-guide
Its Legal Hotline: 1-800-336-4243 or [email protected]
MuckRock: https://www.muckrock.com/ Provides a free repository of hundreds of
thousands of pages of original government materials. Filing requests through MuckRock
starts at $20 to file up to 5 requests, which includes advice, postage, follow-up, and
hosting of the materials. MuckRock is funded in part by grants from the Sunlight
Foundation, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Knight Foundation.
Student Press Law Center: http://www.splc.org/
U.S. Department of Justice site on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA):
http://www.foia.gov/
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The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records, by David Cuillier and
Charles N. Davis, CQ Press, 2010. A 200-page paperback:
http://www.cqpress.com/product/Art-of-Access.html
The Art of Access blog with quick list of links for help:
http://theartofaccess.com/foi-resources/
GWU National Security Archive: http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/ Publishes declassified documents obtained under FOIA The Sunshine in Government Initiative: http://sunshineingovernment.org/ A coalition of media groups dedicated to promoting openness in government.
Five Great Online Tools for Mining Public Records: http://truth-
out.org/news/item/15306-five-great-online-tools-for-mining-public-records From
Truth-out.org
At least 25 databases every newsroom should have:
http://businessjournalism.org/2010/06/10/at-least-25-databases-all-newsrooms-
should-have/ From David Donald, data editor for The Center for Public Integrity
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How to learn more about data journalism
Jill Riepenhoff | The Columbus Dispatch | [email protected] | @jriep
Training
Free, massively open online course (MOOC) on data journalism open through
Dec. 31, 2014: http://datajournalismcourse.net/ Offered by the European
Journalism Centre.
Computer-assisted reporting boot camps through Investigative Reporters and
Editors: http://ire.org/events-and-training/boot-camps/ Fellowships are
available: http://ire.org/events-and-training/fellowships-and-scholarships/
Webinar: The Basics of Data Journalism
http://stateimpact.npr.org/toolbox/2013/04/15/webinar-the-basics-of-data-
journalism/ Created by the NPR StateImpact pilot project. Includes other links.
Books
Data Journalism Handbook: http://www.datajournalismhandbook.org/ free e-
book from the European Journalism Centre and Open Knowledge Foundation
Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide, 3rd Edition, e-book:
http://store.ire.org/products/computer-assisted-reporting-a-practical-guide-
3rd-edition-e-version By Brant Houston, $15 from Investigative Reporters and
Editors
Data+Design: https://infoactive.co/data-design/ free e-book on data
visualization from Infoactive and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute
Getting Started with Data Journalism: Writing Data Stories in Any Size
Newsroom https://leanpub.com/datajournalism By Claire Miller, $14.99 from
Leanpub
Other resources
Top data journalism resources from the International Journalists Network:
http://ijnet.org/blog/top-data-journalism-resources
Search for a federal dataset: http://catalog.data.gov/dataset The federal
government’s catalog of datasets
Join Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) for $70 ($25 for students)
http://ire.org/membership/ Get access to more than 3,000 tip sheets, many of
which deal with data journalism, and join the very active National Institute for
Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) listserv for help with computer-assisted
reporting questions: http://ire.org/resource-center/listservs/subscribe-nicar-l/
Gain access to the NICAR Data Library with state-specific slices available for
nominal fees: http://ire.org/nicar/
