News

Mass detention database puts trove of data at fingertips of investigative journalists

RJI · Austin Fitzgerald · last updated

Mass detention operations by immigration agents over the last year have taken immigration from what was largely a national political issue to one that is deeply felt in communities of all sizes throughout the country.

In that time, news outlets have told countless human stories about migrant life in America, about detainment and about the justice system. But within and alongside those human stories, data journalists have worked overtime to crunch the official facts and figures as well as streams of information coming from the public and fellow journalists. The numbers of detainees; where, when, why, how and by whom they were detained; who they are and what happened to them.

Related Knowledge Center: Inside the newsroom

State of Play

As newsrooms struggle with rickety business models and precarious finances — as well as new technologies —  they are deploying an array of editorial responses. 

The Times and its critics  |  Washington Post mortem    


More informationabout Inside the newsroom

Related Knowledge Center: Democracy and politics

State of Play

News organizations are scrambling to find a coverage approach that adequately informs the American public about the country’s slide from democracy to authoritarian rule.

The White House vs. the press


More informationabout Democracy and politics