At California Watch, it is our goal to include multimedia content with every story to better illustrate the issues and sometimes complex processes outlined in our print pieces.

Our recent report on seismic safety, which examined buildings deemed seismically hazardous in the UC and CSU systems, presented a special challenge. The damage that an earthquake could potentially cause in most cases couldn't be seen by the naked eye, which made it hard to illustrate visually. Instead, we asked ourselves "What would the reader want to see?" From that idea, we decided to create a series of interactive maps that showed exactly where each of the potentially hazardous buildings was located and contained information pertinent to each building.

Then came the hard part: identifying the physical location of each building. I started back in September 2009 to plot the latitude and longitude coordinates for each building using a spreadsheet of hazardous buildings provided by reporter Erica Perez. The location of each building was determined using a combination of campus maps and a free online mapping tool called Map Builder. The coordinates for each building were entered manually into an Excel spreadsheet and combined with Erica's tentative collection of information for each building.

 

Map Builder

The campus maps weren't always accurate and were often missing the buildings on the list, so the entire process took several weeks. The resulting spreadsheet that contained all the information seen in each marker was formatted, rearranged, coded and uploaded into Map Builder. The site allows anyone to upload a CSV file (created from the spreadsheet) and automatically plot the points onto a map.

The result is four different maps that showcase seismically hazardous buildings at the UCs, CSUs, UC Berkeley and UCLA (the last two were given their own maps because of the large number of hazardous buildings at either campus). If you zoom in on a point on the map, you can view the exact location of the building and read about what's wrong with it. The maps were developed over the course of seven months, but the bulk of the work happened between January and February 2010.

The process of creating the interactive maps was mentally exhausting as the majority of the time spent creating them was revising outdated or incorrect information provided by the universities. Trying to juggle several different spreadsheets was also difficult as was sharing that the information between editors, partners, Erica and I.

Nevertheless, I decided that another visual element was necessary so I created the interactive timeline of the history of earthquakes in California. It's one thing to see a list of earthquakes…it's another to actually see them happening before your eyes.

I created a static map, the basis of the timeline, using a photoshopped and customized version of a CloudMade map. I used the latitude and longitude coordinates provided by the California Geological Survey to identify the epicenter of each quake. I combined this information with the location of the UCs and CSUs and plotted them all along the timeline in Flash.

I spent the bulk of my time on the previous four maps so I aimed to make the Flash map as simple as possible, using simple animation and easy-to-read text. The Flash timeline was created in about two weeks.

All in all, I'm happy with the way it turned out and it was definitely worth the time and effort required to construct the project. I often write about great multimedia techniques, but this was my chance to actually put the techniques I talk about into action. Not only did I satisfy my own personal ambitions with this project, but I created multimedia experiences that both enhanced the story and were useful to readers.

The next drawing will be held in early May. Here are more details about the promotion. Keep those good comments coming.

California Watch is a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting and is now the largest investigative reporting team operating in the state. Visit the Web site at www.californiawatch.org for in-depth coverage of K-12 schools, higher education, money and politics, health and welfare, public safety and the environment.

In my first job as a crime and legal affairs reporter for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, I spent many days searching through dusty records in courtrooms, police headquarters and the newsroom's library to create extensive news reports based on statistics and data. I hadn't yet heard of "multimedia journalism" and even though I was computer savvy, I didn't know how computers could be used to elevate my work. Fast forward a few years later and I am combining my love of online technology and software with my passion for hardcore news reporting.

There are many ways for investigative reporters to use multimedia and digital journalism tools to give the reader a better understanding of the story at hand. The web serves as an all-encompassing platform for publishing interactive maps, multimedia stories built in Flash or other software, video, audio and other forms of media besides text.

As this blog post from Journalism.co.uk about my transition to California Watch points out, news audiences digest stories in several different ways. If investigative reporters tell a single story using various media or use visual media to quickly convey information, the more readers and viewers the story is likely to attract.

My current position at California Watch allows me to help shape investigative reports using several forms of media and visualizations. The responsibility, however, requires the judgment to know which media is appropriate for a particular story. For example, interactive maps are great, but they aren't appropriate for every story.

At the very least, investigative reporters should be knowledgeable about the tools that can help elevate their reporting with web producers or other newsroom staff to create stories that have the greatest impact possible.

California Watch is a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
and is now the largest investigative reporting team operating in the state.
Visit the Web site at www.californiawatch.org for in-depth coverage of K-12
schools, higher education, money and politics, health and welfare, public
safety and the environment.

California Watch, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting, was created to investigate the issues that matter most to Californians. Find out more about the state's largest investigative team, our mission and our new Web site by watching this brief introductory video.  

 

After several weeks of sketches, designs and meetings California Watch has a new logo! The big, bold font paired with the watchful sun visualizes our commitment to investigative journalism and keeping a watchful eye over the people and issues that shape the state.

As designer of the California Watch logo, I was initially asked to submit some ideas about what the logo should look like. The proposed logos used a wide variety of layouts, both bold and understated fonts, and several icons, including an outline of the state, an eye, a pair of binoculars, a magnifying glass and a sun.

Almost immediately, the staff decided that Aharoni, the bold, yet modern font eventually used in the final logo, communicated our commitment to bold investigative journalism. The icon was a little more of a toss-up. Some of the icons, like the magnifying glass and the state were rejected for being too cliché and the eye was dismissed for being too similar to the current Center for Investigative Reporting logo.

The logo also had to scale well for our social networking pages on Twitter and Facebook.

Eventually we decided that the sun, which is symbolic of our watchdog role and to shining a bright light on topics and issues that have been previously shrouded in secrecy, encapsulated what we wanted to communicate to others. The sun also symbolized a ray of hope, which is what the best investigative journalism can be. Rather than simply pinpoint problems and walk away, California Watch wants to encourage a debate that can lead to better solutions.

Last week, we posted a few logo designs, including various iterations of the sun, on our blog and Facebook page and asked for your feedback. Some commenters asked why we limited the choices, but we were determined to use a particular font and wanted your feedback on what were our final choices for the logo. The comments helped shape our final selection and we thank you for your feedback.

The concept most everyone loved — both readers and our staff alike — included a “C” embedded inside the sun. The final result is an iconic logo that we believe best represents the goals and values of California Watch. Again, we thank you for being a part of this process and would love to hear any additional feedback you may have.

Creating the perfect logo is a seemingly small, but important task. A logo must encapsulate everything that the company stands for and appeal to a wide range of people, in addition to being unique and visually interesting.

The California Watch staff agreed that the logo should communicate openness, trust and authority and at the same time be modern and edgy. As we build our news organization from the ground up, we believe in sharing what we are doing with the public -- essentially opening a window into our newsroom. In that spirit of transparency, we are seeking your feedback for our final candidates for the California Watch logo. We look forward to your comments.

Logo 1

Logo 2

Logo 3