The evidence
NDS supplies the data structure, sources, checks, and methods. A place key helps match the right records.
Consumer Magazine / data journalism
Find the facts. Tell a useful story.
Data journalism is reporting that uses records to ask and check a question. Reporters study the numbers, talk to people, and explain what the evidence can and cannot tell us.
This is the role of Consumer Magazine in the NDS family.
An NDS publishing example
A ZIP code can start a question.
ConsumerMagazine.US + Consumer.info
“Can your ZIP code predict your love life?”
A bold cover makes us curious. The reporting must then test the question.
Place records can help describe community life. They cannot tell whether two people will fall in love, or promise a happy relationship.
For the owner’s Follow Your Heart work, the useful story is about place context, evidence, and limits. A community average is not a fact about every person.
FollowYourHeartIndex.com / owner portfolio ↗How to report with data
Six steps behind a strong story.
- 01
Ask
What matters to the reader?
- 02
Find
Get records. Save the source, place, and date.
- 03
Check
Look for missing rows, duplicates, and changed meanings.
- 04
Study
Count and compare fairly. Test the result.
- 05
Listen
Ask people and experts what the numbers leave out.
- 06
Explain
Show the method, limits, and corrections.
A spreadsheet, a map, or AI can help. The reporter is still responsible for the story.
One question / several forms
The work is bigger than a headline.
The useful tool
A map, table, or profile lets readers explore a question. Geospatial Real Estate uses housing and place facts for comparisons.
GeospatialRealEstate.com ↗The public story
Consumer Magazine explains a finding in everyday words. A reader should be able to follow the evidence through Consumer.info.
