What Are Newspaper Journalists Investigating?
To a large extent, reporters used the National Bridge Inventory—a database on bridges and their conditions—as a launching point for investigations. Using this information, local journalists showed the location of defective bridges, did additional reporting about what is wrong with them, and examined why structural fixes have not been made. Wildfires, especially those last year in Southern California, resulted in some strong investigative journalism. The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise mapped new home permits and fire threats and in doing so discovered that many new homes were going up in areas highly susceptible to wildfires. USA Today employed a similar approach using census data and showed that since 2000, nearly 450,000 people have moved to Western areas with a high risk of being affected by wildfires. The San Diego Union-Tribune made good use of interactive maps and provided online access to information as part of their investigations.
