The Roanoke Times: Datasphere

Comments

# 1

[October 30, 2007 12:40 PM]

Valerie : →http://savecountryside.blogspot.com/

"Data Delivery Editor" - at first I thought this was an upscale title for a "newspaper boy". You know like "domestic engineer". You set me straight right fast.

The article by Ken Sands had one disturbing comment by Carole Tarrant that I suspected was the case. That "the newsroom was shrinking". In other words you were taken from "reporting the news" to this position and not replaced. We depend on the local media to keep us informed. Local news coverage is light as it is ... can you comment on this, Matt?

# 2

[October 30, 2007 1:53 PM]

Matt

That our newsroom -- like almost all newsrooms -- is shrinking is no secret. Our recent buyouts were well-publicized. It's a tough time for our industry, and has been for a while. Most people think hope of a dramatic turnaround is naive.

So, papers are having to live with fewer staff -- though this paper held onto its compliment for longer than many. Our last buyout offer was almost 15 years ago. We've never had layoffs in my time here.

And they are also trying to position themselves for the future with more and more online content and products. So the resources we have are increasingly be diverted to online stuff.

Witness: the DataSphere.

But I would disagree that I was "taken from 'reporting the news'" when I took this job.

All of this data is news, and a huge part of my job is still going out and getting information for our readers. The only difference is I'm now looking for that info in a specific form -- databases -- and the end product is different for me than it used to be.

And, while what's on the DataSphere might appear a little "soft" right now, it won't stay that way for long if I can help it. As soon as this weekend, you'll begin to see real hard news data on the site, and increasingly we'll be mining news from these databases.

It's true that I'm not a member of the print reporting staff now, Valerie, but now I'm in a position to beef up the reporting in subject areas I couldn't touch when I was just the neighborhoods reporter.

# 3

[October 30, 2007 2:24 PM]

Bill

Very good and interesting site. I read the Ken Sands piece and noticed his mentioning several similar sites like yours--RocDocs, DataUniverse.

Those sites have links to real estate records, DBA filings etc. Do you plan expanding your site to include VA statewide information?

# 4

[October 30, 2007 4:11 PM]

Matt

Thanks, Bill.

I'm working on the real estate data, so keep watching for that. I expect it to be piecemeal at first, as I figure out ways to get it from each locality.

Whether any of the data we offer is statewide or regional or even national will depend mainly on what we can get and the size of the database. Some databases, conceivably, might be just too big to post in their entirety.

Philosophically, though, I believe the more's the better. One of the beauties of this stuff is people can take a huge amount of data and filter from it what they want by themselves. With a few clicks, a national database can become as intensely local as the reader wants in many cases. But at the same time, the data can still have a much larger context around it.

# 5

[October 30, 2007 8:17 PM]

Valerie : →http://savecountryside.blogspot.com/

I wasn't referring to DataSphere being light. I know it is just getting started. I was referring to all local media coverage being light.

I'm just an ol' Woodward and Bernstein fan missing you seasoned reporters ... missing holding on to your sources even with threats of jail time. Those were the days!

A new day has dawned and we,the public, are the new Woodward and Bernsteins and data mining for ourselves. Nothing though will replace the interaction with human sources for reporting.

Ignore my nostalgia, Matt, this will happen to you someday... nostalgia that is and ahhhh, oh yea, senior moments!

# 6

[October 31, 2007 2:13 PM]

Matt

You hit on a great point, Valerie. Citizen journalism. That's a big part of what this kind of data site can facilitate.

Other newspaper data sites are already experiencing this: readers comb through the data and spot stories the reporters overlooked. You, after all, might have information and context we don't have.

Don't be surprised to see me post data and ask readers to hunt through it for ideas, and bring their personal knowledge to it. I've heard a term for it: crowd-sourcing.

If we post a list of goverment employees, for example, we can't run a background check on everyone. But someone out there might see a name on the list that they know belongs to a convicted felon who ought not have that job. Tell us, and we're onto a worthy story.