The Center for Investigative Reporting is pleased to announce that Visual.ly, a community platform for data visualization and infographics, will be donating $10,000 in development time to help produce the winning project at TechRaking III’s data journalism design sprint. CIR and Visual.ly will be working together to develop the conference’s winning idea into a usable product.

Last year, Coco Studios donated $10,000 worth of hours for the winning news game pitch at CIR’s TechRaking II: Gaming the News conference with IGN. “Hair Net Hero,” a game that challenges players to create a healthy school lunch, was TechRaking II’s winning concept. It’s in development now and will be launched in late September.

TechRaking III, “Mining the News,” is a free invite-only event co-hosted by Google and will be held at the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif. Designed for data professionals and journalists, the conference will connect innovative data models and practices with high-quality investigative journalism. Media and data experts will explore the benefits of open data and how to equip the next generation of journalists with 21st-century research skills. Participants also will dive into specific best practices to help journalists produce groundbreaking investigations – data journalism design sprints will result in a winning project at the end of the day.

Launched in April 2011, Visual.ly makes it possible to present information and meaning in a bite-sized visual way that makes sense in the age of big data. The platform has grown to include a library of more than 40,000 infographics, a robust community of almost 150,000 and a suite of offerings that includes premium services, free self-service tools and a marketplace that automates the infographic creation process.

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Meghann Farnsworth

Meghann Farnsworth is the managing director of distribution, operations and engagement for Reveal and The Center for Investigative Reporting. She manages teams dedicated to website production and management, technology, analytics, social media, distribution, newsletters, online and on-the-ground community building, arts collaborations, and youth engagement. She also helps develop and support media partnerships and collaborations for Reveal’s national public radio show and podcast. Previously, Farnsworth was the senior digital media manager at Home Front Communications in Washington, D.C., where she worked in digital media management, interactive development and outreach for nonprofit and government clients. She also served as the associate editor of Forums at PBS NewsHour, where she created interactive online forums that helped increase and engage the NewsHour's online audience. She was an inaugural member of the Online News Association-Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media, and she has presented at conferences across the country, including SXSW, ONA, the Logan Symposium, the Reynolds Journalism Institute and others. She earned her master's degree in journalism from UC Berkeley and undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon. Farnsworth is based at Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.