Data Stories Are Human Stories with Doug Smith

Data Stories Are Human Stories with Doug Smith

Doug Smith is a reporter at the Los Angeles Times who’s been with the paper for over 50 years. He was also the database editor there from 2004 to 2015. We sat down with him at NICAR to talk about what’s changed in journalism over his time in the industry, and what he’s working on today. Special thanks to the NICAR team for all of their support! The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://datavized.github.io/twotone/], represents Google searches for the term “data journalism” since 2004. The Data Journalism Podcast is produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Do you have a new data-driven story or project coming up? Tell us about it at ⁠⁠datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com [datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com]⁠⁠, and we might feature it on the show. Subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode!

Showing Your Work with Ben Welsh

Ben Welsh [https://palewi.re/who-is-ben-welsh/] is the news applications editor at Reuters [https://www.reuters.com/authors/ben-welsh/]. He joins the hosts to discuss his and Scott’s recent article, “Journalism lost its culture of sharing: Here’s how we rebuild it [https://source.opennews.org/articles/journalism-lost-sharing-culture/].” They share the ways they’ve seen open source culture change over time, and advice for increased collaboration across newsrooms. Special thanks to the NICAR team for all of their support! The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://datavized.github.io/twotone/], represents Google searches for the term “data journalism” since 2004. The Data Journalism Podcast is produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Do you have a new data-driven story or project coming up? Tell us about it at ⁠⁠datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com [datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com]⁠⁠, and we might feature it on the show. Subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode!

Documenting a Transit Nightmare with Greg Morton

Greg Morton [http://gregmortonweb.site/] is the data editor for The Baltimore Banner [https://www.thebanner.com/author/greg-morton/]. His story, “Transit nightmare: Thousands of Baltimore kids can’t get to school on time [https://www.thebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/baltimore-city-school-buses-HF3HHWC67ZF7BCRJ66WMB3VWDI/]” won first place at the 2025 Philip Meyer Awards. We sat down with him at NICAR to go behind the scenes on the project. Special thanks to the NICAR team for all of their support! The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://datavized.github.io/twotone/], represents Google searches for the term “data journalism” since 2004. The Data Journalism Podcast is produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Do you have a new data-driven story or project coming up? Tell us about it at ⁠⁠datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com [datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com]⁠⁠, and we might feature it on the show. Subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode!

What We Ask Google

Our very own Simon Rogers is coming out with a book on May 5th! It’s called “What We Ask Google: A Surprisingly Hopeful History of Humankind.” Scott and Alberto got a chance to ask him all about the research and writing process, as well as what Simon hopes people take away from the book. You can preorder it now on the Penguin Random House website [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/798252/what-we-ask-google-by-simon-rogers/], or wherever you get your books. Work mentioned in the episode: * trends.google.com [http://trends.google.com] * Some of the book illustrations on Simon’s website [https://simonrogers.net/2026/01/07/new-pages-from-what-we-ask-google/] The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ was made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://datavized.github.io/twotone/], an app that turns numbers into tunes. The Data Journalism Podcast is produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Do you have a new data-driven story or project coming up? Tell us about it at ⁠⁠datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com [datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com]⁠⁠, and we might feature it on the show. Subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode!

DJP LIVE! with ProPublica’s data team

The Data Journalism Podcast went live at the NICAR conference [https://www.ire.org/training/conferences/nicar-2026/]! On March 7, Simon, Scott and Alberto spoke with the team behind ProPublica’s Meyer Award-winning series, “Life of the Mother [https://www.propublica.org/series/life-of-the-mother].” Reporter Andrea Suozzo [https://andreasuozzo.com/] and Deputy Data Editor Hannah Fresques [https://hannahfresques.com/] go behind-the-scenes on their investigation into preventable deaths after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Plus, a montage of mini-interviews from the halls of NICAR! You can find ProPublica’s full “Life of the Mother” series on their website, at propublica.org/series/life-of-the-mother [http://propublica.org/series/life-of-the-mother]. The Github page for the project is available at github.com/propublica/tx-pregnancy-loss-sepsis-analysis [http://github.com/propublica/tx-pregnancy-loss-sepsis-analysis]. Special thanks to the NICAR team for all of their support! The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://datavized.github.io/twotone/], represents Google searches for the term “data journalism” since 2004. The Data Journalism Podcast is produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Do you have a new data-driven story or project coming up? Tell us about it at ⁠⁠datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com [datajournalismpodcast@gmail.com]⁠⁠, and we might feature it on the show. Subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode!