Ted Alcorn

I was trying to figure out the safest driving route from my house to the grocery store and accidentally went down a rabbit hole and built a nationwide map of 843,530 fatal car crashes since 2001. It’s kind of cool? 🤷‍♂️ tedalcorn.github.io/the-deadlies...

It goes to show: just because the government collects data doesn't mean it makes it easy to access, or act on. Drivers deserve to know which roads are dangerous, and why, so we can hold policymakers accountable for making them safer.

I was trying to figure out the safest driving route from my house to the grocery store and accidentally went down a rabbit hole and built a nationwide map of 843,530 fatal car crashes since 2001. It’s kind of cool? 🤷‍♂️ tedalcorn.github.io/the-deadlies...

You can find the most dangerous spots by crash rate, pedestrian/bicyclist involvement, or share of crashes involving alcohol.

I was trying to figure out the safest driving route from my house to the grocery store and accidentally went down a rabbit hole and built a nationwide map of 843,530 fatal car crashes since 2001. It’s kind of cool? 🤷‍♂️ tedalcorn.github.io/the-deadlies...

Once the data is assembled, the insights that fall out are glaring. This rural segment of NM-53 west of Zuni has 30x the national average fatal-crash rate. 8 of 10 crashes were single-vehicle rollovers, 6 involved alcohol, and most were after dark.

I was trying to figure out the safest driving route from my house to the grocery store and accidentally went down a rabbit hole and built a nationwide map of 843,530 fatal car crashes since 2001. It’s kind of cool? 🤷‍♂️ tedalcorn.github.io/the-deadlies...

40,000 Americans die in on our roads every year, a public health catastrophe in slow motion, but unlike for other crises (e.g. gun violence), the US collects meticulous data on every crash, including geolocation + conditions + contributing factors.

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

MARYLAND — All five top subjects are crime-related. Maryland's NYT coverage has a major focus on Baltimore.

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

LOUISIANA — If you hadn't heard, Louisiana hosts a great Mardi Gras. Twenty years later, the state is still living in Hurricane Katrina's wake.

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

KANSAS — Where culture-war fights leave a mark.

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

INDIANA — A grab bag like no other.

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

IDAHO — A state covered for what it harbors — wolves, silver, lumber, nuclear waste.

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

GEORGIA — The last few years of coverage of voter fraud have made it a dominant frame.

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

DELAWARE — Chickens (the Delmarva poultry industry) and the Tea Party (particularly Christine O'Donnell's 2010 Senate run) dominate coverage in the country's smallest state.

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

CONNECTICUT — A state covered for its scandals and its commutes.

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

CALIFORNIA — There's a theme here. 🔥

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

ARIZONA — Ground-zero for some of the country's most-litigated flashpoints.

With data from the @nytimes.com API, I analyzed all national+local coverage since 2000—224,000 articles— to see which topics in each state get covered out of proportion to the rest of the country. A portrait of how the paper of record sees America, one state per tweet, alphabetical. 👇

ALABAMA — Coverage hinges on the fallout of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are "children," upending IVF nationwide.

Earlier this month, I posted a dashboard for exploring 2.2 million New York Times articles going back to 2000. I’ve now added a way to explore all 29,000 obituaries the paper has published during that period, and it reveals a lot about who makes history.

And the imbalance is sharpest at the very top. Since 2000, only 51 obituaries have surpassed 4,000 words, a group dominated by presidents, popes, monarchs and major cultural figures. Of those subjects, just five were women, and fewer than one in five were people of color.

Earlier this month, I posted a dashboard for exploring 2.2 million New York Times articles going back to 2000. I’ve now added a way to explore all 29,000 obituaries the paper has published during that period, and it reveals a lot about who makes history.

Very few obituary subjects were under 25. The youngest was Shannon Tavarez, the 11-year-old who played Nala in The Lion King. The oldest subject lived to 141: Gramma, a Galapagos tortoise.

Earlier this month, I posted a dashboard for exploring 2.2 million New York Times articles going back to 2000. I’ve now added a way to explore all 29,000 obituaries the paper has published during that period, and it reveals a lot about who makes history.