Social network analysis can help connect the dots
Day 2: IRE’s CAR 2010. I’m in a session called ‘What it means to connect the dots: Social network analysis as a reporting tool.’
You hear social networking, you think Facebook and Twitter. But NO. This session is more about spheres of influence. “Think more Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” said David Donald, of the Center for Public Integrity.
Donald shared several databases you’ll find useful, including:
Miscellaneous quote we need all remember: “You’re only as good as the data that’s entered in there,” Donald said.
Donald was followed by Robert Anglen, investigative reporter at the Arizona Republic, who began his talk: “I’m not a wonk.”
Anglen’s yearlong investigation looked into the controversial practices of a network of charities tied to a Phoenix televangelism ministry, the federal campaign that funnels millions of dollars to them each year and the tax system that makes the activities perfectly legal.
Anglen’s investigation quickly established a network of more than 100 charities, passing money from one to another. Ultimately he narrowed it down to 22 core organizations and he tracked every single donation made by them. One of the difficulties was that the charities regularly were changing the names of the charities, the officers and the addresses.
Anglen worked with data reporters at the Republic to move his concept from a pin-and-strings on a bulletin board idea to a massive network of international charity donations.
“Goods were being moved only on paper,” he concluded.
His full series is online:
