biglocalnews
@biglocalnews.bsky.social
Data, tools and collaborations that empower journalists to better cover their community. A project at @Stanford University.
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This is such a great moment to be joining the team at @biglocalnews.bsky.social! We have so much important work ahead and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. biglocalnews.org/content/news...
Ryan Pitts joins Big Local News as managing director
Data, tools and collaborations that empower journalists to better cover their community. A project at Stanford University.
biglocalnews.org
August 12, 2025 at 3:32 AM
This is such a great moment to be joining the team at @biglocalnews.bsky.social! We have so much important work ahead and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. biglocalnews.org/content/news...
Reposted by biglocalnews
Because this database is for everyone. Victims of police violence, law enforcement hiring officials, civil rights advocates, researchers, attorneys and journalists can now investigate these once-secret records for themselves. 6/
CLEAN - San Francisco Chronicle
Search California public records about law enforcement violence and misconduct.
clean.sfchronicle.com
August 4, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Because this database is for everyone. Victims of police violence, law enforcement hiring officials, civil rights advocates, researchers, attorneys and journalists can now investigate these once-secret records for themselves. 6/
Reposted by biglocalnews
Once files are grouped together, we use LLMs to better extract key facts about each case. Data like dates, case type and providing agency help people filter through the nearly 12,000 cases of police force and misconduct. 5/
CLEAN - Los Angeles Times
Search California public records about law enforcement violence and misconduct.
clean.latimes.com
August 4, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Once files are grouped together, we use LLMs to better extract key facts about each case. Data like dates, case type and providing agency help people filter through the nearly 12,000 cases of police force and misconduct. 5/
Reposted by biglocalnews
We get police reports, IA investigations, 911 calls, autopsies, taser logs. Files vary significantly in format and level of information, coming from hundreds of agencies. We use LLMs and computer vision to extract key data from files, which helped us place files into nearly 12,000 cases. 4/
CLEAN - CalMatters
Search California public records about law enforcement violence and misconduct.
clean.calmatters.org
August 4, 2025 at 4:19 PM
We get police reports, IA investigations, 911 calls, autopsies, taser logs. Files vary significantly in format and level of information, coming from hundreds of agencies. We use LLMs and computer vision to extract key data from files, which helped us place files into nearly 12,000 cases. 4/
Reposted by biglocalnews
With journalists across the state I co-founded the California Reporting Project. We’ve filed more than 3,500 requests and fought for transparency in court.
While reporting, journalists and data scientists also built tools to organize files, extract data and prepare them for publishing. 3/
While reporting, journalists and data scientists also built tools to organize files, extract data and prepare them for publishing. 3/
California Reporting Project
The California Reporting Project is a multi-newsroom collaborative formed to research and report on law enforcement documents that became public Jan. 1, 2019 under California’s new transparency law.
projects.scpr.org
August 4, 2025 at 4:17 PM
With journalists across the state I co-founded the California Reporting Project. We’ve filed more than 3,500 requests and fought for transparency in court.
While reporting, journalists and data scientists also built tools to organize files, extract data and prepare them for publishing. 3/
While reporting, journalists and data scientists also built tools to organize files, extract data and prepare them for publishing. 3/
Reposted by biglocalnews
State law changed in 2019, allowing people to request internal investigations into police violence and misconduct for the first time.
We knew collecting this information would require fielding hundreds of record requests and working with thousands of documents.
So we decided to work together. 2/
We knew collecting this information would require fielding hundreds of record requests and working with thousands of documents.
So we decided to work together. 2/
Thousands of Once-Secret Police Records Are Now Public. Here’s How You Can Use Them | KQED
The database, which includes about 12,000 cases detailing police misconduct and serious use of force from hundreds of agencies, is the first of its kind in California.
www.kqed.org
August 4, 2025 at 4:14 PM
State law changed in 2019, allowing people to request internal investigations into police violence and misconduct for the first time.
We knew collecting this information would require fielding hundreds of record requests and working with thousands of documents.
So we decided to work together. 2/
We knew collecting this information would require fielding hundreds of record requests and working with thousands of documents.
So we decided to work together. 2/
Reposted by biglocalnews
We’ve launched a database with about 1.5 million pages of once-secret records detailing when law enforcement officers in California seriously injured someone or an agency found an officer violated policy with @kqednews.kqed.org, @sfchronicle.com @latimes.com @calmatters.org 1/
CLEAN - KQED News
Search California public records about law enforcement violence and misconduct.
policerecords.kqed.org
August 4, 2025 at 4:11 PM
We’ve launched a database with about 1.5 million pages of once-secret records detailing when law enforcement officers in California seriously injured someone or an agency found an officer violated policy with @kqednews.kqed.org, @sfchronicle.com @latimes.com @calmatters.org 1/
Reposted by biglocalnews
This database is the product of 7 years of work by a multidisciplinary team of journalists, data scientists, lawyers and civil rights advocates.
We’re not done. We’re still requesting records + building new features at @biglocalnews.bsky.social @berkeleyjournalism.bsky.social @ucbids.bsky.social 7
We’re not done. We’re still requesting records + building new features at @biglocalnews.bsky.social @berkeleyjournalism.bsky.social @ucbids.bsky.social 7
August 4, 2025 at 4:28 PM
This database is the product of 7 years of work by a multidisciplinary team of journalists, data scientists, lawyers and civil rights advocates.
We’re not done. We’re still requesting records + building new features at @biglocalnews.bsky.social @berkeleyjournalism.bsky.social @ucbids.bsky.social 7
We’re not done. We’re still requesting records + building new features at @biglocalnews.bsky.social @berkeleyjournalism.bsky.social @ucbids.bsky.social 7
Reposted by biglocalnews
A big day for Big Local News - so glad we could be a part of this Pulitzer Prize work with The Balimore Banner and The New York Times Investigative Reporting Fellowship! biglocalnews.org/content/news...
Big Local News, Baltimore Banner, NYT win Local Reporting Pulitzer
Today, Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher of The Baltimore Banner and The New York Times were awarded the local reporting Pulitzer prize for an investigation into Baltimore’s fentanyl crisi...
biglocalnews.org
May 5, 2025 at 11:48 PM
A big day for Big Local News - so glad we could be a part of this Pulitzer Prize work with The Balimore Banner and The New York Times Investigative Reporting Fellowship! biglocalnews.org/content/news...
Big Local News is hiring a managing director! DM me with any questions. biglocalnews.org/content/news...
Big Local News is hiring a Managing Director
This new leadership role is a key part of our mission to support accountability journalism at the local level. The Managing Director will oversee the day-to-day operations of Big Local News, helping t...
biglocalnews.org
April 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Big Local News is hiring a managing director! DM me with any questions. biglocalnews.org/content/news...
We're thrilled to share that Big Local News has received a $3.9 million grant from the Knight Foundation to help strengthen the infrastructure that supports local journalism nationwide.
biglocalnews.org/content/news...
biglocalnews.org/content/news...
Big Local News Receives $3.9 Million From Knight Foundation to Strengthen Local Data Journalism Infrastructure
STANFORD, Calif. – April 3, 2025 – Stanford University’s Big Local News has been awarded a $3.9 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to accelerate collaborative infrastructure...
biglocalnews.org
April 3, 2025 at 6:15 PM
We're thrilled to share that Big Local News has received a $3.9 million grant from the Knight Foundation to help strengthen the infrastructure that supports local journalism nationwide.
biglocalnews.org/content/news...
biglocalnews.org/content/news...