TycheOpEd:FiveThingsWeLearned
9 months before we launched Tyche Insights we came up with a concept for an organization that would support local data storytelling - unbiased analysis and data journalism, exclusively using public data as a primary source.
What did this mean in practical terms? We weren’t certain, so we started up an experimental site - Albany Data Stories - to find out. We have analyzed the City of Albany, New York's data, written stories, created visualizations, filed some Freedom of Information Law requests (and filed some more FOILs… and filed appeals on our FOILs), published and distributed around two dozen stories, and we have a queue of 20 additional stories.
We’re taking everything we learned and applying it to Tyche Insights and the community that we are building. Here are 5 things we learned:
1. Getting public data can be half the battle. “Filed some more FOILs” was foreshadowing. While Albany has an open data portal it is low value and the majority of datasets had to be obtained with a FOIL. We expect that this is no different than other local governments; pervasive open data is a rarity.
2. The data analysis doesn’t have to be complex (and intimidating). Would our data storytelling be driven by basic data analysis or by complex data storytelling? The answer - you can do a lot with +, -, *, / and a sumif(). Are there opportunities to create a machine learning model that helps to predict A based on X, Y and Z? Sure. However many conclusions only require very straightforward tools and analysis.
3. Writing without bias is hard… but it gets easier. Within our small team we would post draft articles on google docs and then editing commenced. While we wanted to write without bias we didn’t know exactly what it meant. Our use of words, the way that we presented visualizations, the conclusions that we arrived at - all of these were subject to testing for bias, and editing where bias was present.
4. Reddit is a good place for a data story discussion. Where is the best forum to publish your articles and have a conversation around them? For us it was Reddit, specifically the r/Albany subreddit. Is it a tough crowd? Yes and it’s also a thoughtful crowd, see a post of ours here. Our data stories are better because of the Reddit audience which has challenged our stories, validated our stories, questioned our motivations, and more.
5. Citizen data-storytelling can make an impact. By no means can we say that Albany Data Stories has moved mountains however we get great responses from our data stories:
- "This isn't the first time that we've heard that this is a bad deal, this is the first time that we've had data on it"
- “Albany Data Stories does what it set out to do: tell the story of what is really happening in Albany government via data.”
- “Great work… btw I have an idea for something you should look at…”
That’s the short story on some of what we’ve learned. We’re interested to hear what the broader Tyche Insights community learns over time and how those lessons can assist others with their data storytelling.