Database Reporting Matt Doig

Herald Tribune database reporter Matt Doig exemplifies what good reporting should be. I truly gained a newfound respect for the time and energy that goes into "explaining complexity of life" as apposed to merely spitting out headlines. Doig's passion was inspiring. He showed us how devoting oneself to a story and spending months, even years, investigating will not only impact readers but might also contribute to solving crimes and changing laws.

One of Doig's works that I found particularly interesting was a study he did on poor education in poor areas. He compiled a database of teacher test scores and searched for the correlation between smarter teachers going to more affluent schools and average to below average teachers going to underprivileged schools. Doig was able to prove that lower class children were receiving considerably worse teachers, thus continuing the cycle of poverty and expanding the polarization between class systems.

Another precedent story that caught my attention was one where social security numbers of public employees were being released to research groups. The rule changed to only allow the release of the last four digits of social security numbers. However, there are many people with identical last four numbers, and there are even more people with the same name. Therefore, the new rule made it difficult to ensure the validity of reports rendered. One example given by Doig was if the reports of buss drivers with DUIs were incorrect, then that could lead to grave consequences. A sex offender is also a sensitive issue where the charges and the picture being shown better be correct or it could ruin many people's lives.

Another conflict concerning the release of social security numbers is that many companies are selling social security numbers to insurance companies, for example. Driver's license records cost ten dollars to produce because there are companies willing to pay for them.

In short, Doig taught us that stories will always be better with public records research.