In one sense, it’s an excellent time to cover the news with data. There’s a trove of COVID-19 data available, along with dashboards and application programming interfaces for developers to use from local, state and federal agencies. But, this firehouse of statistics from varying sources creates uncertainty about what sources editors and reporters should be using as they go about fact-checking important coronavirus stories.
And with fewer resources across local newsrooms, there aren’t nearly enough data reporters to go around and make sense of everything. This session will teach you where to get — and interpret — the best data available. Are you looking at a model that has legitimate assumptions? Where can you go to get the most up-to-date and accurate data on your county’s hospital capacity? What in the heck is a logarithmic scale?
There are no easy answers. Join Alex Mahadevan, senior multimedia reporter at Poynter’s MediaWise project, as he walks reporters and editors through how to find the best sources for COVID-19 data to fact-check your work, and how to avoid pitfalls encountered when reporting and using that data. As experts continue to learn new information about the coronavirus daily and the information our communities need to stay safe and healthy is constantly changing, facts matter now more than ever.
Sign up now for your opportunity to pose questions directly to Alex during a video chat from 2 to 2:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, April 16, 2020.