Take data to the ground level

Jonathan Karl of ABC News and Thomas Frank of USA Today tracked how the federal government has spent money on small airports that see few passengers.

Jonathan’s segment looks at stimulus funding used for commercial airports that provide fewer than five flights a day. His story singles out the Ouzinkie Airport in Alaska, which he says “hit the stimulus jackpot with $15 million. That’s $100,000 for each of the town’s 150 residents -- even though there’s another airport just 30 minutes away.”

Thomas’ article focuses on the Airport Improvement Program, which offers federal funding to general aviation airports that serve only private planes. He notes in his story that the money used on the commercial airports comes from taxes on all airplane-ticket sales.

The taxes can add up to 15% to the cost of a flight — or about $29 to a $200 round-trip ticket.
Federal lawmakers have used some of the money to build and maintain the world's most expansive and expensive network of airports — 2,834 of them nationwide — with no scheduled passenger flights. Known as general-aviation airports, they operate separately from the 139 well-known commercial airports that handle almost all passenger flights.
In the first full accounting of the 28-year-old Airport Improvement Program, USA TODAY found that Congress has directed $15 billion to general-aviation airports, which typically are tucked on country roads and industrial byways.

Today’s Tip: Take data to the ground level.

By gathering details and seeing the airports in action, the reporters were able to put together stories showing how the money was misspent.

The USAToday story includes an interactive map that allows viewers to click on symbols for each individual U.S. airport and see how much air traffic and federal money it has received.

If you’d like to look at stimulus funding in your area, check out this piece from W.J. Hennigan to help you track stimulus spending. You can also review the archived live blog of the Reynolds Center’s Sept. 21 workshop in Dallas with New York Times reporter Ron Nixon on the topic. Nixon will also be teaching how to track stimulus funds at a free Reynolds Center workshop in New Orleans on Nov. 9. For more information or to register, please click here. To participate in the live blog of that workshop, go to www.BusinessJournalism.org on Nov. 9.

Zig when others zag

ABC News’ “Nightline” found one company that’s profiting from the recession: www.PropertyRoom.com. The segment highlights a Los Angeles-area company that is the eBay for unclaimed, stolen goods that police departments don’t want to auction themselves. Along with the 30,000 bicycles it sells a year, the site also offers the occasional Breitling watch with a thousand diamonds. The interviewed company executive estimates that business was up 30 percent in 2008.

Today’s Tip: The recession hasn’t hurt all companies. Zig when others zag -- as legendary Philadelphia Inquirer editor Gene Roberts used to say -- and find some winners.

To find companies that haven’t been hurt by the recession, check with economists at your regional bank, university or Federal Reserve Bank office; plus the local Small Business Administration, Chamber of Commerce or business association offices.

Also, pay attention to what’s happening. For instance, the Cincinnati Enquirer did a story last week about pest-control companies staying busy because of a regional bedbug outbreak, and The Arizona Republic reported big gains for a publicly traded university specializing in online degrees.

The Big Picture

This ABC News segment explores whether consecutive stock market rallies indicate an economic recovery. The reporter uses footage from Capitol Hill as well as corporate earnings stories and economists to answer the question.

Today’s Tip: Think of daily news stories as possible pieces to a larger puzzle.

Stop to think about a broader impact and ask what it all means. For instance, with earnings, do you see a pattern among particular types of companies? With commercial real estate vacancies, are certain areas more susceptible? If so, where do people in those areas work? There may not always be a connection, but at least take the time to think about the possibility.

What’s the behavior behind the numbers?

This segment from ABC News’ “Nightline” on the increase in bank revenue from overdraft fees offers a good example of how to transform dry survey data into an informative consumer piece. “Nightline” took a report from Moebs Services to shed light on how banks are maximizing their income from these fees at the expense of consumers.

At about seven and a half minutes, the segment is long, but the sources and visuals are varied enough to keep the piece moving. Particularly inventive is the use of a snippet of video from a “Seinfeld” episode about Jerry’s embarrassment about bouncing a check.

Note also the balance in the piece: both the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Federation of America offer comments.

Today’s Tip: Avoid the temptation to just report the numbers in survey releases. Consider how the numbers translate into human behavior.

One way to get at the human element is to think about how to illustrate the story with photos or video of real people. Another way is to brainstorm what the data means to your audience. Does the latest data on credit-card usage show that people are carrying more cash? If so, are ATMs running out of cash more frequently, and are small businesses’ cash deposits up? Are people canceling services such as Netflix that auto bill each month? Talk with experts about what the behaviors are behind the numbers.