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Ben Welsh Profile picture
Ben Welsh
@palewire
Visiting @latimes data journalist at @stanford's @biglocalnews · 😈 @DePaulCJIE fellow · 🏛 Amateur archivist · 🤖 Bot father · 🧑‍✈️ Drone pilot · 📡 Ham KFØIA
May 26, 2023 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Last month Kim Kardashian and family sent L.A. Mayor Karen Bass a @skims "swag bag" worth $600.

She turned it down.

That's according to a log of more than 130 gifts to the new mayor I received via a public records request.

Here's the full list: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d… A spreadsheet logging gifts... Here's the request muckrock.com/foi/los-angele…
Jan 1, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
It's Public Domain Day! As of today, copyright works from 1926 are free for reuse.

That includes "is 5," E.E. Cummings’ fourth book of verse.

We are now free to add its contents to my open-source archive of the poet’s work. ⌨️ Data entry is underway!

cummings.ee/book/is-5/ I launched the site earlier this year.

With the help of numerous volunteers, we've already published three public domain books.

Read all about it in my earlier thread.

Dec 16, 2021 • 9 tweets • 11 min read
🛰️🔥 #CODE 🔥🛰️

Our very own @irisslee polished, expanded and re-released the open-source tools @latimes uses to track wildfires.

Here's NASA’s satellite hotspots, updated hourly

observablehq.com/d/365549932102… @irisslee @latimes Here are the rest of our utilities, which fetch, clean and store data from a variety of government sources.

github.com/datadesk/noaa-…

github.com/datadesk/nifc-…

github.com/datadesk/inciw…

github.com/datadesk/air-q…

github.com/datadesk/nws-w…
Oct 26, 2021 • 28 tweets • 22 min read
This promotion is the capstone to a complete, fundamental change in how the @latimes makes the charts and maps that accompany stories.

The effort involved dozens of people all across the newsroom. Let me tell you a little more about it. 🧵 @latimes When we started, there was a clear consensus change was necessary.

1️⃣ Every chart was produced separately for web and print, often by different people. 2️⃣ Web charts weren't responsive. 3️⃣ Copy edits were done at night on paper. 4️⃣ We staffed until the print deadline year round
Oct 25, 2021 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
I am pleased to announce that @thomas06037 has been promoted to serve as the @datagraphics assistant editor for graphics. 📈

latimes.com/about/pressrel… @thomas06037 @datagraphics In this newly created role, Thomas will:

📊 Oversee our overhauled system for creating charts and maps to enrich day-to-day news coverage

⛓️Direct improvements in how graphics integrate with our growing array of digital publishing platforms
Oct 25, 2021 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
Día de Muertos is almost here.

To celebrate, the @latimes has created a communal digital altar.

Upload a photo and share an ofrenda for a loved one.

By our very own @VanessaMartinez

latimes.com/projects/contr… @latimes @VanessaMartinez The page will grow to include as many reader tributes as we receive.

It's been seeded by 10 offerings posted by @latimes staff, including my memorial to my oma.

latimes.com/projects/contr…
Oct 25, 2021 • 5 tweets • 4 min read
New from our crew, and the latest @latimes effort to chronicle California's historic vice president.

By our very own @thomas06037, @maloym and @stiles The data we've assembled is powering our reporting, like this analysis by @Noahbierman and @stiles.

latimes.com/politics/story…
Sep 10, 2021 • 6 tweets • 5 min read
Our open-source archive of California COVID data has expanded again.

A nerdy new milestone: 100% of our web scrapers are running free and open via @github's action framework.

That's 80+ routines, written by a half-dozen team members, running in unity.

github.com/datadesk/calif… @github GitHub's action system, which came into its own during the pandemic, has changed the web scraping game.

This approach allows us to store, script and schedule our data-gathering systems. For free.
Oct 8, 2019 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Alright, nerds

I filed a FOIA appeal and won the infamous NROL-39 surveillance satellite logo as a PDF.

github.com/palewire/nrol-…

This ain't a scanned powerpoint. This is a resizable vector. You know what you must do. Unleash the swag. One can never be sure, but I think the FOIA officer wanted to make this one happen.
Apr 29, 2018 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Two weeks ago new @latimes owner @drpatsoonshiong said he will move the newsroom to El Segundo.

The next day I led an off-the-cuff @Twitter tour of the historic #DTLA HQ being left behind. More than 650,000 people followed along.

Here it is, in one post palewi.re/posts/2018/04/… Reposting the material to my personal blog allows me to better archive the material. And clean up the many typos I littered on the tour via my smartphone keyboard.

I continue to be blown away by the response. I did not expect anyone to care when I started.
Apr 14, 2018 • 78 tweets • 41 min read
The new @latimes owner is moving the newsroom from its historic HQ to El Segundo.

I've been lucky enough to inhabit and explore the interlocking buildings at 1st and Spring for over a decade.

I'd like to share it with you. It's a beautiful day in #DTLA. Shall we take a wander? The buildings wer constructed and built by the Chandler Family.

The different sections of the block have different cornerstones set by succeeding generations.