Using Data to Create Good Journalism.

ON TUESDAY, WE'LL have a few guests in class talking about using data, statistics and research to strengthen their journalistic work.

Sabrina Rubin Erdely is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and a writer-at-large for Philadelphia magazine. She has won numerous awards for her work, much of which is centered around investigative journalism. (Click on the links above to find some of her stories).

Alfred Lubrano is a Brooklyn native and Columbia University graduate who has been a staff writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer since 1995. Lubrano, who wrote a book about blue-collar folks with middle-class goals, frequently covers social justice issues in the region.

Dylan Purcell, a Temple University graduate, is a computer assisted reporter at the Inquirer. He deciphers the numbers, finds stories and develops creative ways to tell stories. Most recently, he collaborated on a seven-part series on school violence in Philadelphia.

The speaker's panel is actually the second half of a two-part event. Earlier in the morning, journalists will be meeting with the folks who run the Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project (MPIP), here at Temple.

MPIP is an enormous database of information concerning the region. There is also a mapping system attached to the site that allows users to isolate geographic areas and find numbers based upon their specific criteria.

As always, come prepared with questions. There will be numerous professional journalists sitting amongst you, so be awake and polite, wear nice clothes, bring resumes and stick around after the discussion to say hello to these good folks.