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Crime Map
We (The Anniston Star) have launched a crime map using Zeemaps.
You can see the map at annistonstar.com/crimemap.
I was impressed with Zee maps because of its import function. One of our news clerks copies and pastes crime information from out blotter (which runs daily in print) into an Excel doc. She saves it on the news drive weekly and our online team imports it into Zeemaps in about six clicks of the mouse.
The map then displays for the reader, showing them right where crimes occur.
The idea is not original, but I had always thought such a map took a lot of work. With Zeemaps making it this easy, every newspaper in America should have this.
The Bakersfield Californian already has a pot hole map. I'm already envisioning yard sales, restaurant ratings etc. Zeemaps allows you to embed audio, photos and video in the balloons.
-aj
You can see the map at annistonstar.com/crimemap.
I was impressed with Zee maps because of its import function. One of our news clerks copies and pastes crime information from out blotter (which runs daily in print) into an Excel doc. She saves it on the news drive weekly and our online team imports it into Zeemaps in about six clicks of the mouse.
The map then displays for the reader, showing them right where crimes occur.
The idea is not original, but I had always thought such a map took a lot of work. With Zeemaps making it this easy, every newspaper in America should have this.
The Bakersfield Californian already has a pot hole map. I'm already envisioning yard sales, restaurant ratings etc. Zeemaps allows you to embed audio, photos and video in the balloons.
-aj
3 Comments
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Comment by Andy Johns on April 18, 2008 at 5:36am - Sorry about the link. Thanks for the tip.
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Comment by Brad King on April 29, 2008 at 4:12pm -
That's a nice start, but what should come next -- as you keep building that database -- is another database that templates police patrols (how many cops, where and when) and local legislation aimed at curbing crime (who is doing what, how much money is put in, who is sponsoring it).
Then you have a very cool map that brings together -- in an interactive way -- a map that shows context, something that newpapers have gotten away from doing. From there, you can use the database to pull specific types of stories (cops, crime and legislation) that truly effect the community.
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Nice map though, hopefully you're keeping up with the spreadsheet to find larger trends. I haven't actually tried it, but I betcha that using google docs spreadsheet might save you 3 of those 6 clicks.