Students will learn the basics of computer-assisted reporting, including the acquisition, preparation, analysis and presentation of electronic data for news and enterprise stories. Course content will include hands-on training in spreadsheet and relational database applications and related utility programs. We’ll explore strategic use of free and fee-based Internet resources and search techniques, Freedom of Information laws. We'll also explore the journalistic decisions and values that accompany data-oriented stories, including communicating appropriate levels of precision and uncertainty in narratives and graphics, and using data ethically. In class discussions, we'll relate course content to trends in the media industry, such as emerging Web 2.0 applications and developments in the personal privacy and government secrecy areas. We'll take an overview approach to such corollary topics as searchable online database technologies, social network analysis and Web scraping. Instruction will be augmented with case studies, written materials and examples in the news. By the end of the course, students will be required to acquire a database, determine its journalistic merits and perform a basic analysis. Students will write a story memo based on the analysis.