The Guardian Is Brilliant in Supporting Relevant Events with Open Data

by Kin Lane on 17 Jan, 2013

I’m a big fan of what The Guardian is doing with their data and API strategy. I think they are a model for what old media should be doing around the globe.

When they post stories, I tend to take a look, not because of the story, but their data driven approach to reporting.

A great example of this, is yesterday's helicopter crash on top of a residential building construction project in London, killing two people and injuring 13 others.

The Guardian provides not just the overview of the story with data visualizations and summary, but of course you can download the data behind.

The process is brilliant, because it rides the waves of popular stories, but also provides valuable data behind--which creates value as well as page views.

Which I think will have a greater long-tail than just page view exhaust.