Use the data as a stepping stone

Matthew Preusch of The Oregonian found a story that combined two trends – green and bicycling – to produce a story about businesses using bicycles to save on gasoline costs.

Preusch tied the story to recent Census Bureau stats about bicycling commuters as his news peg then offered a twist:

'Last week new federal figures confirmed what many already knew: Portland has the highest percentage of bike commuters among large cities.

But what those Census statistics don't show is the way bikes are being used on the job, not just to get to and from them.'

Today’s Tip: Sometimes the story is what the data doesn’t show.

The Oregonian produced a short story about the data release itself. Matthew’s article incorporated a community trend to make the story more local and interesting.