George Willoughby

Data Journalist

As a data journalist, I look to find stories in numbers. This can be done through data visualisation and analysis. But, in my opinion, one of the most rewarding elements of the profession is revealing the human behind the numbers.

Whilst producing this, I am learning CSS for the first time, as well as starting with HTML just a week before. My current projects include highlighting the impact Covid-19 has had on people living with Multiple Sclerosis, as well as an upcoming major project delving deeper into early years education in England.

Featured Projects

View selected projects below. More information can be found on my Github

Police officers on duty

Commissioned freelance piece tackling the lack of diversity in police forces

Through data analysis and visualisations, I tackled the issue of ethnic minority representation in the police and challenged forces on their recruitment.

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Salford Royal building outside

Project looking into the impact Covid-19 has had on treatment for those with Multiple Sclerosis

Investigation consisting of FOI requests, interviews and data visualisation to tell the story of how people with MS have suffered because of the pandemic.

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Police officers looking for something

Investigation into whether police forces disproportionately stop Asian people

Successfully analysed if stop and search powers disproportionately stop those of Asian heritage. The piece was published by the UK's number one Asian newspaper, the Eastern Eye.

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Surgical mask and gloves on the ground

Coronavirus data analysis for Huffington Post

Numerous projects that colleagues and I worked on for national title Huffington Post. Consists of data analysis and a variety of data visualisations looking at case rates, the r-rate and hospitalisations for Covid-19.

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A hand with a lit cigarette

Analysis into the latest smoking statistics

Using the latest figures released by NHS England, I looked at smoking admissions, deaths and Pharmacotherapy rates. The piece shows yearly trends, alongside a regional focus with an interactive map.

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An empty hospital waiting room

Podcast on how Covid-19 has impacted outpatients

The pandemic has had huge impacts on the way hospital appointments are carried out. I looked at how routine scans and tests have been affected, with a focus on outpatients and a short feature on Multiple Sclerosis.

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A quiet village in the North-West

Local news project: The Shared Space

After completing my undergraduate degree, I decided to create a site dedicated to local businesses in my area. I wanted to provide a voice for those struggling because of the first lockdown in England. I created multiple social media accounts and a website to host all the interviews. I engaged a community and made a difference as a journalist.

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Website logo

Lincoln City football fan page

To gain experience writing and running social media channels, I created a fan page for the football team I support. I ran the page from August 2017 for two years. I wrote three/four articles a week which covered a wide variety of styles. Being on time is important for sport content, especially breaking news and putting together match reports. I carried out interviews and built a partnership with a data company.

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Work Experience

Since the start of my undergraduate degree, I have been undertaking relevant work experience. This includes spending time with the data unit at Reach, writing data journalism articles for the Huffington Post and the Eastern Eye.

I also spent two years working on the Cardiff University student paper Gair Rhydd where I was the deputy editor in the final year of my studies.

Data journalist

Eastern Eye

November 2020-January 2021 (72 hours)

I spent time working on a piece for the Asian newspaper Eastern Eye. This was looking at stop and search powers and assessing whether police target Asian minorities.

Feedback: “It was his ability to analyse the data and create visuals which marked him out as a credit to his university and an impressive young journalist.”

Experience in short:

  • Analysed data for national figures as well as monthly statistics published by police forces.
  • Combined CSVs using the terminal to make a total dataset instead of individual forces.
  • Produced R scripts to help clean the data.
  • Created a plethora of visualisations incorporating best practice.

Data journalist

Reach plc

January 2020 (10 days)

I completed a week working with the data unit at Reach PLC. It was an extremely productive and insightful experience analysing datasets, identifying trends, and writing bulletins.

Feedback: “George is a very talented data journalist with a nose for stories and an understanding of data. He's also very skilled in using spreadsheets for data analysis.”

Experience in short:

  • Analysed data in datasets looking for stories.
  • Produced suitable copy which was concise and fit for publication.
  • Learnt new formulas in Excel including VLOOKUP.

Education

Birmingham City University - Birmingham

MA Data Journalism, present.

Cardiff University - Cardiff

BA Journalism and Communications, 2017-2020

Second Class Honours Division One.

Poynton Sixth Form - Poynton

Economics, Business Studies and English Literature, 2015-2017