INDEC the Machine of Lies, is the first project in which we use the scrollytelling multiplatform format to express with all the richness of multimedia, video and data journalism, a subject that impacts every day in Argentina, a silent growing problem that are the lies in national statistics since 2007. With this case and it´s testimonies, we want to cover not only the suffering of skilled respected professionals, but what is more important, the the hiding of poverty, unemployment and inflation.
In 2007 the national statistics and census institute in Argentina (INDEC) was intervened by government. Many or the statistitians who historically produced the CPI index or the national home surveys were forced to change the CPI index in order to hide the real inflation rates, or were dismissed.
The private consultants who dared to tell their CPI calculations that differed from the Official ones, were fined with u$ 125.000 , so many of them gathered together with opposition in congress and produced what was named the “Congress CPI” and the “Official CPI”.
The 5 provinces that measured their own CPI started to stop publishing and their indexes dissappeared.
This became an International scandal. The Economist & WSJ
USING DATA, INTERACTIVE AND VIDEO FORMATS TO TELL A STORY
Presented in a mobile responsive format, segmented in chapters, this piece was lead by our specialized journalist Francisco Jueguen, and produced by Katherine Nagasawa, a Northwestern Journalism student that came three months to Buenos Aires.
It took four months to produce and implement all the pieces inside this case that includes:
– 24 short testimony videos. Some are chaptered.
– 2 explanatory motion graphics videos
– 3 charts developed in javascript connected to data series and offering these series in OPEN DATA formats to download and reuse.
– Timeline: Open source timelineSetter reused from Propublica.
– DocumentCloud to host the full documents of judicial cases
– Doc2Media (developed and named in house): using Documentcloud API, our developer created a way in which you can select a page and add an audio comment , so the prosecutor of the case explained point by point his judicial accusation using this format.
– Finally, at the end there is an aggregation of 3 different LA NACION tags with latest reporting on INDEC, Inflation and poverty.
We consider this project Explanatory & Feature Journalism. Previously, LA NACION published had many stories regarding INDEC but this one is a whole piece explaning and analyzing a relevant, meaningful and complex subject to audiences through clear storytelling and presentation that maximized digital and mobile platforms to engage and inform audience.