On February 18, 1973, The Philadelphia Inquirer published the first in a series of computer-assisted reporting stories called, “Crime and Injustice.”
Investigative reporters Donald Barlett and James Steele used a mainframe computer to build a database that examined violent crime and the Philadelphia court system.
Phil Meyer, from the Knight Newspapers Washington bureau, designed the database coding scheme and analysis program for the seven-part newspaper series.
Here is how the AP described the Philadelphia Inquirer series after it was published:
The Barlett & Steele reporting team would go on to win many awards over the years. Now there is an award in their name that honors the best in print and online investigative business journalism.
One of their first awards was back in the early 1970s for “Crime and Injustice.” In January 1974 UPI reported that the series had been awarded the Haywood Brown Award:
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