CODE REVIEW: A Blog

 A blog exploring the relationship between data viz journalism and American society. Here I discuss industry issues and hot topics, personal projects and musings, tips, and cool examples from around the web. Join me on this journey of understanding and navigating this ever-changing new world.


FEATURED

Black Viz-story: A roundup of my data-driven, visual, and interactive essays on black history and the black experience.


big brother news feature art

Roundup: Top Headlines from Outside the Big Brother 24 House (updated weekly)

Every year Big Brother contestants agree to be totally isolated from society for the duration of the season. This means they miss major news events.  On rare occasions producers break the cardinal rule and reveal really important information, like the September 11 attacks, the presidential election results, and the COVID-19 outbreak (which ramped up during […]

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How often are Big Brother live feeds down?

A closer look at the data behind Big Brother’s notorious live feeds outages

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black history music

How Black People Created Nearly Every Music Genre in America

Interactive black history project shows how America’s love for black culture, but not black people, has erased African Americans’ role in pioneering American music.

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Black and Blue: A Visual History of Police Brutality in Black America

From slave patrols to Jim Crow to the war on drugs, the history of police brutality in black America looks like a recurring nightmare.

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Data Shows Most Chicago Area COVID-19 Deaths Linked to Three Health Conditions

Cook County and Chicago coronavirus data reveal more than 85 percent of coronavirus deaths were linked to three conditions.

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NYC Coronavirus Map Paints Incomplete Picture

Despite daily televised updates and frequent data dumps, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city of New York have been hesitant to publish neighborhood-level stats showing the impact of COVID-19 on the four boroughs. That is until yesterday afternoon, when the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released zip-code level COVID-19 data via its Github […]

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top data viz of the 2010s art

Top Visual Storytelling Trends of the 2010s and a Dreary Forecast for 2020

If it weren’t for the data viz and visual storytelling of the last decade, journalism might be dead. Shortly before the start of 2010 the future of journalism looked grim. Newspaper readership was shifting, ad revenue was tanking, and jobs were being cut. Several papers filed for bankruptcy, while newspaper stocks sank. The so-called Digital […]

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A security guard stands watch over aisle in Walgreens

On Shopping While Black At Walgreens

After three uncomfortable experiences at Walgreens drugstores it’s time to think about racial profiling and when to draw a line.

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First three evicted Big Brother contestants of Big Brother Season 21 sit together with somber expressions

Big Brother’s Diversity Problem by the Numbers

The image of three glum Big Brother contestants wearing obnoxious scouting uniforms while sitting in front of host Julie Chen-Moonves will go down as one of the reality competition’s most embarrassing moments.

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What Documenting Women Clutching Their Purses Taught Me About Racism

I spent a year counting the times I experienced this age-old type of racial profiling

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