I've been messing around with data journalism for years, and think I've only started to explore the possibilities. Here are some highlights of the past few years.
I'm the data journalist at Village Media. I've been an online writer and editor in Toronto since 2001, most recently as the polling and online politics reporter at iPolitics. Going further back, I've worked at thestar.com, Open File, and globalnews.ca. As well as traditional reporting techniques, I have experience in data journalism, access-to-information requests and maps and visualizations. As well, I have spent time as a beat reporter covering digital privacy and cannabis. Along the way I've picked up some awards, and started the ball rolling on an access-to-information case that ended in the Supreme Court. You can follow me on Twitter (@Cain), or e-mail me at pemcain (at) gmail.com.
I have extensive experience in using freedom-of-information laws to get access to databases and documents of one sort or another from municipal, provincial and federal governments, universities and other countries. FOI can be a cumbersome tool but also a powerful one. Often it's the only tool available.
Data, maps and other visualization tools - scatterplots, interactive calendars - have a natural relationship. The right image lets you both show and tell, and interactivity lets the reader explore the richness of the information presented.