Government data key to reporting.

• Position: Your Life - Brief article

Reporters at U.S. daily newspapers routinely turn to local, state, and Federal government websites to hunt for data they can use in their stories, a survey by the Reynolds Journalism Institute found. Overall, the reporters contacted said that they looked for data on the government sites three to four days a week and generally were successful in finding what they needed. However, many of the reporters surveyed by the Center for Advanced Social Research at the Missouri School of Journalism, Columbia, indicate they found information that was outdated, poorly documented, or incomplete.

Missouri researchers asked the reporters their perceptions about the accuracy of the data they have utilized, and how governments stack up in terms of transparency and accountability.

"We don't know what it is that they are not putting online," one reporter...