Data analysis shows BP suffered from a ‘systematic safety problem’ before oil spill
The map says it all, but be sure to read the story by the Center for Public Integrity about the vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico:
Two refineries owned by oil giant BP account for 97 percent of all flagrant violations found in the refining industry by government safety inspectors over the past three years, a Center for Public Integrity analysis shows. Most of BP’s citations were classified as “egregious willful” by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and reflect alleged violations of a rule designed to prevent catastrophic events at refineries.
This package is a nice example of computer-assisted reporting that sheds light on an important issue. Plus, the compelling findings are easy to share — the map of violations is embeddable, which gives an incentive for blogs to pick up the story.
The Knight Foundation offers some more information about how the story tapped into the resources of DocumentCloud to post government records about the oil spill.
Tags: Computer-Assisted Reporting, Gulf of Mexico, Journalism, Oil Spill
