Andy Dickinson · Storify

How useful is FOI for sports journalists?

Andy Dickinson — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:09:41 GMT

I've been preparing lectures for first years around Data Journalism and wanted to talk a little about the Freedom of information act; a key driver in the the rise of data in journalists consciousness. The class I teach is a pretty even split of those studying journalism and sports journalism.

Storified by Andy Dickinson · Wed, Apr 17 2013 07:29:29

It's easy to make the case that, taking a generic 'its all journalism' view, FOI are an essential part of the process theses days. But examples of FOI's that might fire up a sports journalism student are few and far between. So I asked twitter:

I'm pondering how useful FOI is to sports journalists outside of the business of sport stuff (Olympics and DCMS).
— Andy Dickinson · Wed, Apr 17 2013 05:17:00

Mike Morrison suggested:

@digidickinson Maybe policing too.
— Michael Morrison · Wed, Apr 17 2013 05:19:25

The presence of the police at major sporting events is a great way in to a range of information that adds depth and context. Matt Burgess had similar thoughts:

@digidickinson @paulbradshaw @digidickinson other thoughts, number of officers at events/amount paid for policing, arrests at venues etc.
— Matthew Burgess · Wed, Apr 17 2013 05:27:10

Mat generally felt that FOI was less useful but cited an interesting example

@digidickinson probably not overly useful, there have been a couple like this recently (manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-m…) and hygiene of food.
— Matthew Burgess · Wed, Apr 17 2013 05:20:19

The take away from the story is that "Crowds at Old Trafford are much lower than the official attendance announced by United on matchdays, according to new police data"

Revealed: Manchester United's Old Trafford empty-seat stats

Police figures reveal discrepancy of thousands, reports Paul Britton Manchester derby Crowds at Old Trafford are much lower than the offi...

I think the story is great example of lateral thinking. Using the police to get attendance figures is really a nice way to side-step in to information that opens up the business angle - something you could tie in to other data about prices etc and really develop

Paul Bradshaw highlighted an FOI on What do they Know that suggested a similar fishing trip

@digidickinson here's a good example from Brum: tinyurl.com/cvglqy4
— Paul Bradshaw · Wed, Apr 17 2013 05:21:04

Of course there are organisations that come under FOI that journos can get access to. FOI practitioner Jon Baines suspected that there were a number of journos fishing around Sport England for example

@digidickinson @paulbradshaw Suspect some of these are from journos whatdotheyknow.com/body/sport_eng…
— Jon Baines · Wed, Apr 17 2013 05:26:29

But I wonder whether the kind of requests we are seeing fall in to the realm of journalism rather than the kind of day to day that a sports journalist might engage in.

Richard Jones tweeted a great example of a hyperlocal using FOI to uncover some muddled thinking by a local council when it came to the best way to solve drainage problems at a local sports ground.

@digidickinson I FOId Oldham Council once to get an expert's report on a local sport facility: saddleworthnews.com/?p=9348
— Richard Jones · Wed, Apr 17 2013 05:23:01

A good story but, and no disrespect, not the kind of story a sports reporter would bother themselves with.

Can FOI really get you close to the sport in the way that it can get you close to your local councillor or MP? Can it get you closer to the sportsmen and women?

Helicopter crash in vauxhaul

Andy Dickinson — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:02:35 GMT

A collection of images and video of helicopter crash in London

Storified by Andy Dickinson · Wed, Jan 16 2013 01:02:35

Crane it hit http://pic.twitter.com/DXbox8rQ · Paraic O'Brien

The scene on ground at #helicopter crash Vauxhall http://pic.twitter.com/N2WEg0Lt · Paraic O'Brien

Helicopter crash at Wandsworth Road, Vauxhall · niczerogoeshome

Shocking pic from Vauxhall RT @nic0: The remains of the helicopter fuel. It ditched into the building on the left. http://pic.twitter.com/N4YapsSv · Helen Lewis

#vauxhall #helicopter #crane #crash #news #london · Gabor

RT @spin1038: RT “@QuinMurray: Helicopter just hit a crane and crashed a few metres in front of me in vauxhall. Completely shaken. http://pic.twitter.com/A4tnXpFo” · Amanda Hogan

Helicopter remains after crash into crane · azapiddler

Mayham in Vauxhall. Helicopter down after hitting a crane. · kaane

Wasn't petrol: #helicopter crashed into #crane · alexjrcooper

Avoid vauxhall at all costs. A helicopter has crashed.
— Christopher Townend · Wed, Jan 16 2013 00:05:00

Helicopter just hit our building in vauxhall http://pic.twitter.com/HbktDNkp · Craig Jenner

URGENT LONDRES : Première image du crash de l'hélicoptère, photo de Victor Jimenez (Journaliste). http://pic.twitter.com/csAK7dX1 · UAVDrone Officiel

Helicopter crash outside my office #mad #crazyshit · jakeyyl

@siwhite @bbcbreaking A picture of the crane the helicopter hit.. http://pic.twitter.com/G92wveDW · Craig Jenner

Craig Jenner's Twitter Photo · Craig Jenner

#vauxhall #helicopter #crane #crash #news · Gabor

RT @jaystarz1: The crane is mangled #Helicopter #Vauxhall http://twitpic.com/bvmy0f · Phil Reed

Former Man City and Norwich manager John Bond dies.

Andy Dickinson — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 10:38:09 GMT

Sky news have reported the death of former Manchester City manager John Bond

Storified by Andy Dickinson · Wed, Sep 26 2012 03:38:28

NOTE: This is an example for students studying the Digital Newsroom module.

Former Manchester City and Norwich manager John Bond has died - @SkySportsNews

A West Ham stalwart during his playing days, Bond went on to lead eight professional clubs in a 29-year managerial career which began at Bournemouth.

West Ham United F.C. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

West Ham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, London, currently playing in the Pre...

Tributes flooded in from his colleagues, fans, commentators and former teams:

Everyone at @whufc_official has been deeply saddened by the passing of Hammers legend John Bond at the age of 79
— West Ham United FC · Wed, Sep 26 2012 02:39:50

My condolences to the family of John Bond, who was my manager at Birmingham city Truly a fantastic man and a pleasure to work for. RIP John
— Julian Dicks · Wed, Sep 26 2012 02:26:54

We'd like to pass on our condolences to the family of former Blues manager John Bond who passed away this morning aged 79. #RIP
— Birmingham City FC · Wed, Sep 26 2012 02:27:27

All at #MCFC are saddened to learn of the passing of former manager John Bond aged 79 and our thoughts are with his friends and family.
— Manchester City FC · Wed, Sep 26 2012 02:08:55

Sorry to hear that John Bond has died (79). Will always be remembered for getting us to Wembley - and nearly winning the FAC - RIP
— Kevin Cummins · Wed, Sep 26 2012 02:26:57

Sad news about John Bond passing away. Charismatic manager who nurtured attractive teams. Thoughts with his family
— Henry Winter · Wed, Sep 26 2012 02:41:03

RT @LDHarv: RIP John Bond - a true West Ham legend and one of the original academy #whufc
— Antony Harris · Wed, Sep 26 2012 03:00:52

John Bond ex. West Ham player ex football manager who wanted to play attractive football before it became fashionable #RIP #realfootballman
— Arthur Shackle · Wed, Sep 26 2012 03:01:54

Bond managed seven teams in his career:

A.F.C. Bournemouth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In their first season 1889-90 Boscombe F.C. competed in the Bournemouth and District Junior League. They also played in the Hants Junior ...

Brought Italian style football to Dean Court, early 70s. “@afcbournemouth: Former manager John Bond has passed away at the age of 79.
— Mark Paytress · Wed, Sep 26 2012 03:15:50

Norwich City F.C. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Norwich City F.C. was formed following a meeting at the Criterion Cafe in Norwich on 17 June 1902 and then a sub meeting occurred on 2 Ju...

Former Norwich City manager John Bond dies, aged 79 - News - Norwich Evening News

John Bond, right, pictured with his son Kevin. David Cuffley Wednesday, September 26, 2012 11:18 AM Former Norwich City manager John Bond...

Manchester City F.C. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton)...

Bond took over at City in 1980 as the club struggling to make a good start to the season

What should news sites be - pages or streams

Andy Dickinson — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:29:25 GMT

Note - i updated this with some reaction at the end. Entrepreneur, writer and geek Anil Dash has posted a request that people stop publishing pages and start creating streams.

Storified by Andy Dickinson · Wed, Aug 15 2012 06:29:25

Stop Publishing Web Pages

Most users on the web spend most of their time in apps. The most popular of those apps, like Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Tumblr and others,...

Start moving your content management system towards a future where it outputs content to simple APIs, which are consumed by stream-based apps that are either HTML5 in the browser and/or native clients on mobile devices. Insert your advertising into those streams using the same formats and considerations that you use for your own content. Trust your readers to know how to scroll down and skim across a simple stream, since that's what they're already doing all day on the web. Give them the chance to customize those streams to include (or exclude!) just the content they want.

An interesting post which generated some interesting discussion when Guardian Journo Mary Hamilton posted it to twitter.

@newsmary I *hate* that piece. Am I the only person left who likes the web, and webpages, and tolerates apps whilst sincerely hating them?
— Greg Callus · Wed, Aug 15 2012 00:33:15

@Greg_Callus No, I don’t think you are. But I do think there’s room for other presentations as well as single static URL.
— Mary Hamilton · Wed, Aug 15 2012 00:34:42

@newsmary There is, I just hate the Appify movement & 'streams'. And there's a reason Guardian Network Front isn't RSS feed of our content.
— Greg Callus · Wed, Aug 15 2012 00:36:45

@newsmary Where's the evidence readers 'like' streams & apps? Rather than utility sacrificed for convenience b/c that's what mobile could do
— Greg Callus · Wed, Aug 15 2012 00:37:49

@Greg_Callus Where’s the evidence they don’t? Don’t think people are using Facebook/Tumblr etc while disliking the approach that much.
— Mary Hamilton · Wed, Aug 15 2012 00:39:58

@newsmary Drop/plateau in Facebook numbers since move from Profile to Timeline? Not universal but thnk his claim they 'like streams' not met
— Greg Callus · Wed, Aug 15 2012 00:42:50

@Greg_Callus But significant rise since the introduction of the news feed, which is a stream.
— Mary Hamilton · Wed, Aug 15 2012 00:47:26

@newsmary Touche! Thing is I love Twitter as a stream. Where chronological key, it works (like comments). Where content needs hierarchy, not
— Greg Callus · Wed, Aug 15 2012 00:48:42

@Greg_Callus Yeah, there are def some big issues with streams wrt hierarchy - but also with pages too. It’s not a solved problem.
— Mary Hamilton · Wed, Aug 15 2012 00:51:08

It wasn't the only chat. Mary's tweet had already attracted the attention of her Guardian colleague Jonathan Haynes who took issue with the basic premise.

@newsmary no! Much more important is: Stop thinking you're the medium when you're the content provider!
— Jonathan Haynes · Tue, Aug 14 2012 23:45:14

@JonathanHaynes Different issues, surely? You can be a content provider with a stream.
— Mary Hamilton · Tue, Aug 14 2012 23:49:28

@newsmary what's a stream Mary, what's a stream? it's a load of content
— Jonathan Haynes · Tue, Aug 14 2012 23:50:08

@JonathanHaynes Compared to a flat page, it's a different way of organising that content. That's not a difficult distinction...
— Mary Hamilton · Tue, Aug 14 2012 23:51:39

@newsmary it's the same content! *head desk*
— Jonathan Haynes · Tue, Aug 14 2012 23:52:33

@JonathanHaynes And the point of the piece I linked is that news orgs should present it differently. Struggling to see your point.
— Mary Hamilton · Tue, Aug 14 2012 23:53:19

@JonathanHaynes Compared to a flat page, it's a different way of organising that content. That's not a difficult distinction...
— Mary Hamilton · Tue, Aug 14 2012 23:51:39

Curation and Aggregation

Andy Dickinson — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 15:24:21 GMT

This is a 'storify' version of my lecture giving a broad overview of curation and aggregation to first year undergraduate journalism students.

Storified by Andy Dickinson · Wed, Aug 15 2012 04:47:04

In the workshops this week you have been looking at a number of curation tools

storyful

“Storyful has become an indispensable tool in our daily news production in both our online and broadcast operations. The service has re...

Bundlr - Organize your web

Create topic pages with photos, videos, tweets and documents. Share them with everyone.

Pearltrees

A place to collect, organize, discover and share everything you like on the web.

Paper.li – Be a publisher

Turn Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds into online newspapers in just a few clicks .

Easily Publish Gorgeous Magazines | Scoop.it

Easily Publish Gorgeous Magazines. Leverage Curation to increase your visibility. Give persistence to your social media presence.

But we spent a lot of time having a play with Storify.

I noted in the workshop that it was worth taking a look at the background to storify to get an idea of where it was coming from.

The story behind Storify, new real-time curation service · scobleizer

Part of the reason we’ve been looking at this is to broaden the idea of what it takes to package news. The way we can use the building blocks of media combined with new technologies to make new forms of storytelling; we take the article and packaged it in a different way.

I went on to make the point that it was important that we thought about the realities of sourcing material to work with given that we would be working across platforms.

I used the phrase Process in to Content.

A Process and content checklist | andydickinson.net

A Process and content checklist. Posted on February 12, 2009 by Andy. I've been chatting with my undergraduate students about their...

Which was inspired by....

cybersoc.com: 8 ways to turn your processes into content

Dec 3, 2007 ... When I give presentations about blogging I'm frequently asked: "How much time does it take to have a successfu...

I've talked before about the importance of having some way to capture the information you find as you go through the 'journalism process'. We explored a number of tools that helped with that including RSS and social bookmarking sites like Delicious.

Delicious.com - Discover Yourself!

Keep, share, and discover the best of the Web using Delicious, the world's leading social bookmarking service.

Paul Bradshaw has a great phrase for that 'passive aggressive newsgathering'

RSS + social media = “Passive-Aggressive Newsgathering” (A ...

Apr 21, 2008 ... Just when I thought I'd put the 21st century newsroom to bed, along comes a further brainwave about conceptualisin...

Even if we don't use them as tools, the social bit of social bookmarking - the way content is shared - makes them great resources for links and organisational tools like tags are useful in helping find content as they were organising our own stuff.

Tags & Folksonomies - What are they, and why should you care ...

Jan 25, 2005 ... Tags, or folksonomies are actually a lot simpler than much of the acedemic debate surrounding them. Put simply, they a...

And a bit deeper reading...