Ira Chinoy /
Computer-assisted
reporting and data-analysis projects from Capital News Service
by
Capital
News Service (http://www.journalism.umd.edu/cns/)
is operated by the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism and staffed by
students. It has print bureaus in
The
following are links to computer-assisted reporting and data-analysis projects
that can be found in the CNS archives (see the note at the bottom of this page
for more detail). Many of these stories
also appeared in publications and news outlets that subscribe to the CNS wire
service.
Ø Auto accidents
§
Fatalities
highest in afternoon rush hour
§
Rural roads:
·
Alcohol
and rural driving fatalities and control
strategies
·
Death
rates in rural counties
§
Driver
illness and auto accidents
§
Getting under the data: Pet
deaths mixed with auto fatality data
§
§
Profile
of driving fatalities in 1998
Ø Aviation:
Ø Boating:
§
“Gaps
in Data Bring into Question Enforcement of Boating Safety Law” (2008)
§
“Deep
Creek Lake Rivals Ocean City for Most Recreational Boating Accidents”
(2007)
§
“Boating
Police Continue O.C. Crackdown” (2007)
§
Personal
watercraft accidents
Ø Business, work and workplace
issues:
§
Bioscience
industry boom in Frederick County
§
Large-scale
layoffs by Maryland businesses
§
Workplace
safety violations and workplace
injuries and deaths
§
Patents
·
Trends
in patents awarded to Maryland inventors
·
Inventors'
ideas and the patent process
§
Small Business Administration loans
·
Baltimore
getting fewer SBA loans
·
The
role of SBA loans in Prince George’s County
Ø Charities:
Ø Children:
§
Limited
child-care facilities in Maryland
§
Infant
mortality in Maryland
§
Foster care:
·
Children
returned to abusive homes
·
Adoption
problems for older foster children
·
Adoption
trends for mentally retarded foster children
·
The
parental addiction behind foster-care cases
·
Adoption
problems for disabled children
Ø Consumer affairs
Ø “More
Cell Phones Lead to More Complaints”
Ø Crime, police, judges,
lawyers, prisons, guns
§
Prison
violence (2007)
§
Race,
drugs and mandatory prison sentences (2008)
§
Lawyer
discipline (by Anju Kaur
– finalist for 2007 IRE
award)
§
Carjackings: 2005
story / 2004
story / 1998
story and sidebar
§
·
Ocean
City crime trends and crowd
control
§
Reversals
of court decisions and the most-reversed
judges
§
Crime
growth in Western Maryland
Ø Demographics:
§
Census
data show more diversity but not more integration
§
Talbot
County attracting older workers and retirees
§
Montgomery
County residents moving to Talbot County
§
Baltimore
residents leaving city for suburbs
Ø Education:
§
Suspensions
of 1st-grade, kindergarten and pre-K pupils
§
The
other side of a veteran teaching corps:
more turnover ahead
Ø Elections:
§
Rain
doesn’t stop Maryland voters
Ø Environment:
§
"Oil
Leaks and Spills Increase As Storage Tanks Age"
§
Large
increase in unauthorized overflows of raw sewage in Maryland
·
Package of stories includes pieces on problems in Prince
George’s County and Baltimore
·
Follow-up: Conservation
groups threaten suit over sewage overflows
§
Vehicle emissions
·
cars
most prone to fail emissions tests
§
Clean
air act enforcement and the science
of pollution
§
Freight center contributes to rising
rate of hazardous spills in Hagerstown
§
Toxic chemical releases in Maryland: 2001
story / 2002
story / 1996
overview, story on "top
industrial polluters", story on pollution
in Baltimore
§
Oil
and chemical spills in Maryland
Ø Government grants and
contracts:
§
Science: National
Science Foundation grants in Maryland
§
Billions
in federal contracts to a few Maryland ZIP codes
§
Defense
spending up in Maryland
§
Contracts
for women-owned firms in Maryland and sidebar
§
“State
Loans Allow for More Growth in Baltimore's Trendy Areas”
Ø Health care:
§
Hospitals: Hospital
stays for mastectomies declining and outpatient
alternatives
§
Nursing homes: State
slow to correct most severe problems
§
Problems with medical devices:
Reports on disposable
devices, infant-warmer
systems, and cotton
swabs.
Ø Hunting:
§
Hunting
accidents in Maryland and hunting
safety training
Ø Legislators:
§
“Maverick”
and “bipartisan” labels vs. voting records (2008)
§
The
record of a Congressional maverick (2008)
§
Campaign
finance (2008)
Ø Liquor sales:
§
Liquor
stores in low-income neighborhoods
Ø Politics:
§
Campaign finance:
·
Contributions
from students who are children of big donors
·
Contributions
to Maryland candidate from outside the state
·
Contributions
from special interests
§
Lobbyists: Disclosure
enforcement
§
Voter registration: Movement
away from major parties
Ø Public transportation:
§
Injury
rate for Baltimore’s subway
Ø Safety inspection and
enforcement:
§
Amusement-ride safety: Roller
coaster injuries
§
Bridges:
·
2003
report on deteriorating bridges
·
About
150 Maryland Bridges Need Work (2006 story)
§
Dams: State
dam inspections and restricted release of public records
§
Elevators: Elevator
inspections and chart
§
Food inspections: Egg
inspections and inspectors
Ø State government salaries in
§
Coaches
Ø Taxes:
§
·
Most-audited
ZIP code and audits
by ZIP code
·
Biggest
penalties and assessments
by ZIP code
§
Sales
tax growth in unlikely places
Ø Transportation
Ø Hybrid
car registrations in Maryland
Ø Majority
of Baltimore cab drivers come from Africa and South Asia
NOTE: The links above are to computer-assisted
reporting and data-analysis stories that can be found in the archives of the
CNS print bureau and Maryland Newsline. Here are links to some specific
searches: “Capital
News Service analysis” / “computer
analysis” / “computer-assisted”
/ “CNS
analysis” / “analysis
by Capital News Service” / “analysis”
/ and CNS highlights,
by year (for 1990-2003).