How to navigate the impact of manipulation and removal of federal data: Expert advice, reporting tips and resources

As the chief demographer at the nonprofit Data Center in New Orleans, Allison Plyer receives hundreds of data requests and questions each year.

The Data Center compiles and analyzes data from multiple sources, including the federal government, with a focus on Southeast Louisiana. And to Plyer, the consistent data requests are a clear example of why federal data is critical infrastructure for media, policymakers and citizens.

“It informs so many decisions, and many decision-makers assume data exists to answer nearly any question they have,” Plyer said during the webinar “Vanishing Numbers: How Federal Data Manipulation and Removal Threaten Journalism and Public Trust,” hosted by The Journalist’s Resource on Oct. 1.

Federal datasets have been manipulated and removed since the beginning of the Trump administration and continue to be under threat. Shortly after President Trump took office for the second time, his administration took down several health websites that included Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and data, although some have since been restored. Researchers have also found undocumented changes to some federal health datasets. And there are many more examples.

This loss has several critical consequences, affecting national infrastructure, accountability, data quality and public trust, explained Plyer and co-panelists Denice Ross, the U.S. chief data scientist and the deputy U.S. chief technology officer during the Biden Administration, and Erica Groshen, senior economic advisor at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and the 14th commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2013 to 2017.

“In the information age, our federal statistical system is as important an infrastructure as roads and bridges,” Groshen said.

The panelists shared several examples of how federal data informs businesses and impacts Americans.