On May 21st, Hacks/Hackers Austin, along with the local Online News Association group, met to discuss student projects practicing data journalism. Jake Batsell of SMU joined us, along with one of his students, Natalie Posgate, to discuss their award-winning Campus Crime project associated with the Light of Day project. Ryan Murphy of Texas Tribune also participated in the presentation, as he and Matt Stiles (now with NPR) assisted the SMU group at the outset of the project.
Video Journalism for the Web
Happy New Year! Exciting changes are in the works for Hacks/Hackers ATX in 2012, joining up with a newly formed Online News Association local group. The two organizations hosted a debut meetup at Opal Divine’s Penn Field on January 5 to kick off the collaboration. The plan is to broaden the scope that was originated by Hacks/Hackers ATX since September 2010, but adding content that addresses general online news issues, while retaining the Hacks/Hackers presence in data, programming and user experiences.
Ryan Murphy, data reporter at Texas Tribune, was the speaker for the November meetup of Hacks/Hackers ATX. He talked about a variety of projects that he uses in reporting publicly available information and how the Texas Tribune integrates various tools, like Google Fusion Tables, in their coverage.
The Tribune was kind enough to sponsor Home Slice Pizza for us. For December, we’ll be teaming up with some other Austin meetup groups for a holiday party.
On Oct. 4, Hacks/Hackers ATX met at Austin American-Statesman to hear from the Statesman’s own Christian McDonald on Deconstructing the Bastrop Complex Fire Map. We were all aware of the devastation of the wildfires in early September, and the Statesman used innovative techniques to provide the community with information and coverage. Check out his video and presentation (also on Slideshare) embedded below. Links associated with the presentation are available on Delicious.
On Sept. 6, 2011 at the Texas Tribune in downtown Austin, Hacks/Hackers ATX hosted a presentation by Gregory Foster of Consumers Union on Wikileaks and Other Document Dumps. Foster led the group through the history of documentation leaks from the Pentagon Papers to the more current release of war logs known as Wikileaks. Each example was analyzed through the lens of several criteria: spectrum of secrecy, quantity of information, quality of information and intentionality of release.
On Aug. 2, Hacks/Hackers ATX was joined by City of Austin Demographer Ryan Robinson at the Austin American-Statesman. Robinson detailed several of the demographic shifts that have been occurring over the past decade, providing insight into ways these trends affect our social, economic and political climate. View his full presentation for more details and watch an excerpt below.
Many thanks to Annette Priest of Revel Insight for sponsoring refreshments.
For the July meeting of Hacks/Hackers Austin, Kristen Carney of Cubit Planning discussed 7 Awesome Examples of Writing About Data That Will Drive Eyeballs To Your Site. Covering a variety of tools, Carney demonstrated the value of seven examples: landing pages, data disproving an accepted truth, analysis of social media, tweets about data, infographics, data about everyday stuff and data about making money.
And Gregory Foster of Consumers Union, recently returned from the 2011 Civic Media Conference at MIT, covered some of the winners of the Knight News Challenge.
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Austin’s Hacks and Hackers came out for this panel on Integrating Tech Skills in Your Communications Career, a topic that is of great interest to students, recent grads, job-seekers and seasoned professionals, as they wish to update their skills to reflect the coding and social media requirements of modern media. This panel included four recent graduates who are all using tech skills in different ways in communications careers.
Join Hacks/Hackers Austin on June 7 for a panel discussion on ways to integrate tech skills in a communications career. Four recent grads will discuss their positions at the Statesman, Austin Post, Texas Tribune and Facebook. They will share their experiences in using technology in their jobs and personal lives, what they learned in school, what they wish they had learned and how they acquire the skills they need. The panel will be moderated by Travis Swicegood (@tswicegood), a developer at Texas Tribune, who will provide the context of how technology is shaping processes in the modern newsroom.