I’m Betsy Ladyzhets, a data journalist and science writer. I currently work as a Senior Research Associate at Stacker, where I do data reporting and manage the publication’s science, health, and lifestyle content. I’m also a volunteer for the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic; I’m a Shift Lead on the Data Entry team. My newsletter, the COVID-19 Data Dispatch, brings together my experience from both these roles with news, resources, and original reporting on COVID-19 data sources. I’m also available for additional freelance work. My past work has appeared in outlets including Science News, The Open Notebook, and the communications of Black Rock Forest.
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Stacker consulted common COVID-19 sources to compile a list of terms, principles, and data sources that can help you gain context and best practices for interpreting key COVID-19 numbers. A comparison of hospitalization data reported by the federal government and state health departments finds contradictions that suggest the federal data continue to be unreliable, while the state datasets face their own challenges. In many ways, all science writers are already data journalists. This reported feature gives science writers background and resources to start reporting on data. Stacker compiled essential COVID-19 statistics from several different sources to paint a clearer picture of how the pandemic is progressing in each state. Using data from the CDC, public health resources, and reporting, Stacker compiled a list of 27 population groups that are vulnerable to COVID-19. For each group, Stacker compiled data on this population’s distribution across the United States. As the 2020 U.S. census gets under way, a review of historical data shows the difficulties in measuring race.
How to understand COVID-19 case counts, positivity rates, and other numbers
Hospitalization Data Reported by the HHS vs. the States: Jumps, Drops, and Other Unexplained Phenomena
Interrogating Data: A Science Writer’s Guide to Data Journalism
Essential COVID-19 stats: Where testing, case counts, and outbreaks stand in your state
27 factors that make you vulnerable to COVID-19
How the U.S. census has measured race over 230 years
