Geoff Dougherty

Geoffrey Dougherty
Nationality American
Education MPH, PhD candidate
Alma mater Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Occupation Journalist
Known for Founding the Chi-Town Daily News and Chicago Current, computer-assisted/quantitative journalism, journalist for US News and World Report

Geoff Dougherty is a Chicago journalist noted for founding two local news organizations, and for his work as a computer-assisted/quantitative journalist.

Career

Chi-Town Daily News

In 2005, Dougherty founded the nonprofit Chicago Daily News, an online-only news organization devoted to hyperlocal coverage of Chicago neighborhoods. The name echoed that of the Chicago Daily News, a newspaper which had folded in 1978 and had been held in high regard by him.[1] He even used Craigslist to advertise for writers.[1] The organization shortly changed its name to Chi-Town Daily News. In 2007, it received $340,000 in funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to build a network of trained citizen journalists to cover their Chicago neighborhoods.[2]

The news organization won national attention for its business model and journalism, including coverage in the Washington Post.[3] and Boston Globe.[4] Chi-Town Daily News attracted some criticism from traditional journalists, who argued that citizen journalism would encourage news organizations to lay off full-time, professional reporters in favor of unpaid volunteers incapable of producing high-caliber journalism.[5] Chi-Town Daily News closed in September 2009, citing a lack of available philanthropic funds to continue operations.[6]

Chicago Current

In 2010, Dougherty and a group of former Chi-Town Daily News reporters launched Chicago Current, an insider political paper modeled after Politico.[7]

Computer-Assisted Reporting

Before launching the two online newspapers, Dougherty was the computer-assisted reporting editor at the Chicago Tribune, where he undertook investigations on coal mining[8] and food safety.[9]

Earlier, he served as computer-assisted reporting editor at the Miami Herald, where he played a key role in the paper's investigation into the flawed presidential election of 2000, and the subsequent effort to examine and analyze all of the discarded ballots in Florida.[10]

US News and World Report

Dougherty is now a journalist for US News and World Report, performing quantitative analysis on health care-related topics. In 2015, he and Steve Sternberg reported on increased procedural complication rates for surgeries at low-volume hospitals.[11] This led to the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and the University of Michigan Health System to impose policies of minimum volume for certain procedures.[12]

Education

Dougherty received his MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where is currently a PhD candidate. He has received a student award from The Mary B. Meyer Memorial Fund.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 Steve, Johnson (12/9/05). "Chicago Daily News II: This Time It's Digital". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-05-15. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ↑ "Chi-Town Daily News". John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  3. ↑ Howard, Kurtz (4/1/09). "Web Sites Like Chitown Daily News Find Opportunities When Newspapers Go Bankrupt". Washington Post. Retrieved 2013-05-15. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ↑ Diaz, Jonny (5/14/09). "Online upstarts deliver news without the paper". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2013-05-15. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ↑ "Daily News wins $340,000 grant". Chi-Town Daily News. 5/23/07. Retrieved 2013-05-15. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ↑ Taliaferro, Tim (11/11/09). "Chi-Town Daily News Abandoning Non-Profit Model In Shakeup". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2013-05-15. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ↑ "What's happening with the Chi-Town Daily News?". Chicago Reader. 2/8/10. Retrieved 2013-05-15. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ↑ Jackson, David. "Safety is casualty as firms chase profits in coal country". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  9. ↑ Jackson, David (12/10/2001). "Schools Flunk Food Safety". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-05-15. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ↑ "Who, what, when, where and how of this review". USA Today. 2001-04-03. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  11. ↑ Sternberg S and Dougherty G. "Risks are high at low-volume hospitals." The US News and World Report. Published 2015-05-18. Accessed 2015-07-06.
  12. ↑ Sternberg S. "Hospitals move to limit low-volume surgeries." The US News and World Report. Published 2015-05-19. Accessed 2015-07-06.
  13. ↑ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Honors and Awards. Accessed 2015-07-06.
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