Category: Maps

New one-day NUJ data journalism training course on 18 May

The National Union of Journalists has scheduled two new dates for my one-day course of data journalism training: Monday 18 May and Monday 9 November, both at the NUJ’s office on Gray’s Inn Road in London.

This course is aimed mainly at those already in journalism, who want practical methods that can be used immediately – and who want to know about the pitfalls as well as the benefits.

Specifically, the course will cover how to assess and improve the quality of data; how to combine it, or mash it up, without making a mess; the reality of using the Freedom of Information Act to get material; and how to turn numbers into pictures, whether graphs or maps. I will also talk about when it makes sense not to rely on data. Advanced mathematical ability is not a requirement, although common sense is always useful.

Continue reading “New one-day NUJ data journalism training course on 18 May”

My one-day data journalism training course on 22 September

Data plays an increasingly big part in journalism. It can conjure exclusive stories out of a slab of figures. It lets journalists take full advantage of government policies on open access and freedom of information. It can produce some really nice graphs and maps.

How the NHS staff mix has changed since 2009, based on data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre; click on graph for the Guardian article that used this

Data journalism training is now part of many post-graduate training courses, such as those run by Paul Bradshaw at Birmingham City University. But for those already in journalism, the National Union of Journalists is hosting a one-day course run by myself, which will provide a practical introduction to using data in journalism, on Monday 22 September at the NUJ’s headquarters near King’s Cross in London. You don’t have to be an NUJ member, but the course is cheaper if you are: £175 for employed NUJ members, £100 for unemployed ones, £200 for those in some affiliated unions and £275 otherwise. Continue reading “My one-day data journalism training course on 22 September”

NHS CCG map: clinical commissioning groups on the web and on Twitter

Other maps of the new NHS: local area teams (LATs); commissioning support units (CSUs); specialised commissioning hubs and clinical senates.

Replacing one that I had set up before NHS clinical commissioning groups properly existed, Guardian Healthcare Professionals Network has put live EHI Intelligence’s new CCG map, which I have compiled. It’s also available below. Continue reading “NHS CCG map: clinical commissioning groups on the web and on Twitter”

The CSU-zy merging, morphing map of NHS commissioning support units

Other maps of the new NHS: clinical commissioning groups (CCGs); local area teams (LATs); specialised commissioning hubs and clinical senates.

Just under a fortnight ago, the NHS Commissioning Board published an updated list of commissioning support units (CSUs) – the organisations that are about to start running ICT and other support functions for the vast majority of clinical commissioning groups.

Map removed as Google Fusion Tables no longer works.

This revealed that six of the old list of 22 had merged into three – requiring some map update work, see above* – although only one merger was highlighted in the announcement, that of West Yorkshire CSU and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw CSU becoming West and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw CSU under Alison Hughes. She was already acting as managing director for both, after Ming Tang, who the original MD for South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw, took the post of director of data and information management systems with the NHS Commissioning Board. Continue reading “The CSU-zy merging, morphing map of NHS commissioning support units”