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Woodstein in the data-mining age

By Mark Obbie

Miller-McCune editor John Mecklin clued me in to the latest rage inside the geek branch of investigative reporting: "computational journalism." He explains this nascent movement -- the next-generation computer-assisted reporting, using data-mining tools to help investigative reporters spot patterns in documents -- and ponders its potential to preserve accountability journalism in a hostile economy. I'm struggling to get my head around this, and would need a bunch more examples for it to sink in. But it seems to have clear relevance to covering the justice system. Take the reports that my colleagues at TRAC are renowned (by journalists) and denounced (by government) for: those that analyze a mass of data on charges filed or sentences issued. What if sophisticated algorithms could detect patterns that the eagle eye of David Burnham had missed, or would take much longer to see? Thanks to Mecklin, I'll be on the lookout for signs of life in this new field.

Full post as published by Lawbeat on December 26, 2008 (boomark / email).