Online Reporting, Research & Writing

Trump for Tax Cuts – Donnie Takes to Twitter

3.5M Americans , getting paid after companies giving bonuses and benefits!

President Trump , takes twitter announcing his huge accomplishment of getting companies to take larger tax cuts; allowing 3.5 million Americans to get benefits and other monies from their employers. This has not only been a major deal for people that work for these companies , but also has boost the job market by adding an additional 200,000 jobs for people. Trump hash tagging his infamous ” MAGA” slogan , or ” Make American Great Again” , is Donnie really up for the challenge?

View the rest of President Trumps TWEETS to see whats next!

Definitely taking American to the next level, as far employment goes, by dropping the unemployment rate to a staggering 4.1% before his term of office at 9.3% during the Obama administration. In hopes that this number can continue to decrease, stay tuned to see what else “Donnie” does for the United States of America.

Using census data to improve stories

There are many data sources out there to help writers enhance their stories. From sport stats to disease control outlets, there are endless options to choose from in order to increase your credibility.

I specifically took interest in the United States Census Bureau‘s website. It was helpful in directing me to my topic of interest and deriving some stats from it.

For example, I’m interested in poverty rates because I wish to open free clinics in poverty-stricken areas when I advance in my medical career. The Census Bureau had useful data to provide to me so I could get a better idea of what I was looking for.

To go more in depth, it gave me data collections that connected the keyword “poverty” to “insurance”.

The Census Bureau has data focusing on health insurance and poverty of American citizens.

It is easy to retrieve data on anything you’re interested in. I believe the Census Bureau’s website is useful in articles that are informative because it allows us to look at data from a large scope like the amount of Asians in America to specific cases like the following:

Table of the Percentage of People by Type of Health Insurance Coverage by United States Census Bureau.

Looking at data sources like this, it allows me to be more creative and credible with future posts. When in doubt, look for data on the topic your writing about, you’d be surprised at what you find.

Michigan college comparison data story

Using Google’s Advanced Search Engine I was able to find different collections of data regarding Michigan Colleges including one I used to make a data story out of. This was an Excel sheet that covered the demographics, admission basics, and costs of Michigan colleges from 2-year, 4-year, and private schools.

Using Google’s Advanced Search to find Excel formatted data of Michigan colleges.

The section that was of most interest to me was the costs of the colleges. I was able to manipulate the data and sort it from most to least expensive universities in Michigan using the Sort and Filter tool on Excel. This allowed me to see exactly how much each university costs to attend and was helpful in organizing information in the way I needed in order to make my data story.

In fact, in terms of total expenses including tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, transportation, and expenses for in-state freshmen of 4-year Michigan Universities, University of Michigan-Dearborn was the least expensive. It makes me proud to know that I can get a great education at a school that is rather affordable!

Sample of the data in the college comparison excel sheet.

Census.gov provides demographic data for all to use

Census.gov is a great resource for providing demographic based data for a variety of stories.

For example, one chart provides data for the poverty rate over time. Screenshot (18).png

This information could be included in an article that attempts to discuss Donald Trump’s claims about the economy, perhaps indicating that the decreasing poverty rate is attributable to more than his claim of making the economy great. As it can be indicated that the poverty rate in recent years has been in decline.

There are a number of ways that this information could be used, but this may be the most relevant given Trump’s recent State of the Union address.

Census.gov also provides a far wider variety of data including information about health, economy, and education.