The Courier’s data journalism team has scooped up a prestigious Future of Media award.
The awards are run by industry publication the Press Gazette.
They aim to recognise excellence in the digital media industry across the UK and further afield.
Judges recognised the team, comprised of Lesley-Anne Kelly, Emma Morrice and Ema Sabljak, for their work tracking vacancy rates across retail units in Dundee and Perth’s city centres.
They said: “This is an example of extraordinary data gathering and reporting filling in an important knowledge gap and utilising visual tools to illustrate the extent of the problem and drive change.”
It comes just a few months after the same project was awarded an international journalism award by the World Association of News Publishers.
Head of data journalism Lesley-Anne Kelly said: “This is by far our most painstakingly manual project, with every unit on or maps hand drawn and manually categorised.
“We aimed to highlight a data gap and use that data to push for improvements in the cities we live in, so it’s incredible to be recognised for that effort.”
As part of the High Street Tracking project, the data journalism team record changes to retail units on an almost daily basis.
They also get out on foot once per quarter to quality assure the data.
The data is visualised using 3D building maps and charts.
Since launching the project, the team has built upon the initial cache of data.
They investigated property ownership records and digging into who the landlords are of the most persistently vacant units.
High Street Summit
In Dundee the team also organised a live event at The Courier’s Meadowside office.
This event brought together a panel of experts to discuss the issues facing Dundee’s business owners. Readers were also invited to share their views.
The council leader at the time, John Alexander, was on the panel of the High Street Summit.
He announced a £200,000 package to support Dundee’s struggling high streets. This included funding for more environmental services staff and cash to clean up unsightly vacant shopfronts.
Organizers held the Future of Media Awards in London on Thursday as part of the Future of Media Technology conference.
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