- Duaa Eldeib
- Melissa Lewis
- Ken Schwencke
- Nadine Sebai
How can we report on victims of bias-motived crimes when half of them don’t report the crimes to police, and when they do, police frequently fail to mark them down as such? Come listen to how we’ve done it (or tried to).
No reliable stats exist. FBI says around 6,000 per year. Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates up to 250,000.
Documenting Hate database by ProPublica
AJ+ Documenting Hate partnership put out a form and callout video. Used the database to find individual tips to create multimedia stories. Needed stories powerful enough to be told on social media.
Compare local data to state data to federal data. Hate crime convictions — there's no centralized database.
Drill down by location: college campuses, public transit.
Tweeted she was covering hate crimes and got stories. FOIAed police department to confirm.
Plea deals can drop hate crime charges.
Don't have to wait to do huge all-encompassing story. Chip away at it.
Build a reputation to be someone to approach with the stories.
The area isn't very racially diverse, which hinders reporting and recognition.
Why America fails at collecting hate crime statistics.
FBI's master files are fixed-width and the dictionary is a typed, scanned document from the 90s.
Easy impact. Ask for records from local agency and see if they match up with FBI reports.
"Does this mean you've had no hate crimes, or that you don't track hate crimes reported to you?"
Ask how they handle hate crimes? Do they do hate crimes training? How do they handle racist graffiti — does it get marked as a hate crime?
NS: Sometimes trolls submit to the form. Have to fact check. Real people worry about being doxxed. Engagement team monitored comments.
DE: Fear. "Complaining witness not in court." "When they're contacted by a reporter, it's real."
ML: People feel like it's not worth reporting because it's happened to them a lot, they don't want to rehash it.
DE: Can't make them feel pressured. The power is in their hands.
DE: Let them know you trust them. You're invested in this, not a story you'll check off your list and move on. Multiple interviews. Ask open ended questions. "Tell me in your words."
NS: Understand your audience. Can collaborate with other newsrooms that have other audiences.
DE: Look for some kind of connection.
ML: How do you partner with with other orgs?
Rachel (propublica): Play to your strengths. If two newsrooms are interested in the same thing, matchmaking.
NS: Sometimes you have to go with your gut if there's no other way. Witnesses, police reports, etc.
KS: Police were skeptical. Talked to other members of LGBT community and they were skeptical. Tried to get court records.
DE: "But I'm here now, trying to tell this story."
NS: When they're reporting it, it's not usually the first time it's happened. This gives people a platform to realize this isn't normal.
KS: Not part of Documenting Hate project. Familiarity with laws helps.
KS: ADL, SPLC, other similar groups. Unifying that data is hard. Universities. Dept. of Education.
LGBTQ incarceration and sexual assault while incarcerated; interview techniques to let people know you believe them but that you need more info
DE: Repeat the story in different ways. "For my publication…"
NS: Blame my editor for everything.
KS: Make a timeline, ask chronologically.
ML: ProPublica "Unbelievable Story of Rape" — reporter sent email, talked through lawyer first, no surprises. "You're always free to go." Only a couple people, minimal gear.
Audience: If you're FOIAing lots of police agencies and they say they don't have data, find corroboration in the news and send it to them.
Duaa Eldeib is an investigative reporter for ProPublica Illinois. Her work has examined the death of children in state care, the treatment of juveniles in adult court and police use of polygraphs in cases where suspects were wrongly convicted. She previously worked at the Chicago Tribune, where she and two colleagues were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2015. @deldeib
Melissa Lewis is the data editor and a developer at The Oregonian. She's a former software engineer and research scientist, and currently volunteers as an organizer for PyLadies Portland. She's an occasional technical reviewer for O'Reilly Media and contributor to The Recompiler. @iff_or
Ken Schwencke is a journalist and developer on ProPublica's news apps team, covering hate crimes and election administration. Previously, he worked on The New York Times’ interactive news team and the Los Angeles Times data desk. @schwanksta
Nadine Sebai is a radio reporter in the S.F. Bay Area, working part-time at KQED News. In 2016, Nadine investigated a hepatitis C outbreak in Fremont, NE. The story won the SPJ Mark of Excellence Award and the Reva and David Logan Prize for Excellence in Investigative Reporting. In 2016, she was an Ida B. Wells fellow with the Investigative Fund. Prior to working in journalism, Nadine worked as an accountant and investigative analyst. @NadineSebai
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