The COVID Tracking Project
Public access to accurate health information has become increasingly important as the United States plunges headfirst into the COVID-19 crisis. Americans have responded with urgent questions that, for many, may mean life or death:
Where are people being tested for COVID? How many people have been tested? Where is COVID spreading?
As members of the public seek answers, they have found little comprehensive testing data that might give them a sense of the scale of the crisis. Unlike many other nations, the United States did not quickly implement widespread testing to slow the spread of the virus. Even as testing has expanded, government authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have failed to publish complete testing data.
This lack of comprehensive data hinders the nation’s ability to respond to the pandemic. Healthcare professionals cannot best direct resources where they are needed, local officials struggle to implement appropriate social distancing measures, and average Americans are left in the dark.
Media outlets have criticized governmental authorities for their inadequate response. The deficiency of correct data poses a significant obstacle to fair and accurate reporting. It is difficult for the media to offer accurate depictions of the crisis when case reports are many days behind or include only positive results rather than the total number of tests administered.
The COVID Tracking Project has emerged to fill this data vacuum. What started as an initiative by two journalists at The Atlantic to collect and publish complete COVID testing data has morphed into a nation-wide, media-led effort to inform the public during this unprecedented health crisis.
Since March 7, the Tracking Project has compiled data obtained from state public health authorities, news conferences, and other trusted news sources and organized it into detailed spreadsheets that can be used to identify COVID outbreaks and hotspots. Data published by the Tracking Project has been utilized by numerous other news sources—including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Politico—in their coverage of the evolving national crisis.
As the media steps into this critical role, an important question begs consideration: should tracking nationwide health data be the responsibility of independent journalists? Other nations battling the COVID crisis have relied on governmental or research institutions to track testing numbers and results. In Germany, for example, a federal agency has taken the lead in coordinating the nation’s COVID response, an effort that has included compiling total counts and publishing daily situation reports. In the United States, however, similar tasks have fallen to reporters. Why do we need to count on journalists rather than elected officials to keep us informed during this national crisis?
The Tracking Project organizers did not intend for their spreadsheets to become the long-term, preeminent sources of testing data. One of their initial goals had been to pressure the CDC and other governmental authorities to improve and expand their data reporting. Alexis Madrigal, one of The Atlantic reporters behind the project, called his brainchild “classic accountability journalism.” “In the old days,” Madrigal says, “You would have published a big feature with these things and then the government would have been like, ‘Okay, fine. We’ll put the numbers out.’”
Despite the hopes of Madrigal and his cohort, however, the government has not responded in kind. Instead, it has arguably failed in its duty to take charge at a time when its authority and organizational power are needed more than ever. This failure has left the media scrambling to pick up the pieces, reporters taking the helm of a gargantuan effort to navigate the country through uncharted waters. How this crisis may affect the role of the media in the long term remains to be seen. It is clear, however, that we may very well be experiencing a momentous transformation in the relationship between our nation’s media and government.
Media outlets have criticized governmental authorities for their inadequate response. The deficiency of correct data poses a significant obstacle to fair and accurate reporting. It is difficult for the media to offer accurate depictions of the crisis when case reports are many days behind or include only positive results rather than the total number of tests administered.
The COVID Tracking Project has emerged to fill this data vacuum. What started as an initiative by two journalists at The Atlantic to collect and publish complete COVID testing data has morphed into a nation-wide, media-led effort to inform the public during this unprecedented health crisis.
Since March 7, the Tracking Project has compiled data obtained from state public health authorities, news conferences, and other trusted news sources and organized it into detailed spreadsheets that can be used to identify COVID outbreaks and hotspots. Data published by the Tracking Project has been utilized by numerous other news sources—including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Politico—in their coverage of the evolving national crisis.
As the media steps into this critical role, an important question begs consideration: should tracking nationwide health data be the responsibility of independent journalists? Other nations battling the COVID crisis have relied on governmental or research institutions to track testing numbers and results. In Germany, for example, a federal agency has taken the lead in coordinating the nation’s COVID response, an effort that has included compiling total counts and publishing daily situation reports. In the United States, however, similar tasks have fallen to reporters. Why do we need to count on journalists rather than elected officials to keep us informed during this national crisis?
The Tracking Project organizers did not intend for their spreadsheets to become the long-term, preeminent sources of testing data. One of their initial goals had been to pressure the CDC and other governmental authorities to improve and expand their data reporting. Alexis Madrigal, one of The Atlantic reporters behind the project, called his brainchild “classic accountability journalism.” “In the old days,” Madrigal says, “You would have published a big feature with these things and then the government would have been like, ‘Okay, fine. We’ll put the numbers out.’”
Despite the hopes of Madrigal and his cohort, however, the government has not responded in kind. Instead, it has arguably failed in its duty to take charge at a time when its authority and organizational power are needed more than ever. This failure has left the media scrambling to pick up the pieces, reporters taking the helm of a gargantuan effort to navigate the country through uncharted waters. How this crisis may affect the role of the media in the long term remains to be seen. It is clear, however, that we may very well be experiencing a momentous transformation in the relationship between our nation’s media and government.
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