On Sept. 27-28, Colorado Media Project is co-hosting the Colorado Migrahack at University of Denver. What’s a Migrahack? A chance for journalists to gather with web developers, data crunchers, multimedia specialists, immigration community representatives, students, and faculty to create data-based reporting projects. Here are five reasons for Colorado journalists to register now:
DATA! Data journalist Sandra Fish is gathering data that is crunch-worthy and ready at Colorado Media Project’s Migrahack Github repository, and we’ll have links to more data sources on the day of the event. Among the planned offerings: demographic data from the Census Bureau and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as data about Colorado employers participating in the E-Verify program. Some of the information is specific to counties or metropolitan areas, from Greeley to Grand Junction, from Pueblo to Fort Collins. We’ll also have data on various visas and employers requesting them, and plenty more. Read about our data-gathering plans and add to the wishlist by contacting Fish at fishnette@gmail.com.
RECORDS REQUESTS! For those with a good story idea that requires extracting information from national or state government, experts from Open the Government (OTG) will lead a workshop on writing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and will provide technical assistance on follow-up to make sure you get the data you need. Read what to expect at Open the Government’s workshop. (And note: Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition is a member of OTG.)
IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS! A good story on immigration may start with data but it doesn’t end there. Journalists don’t always have deep connections with immigrant communities when they source and report stories. We’ll have community representatives on hand to help you vet your project ideas. Read about University of Denver journalism professor Lynn Schofield Clark’s conversations with immigrant group representatives and how they are shaping plans for Migrahack..
TECHNICAL HELP! We’ll have technical experts available with a wide variety of skills –- data crunchers, web developers, multimedia production experts from University of Denver, Open Media Foundation and more. If you register now, we’ll be able to pair you with experts who are best suited to help you with your project idea.
SNACKS! The event is free, and yes, there will be snacks, as well as the opportunity to hear about food and migration from chef and historian Adan Medrano at the closing ceremonies. Check out the full schedule for Migrahack.
Questions? Read this post on why Migrahacks matter by Fish and Clark, and check out Migrahack FAQs. Still have questions? Contact Colorado Media Project, info@coloradomediaproject.com, and we’ll get you answers. We hope to see you there!