Here’s a look at what we’ve been reading and scrolling through lately: border issues, complaints against cops, campaign data, invisible labor, and more.

Fenced Out

(Washington Post, October 14, 2016)
A beautifully wrought, immersive journey into the current refugee crisis in Europe, chronicling the region’s fences, fears, and frustrations.

Over 125K complaints against more than 25K Chicago cops

(Chicago Tribune, October 14, 2016)

The Tribune’s analysis of thousands of pages of internal police records — handed over by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration Wednesday — offers an unprecedented look at complaints against Chicago police dating to 1967, making it possible for the first time to identify officers with a long history of complaints.

Kids in Prison: Getting Tried as An Adult Depends on Skin Color

(WNYC, October 10, 2016)

Kids who commit certain crimes in New Jersey, like robbery, drug trafficking or homicides, can be tried as adults. Their mugshots and criminal records are made public and they face the same, long prison sentences as adults. But getting “waived up” into the adult system won’t happen unless a prosecutor requests it. And according to an analysis by the WNYC Data News Team, most of their requests are for black kids…"

More Than 160 Republican Leaders Don’t Support Donald Trump. Here’s When They Reached Their Breaking Point

(New York Times, October 9, 2016)
Here’s just one of the incredible projects detailing the latest developments in the U.S. presidential election. This one shows the long, slow slide away from Donald Trump, by members of the G.O.P.

FEC Itemizer

(ProPublica, updated regularly)

Itemizer allows you to browse electronic campaign finance filings from the Federal Election Commission and to see individual contributions and expenditures reported by committees raising money for federal elections.

La Fuerza Laboral Invisible de N.J.

(NJ.com, September 18, 2016)
This investigation, conducted with assistance from Reveal, shows widespread racial and gender discrimination in temp agencies that supply blue-collar workers. Published in Spanish as well as English.

Even More

The pitfalls of relying on zip code borders, when examining public health data in places like Flint. You might not need JS. Testing, testing, testing for d3-force. Riddles and more riddles. A math bot for scientists. A chat bot for refugees.

Here at OpenNews, we had a great Community Call earlier this month, where we learned about the future of Sunlight Labs and dove into a new interactive from the Texas Tribune. If you missed it, fear not, we saved you the notes. We’re also looking for volunteers to help us build a playbook for open-sourcing newsroom projects. Apply by Monday to join us for two days in December.

We also just published the last of our SRCCON documentation. Learn how we:

• Ran our Thursday night sessions, which kept people engaged and connected after a long day.
• Planned and ran our scholarships, which allowed more than two dozen people to make it to SRCCON.

Plus more, on the OpenNews blog.

Our next Community Call is October 20, and we’d love to see you there.

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