Today, we’re talking about three aspects of civic technology that help to make the government more accessible and effective for its constituents: govtech (how the government makes itself available), public data (providing access to data that impacts constituents), and participatory democracy (grassroots efforts to render government more effective). In this lab, we\u2019re going to hone in on public data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Public data offers the means to hold governments accountable, to understand how data informs decision-making, and to examine and sometimes contest the ways data is collected. It also informs reporting \u2014 every day, we see headlines that utilize data to make an (often inflammatory or click-baity) argument. Being able to track down the source of that data allows us to engage critically and thoughtfully with the news as well as with the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For today\u2019s lab, we\u2019re digging into some data-driven headlines about the St. Louis metro. Working in groups, explore your assigned article and work through the prompts in this form<\/a>. You\u2019ll be looking for 1) the argument the article is making, 2) how the reporter is using data to support that argument, 3) the source of that data, and 4) some thoughts about whether or not the article makes good and accurate use of that data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NB: You might have to dig a bit to find the source of the data! Some articles might not link to it at all, and others might link to aggregators. Do your best to figure out the earliest origin of that data. (E.g. if the article links to an aggregator of crime statistics, try to figure out who actually collected them \u2014 local police departments? the FBI? a private company?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n