The Scoop

This site is owned and operated by me, Derek Willis, and is not affiliated with nor a representation of my employer or any past (or future) employers. Since being launched in 1998, The Scoop has largely focused on journalism and computer-assisted reporting, and in 2003 I decided to make those the exclusive topics of this site. My non-journalism site is blandiose.org. None of my sites speak for my employer; they contain my views only.

The home page of The Scoop is a weblog about journalism issues and computer-assisted reporting. I also maintain a Database of CAR Stories in which entries are categorized in several different ways, including the type of data used in the story, whether a public records request was involved or, for example, mapping techniques were used. Many of those entries also appear on Extra!Extra!, hosted by Investigative Reporters and Editors, to which I am a volunteer contributor.

This site is powered by WordPress, the pages should be valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional and the design employs CSS instead of HTML tables. A slick designer I’m not, so if you encounter any problems or want to make a suggestion, feel free to email. Comments and suggestions are always welcomed.

As for me

I was born in Pennsylvania, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in rhetoric and communications and attended graduate school at the University of Florida. I began my journalism career at the Palm Beach Post, working in the news library and then as a reporter and technology coordinator. From 1998-2003 I covered Congress and elections for Congressional Quarterly. In February 2003 I joined The Center for Public Integrity as a writer/data specialist working on state and federal projects, where a report I co-authored was honored with a Sigma Delta Chi award by the Society of Professional Journalists. In November 2004 I became the Research Database Editor at the Washington Post; in February 2007 I became Database Editor at washingtonpost.com, and in November 2007 I joined a Web development group at nytimes.com.

I am co-editor of CQ’s Federal PACs Directory, published in 1998, and of Unstacking the Deck, a guide to covering campaign finance published by IRE. I’ve been a member of IRE since 1995 and have spoken at several conferences and training events around the nation on using the Internet and campaign finance. I live outside Washington, D.C., with my wife, daughter and two cats. Email me at dwillis AT gmail DOT com.