Geoff Dougherty
{{Short description|American journalist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Geoffrey Dougherty
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| occupation = Journalist
| education = MPH, PhD candidate
| alma_mater = Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
| years_active =
| known_for = Founding the Chi-Town Daily News and Chicago Current, computer-assisted/quantitative journalism, journalist for U.S. News & World Report
| notable_works =
}}
Geoff Dougherty is a Chicago journalist noted for founding two local news organizations, and for his work as a computer-assisted/quantitative journalist.
Career
=''Chi-Town Daily News''=
In 2005, Dougherty founded the nonprofit Chicago Daily News, an online-only news organization devoted to hyperlocal coverage of Chicago neighborhoods. The name echoed that of the Chicago Daily News, a newspaper which had folded in 1978 and had been held in high regard by him.{{cite news|last=Steve|first=Johnson|title=Chicago Daily News II: This Time It's Digital|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/technology_internetcritic/2005/12/chicagos_newest.html|accessdate=2013-05-15|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=12 Sep 2005|archive-date=2010-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206042433/http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/technology_internetcritic/2005/12/chicagos_newest.html|url-status=dead}} He even used Craigslist to advertise for writers. The organization shortly changed its name to Chi-Town Daily News. In 2007, it received $340,000 in funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to build a network of trained citizen journalists to cover their Chicago neighborhoods.{{cite web|title=Chi-Town Daily News|url=http://www.knightfoundation.org/grants/20061047/|publisher=John S. and James L. Knight Foundation|accessdate=2013-05-15}}
The news organization won national attention for its business model and journalism, including coverage in The Washington Post.{{cite news|last=Howard|first=Kurtz|title=Web Sites Like Chitown Daily News Find Opportunities When Newspapers Go Bankrupt|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/31/AR2009033103927.html?sub=AR|accessdate=2013-05-15|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=1 Apr 2009}} and Boston Globe.{{cite news|last=Diaz|first=Jonny|title=Online upstarts deliver news without the paper|url=http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/05/14/online_upstarts_deliver_news_without_the_paper/|accessdate=2013-05-15|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=14 May 2009}} Chi-Town Daily News attracted some criticism from traditional journalists, who argued that citizen journalism would encourage news organizations to lay off full-time, professional reporters in favor of unpaid volunteers incapable of producing high-caliber journalism.{{cite news|title=Daily News wins $340,000 grant |url=http://www.chitowndailynews.org/2007/05/23/Daily-News-wins-340-000-grant-9227.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130703232409/http://www.chitowndailynews.org/2007/05/23/Daily-News-wins-340-000-grant-9227.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 July 2013 |access-date=2013-05-15 |newspaper=Chi-Town Daily News |date=23 May 2007 }} Chi-Town Daily News closed in September 2009, citing a lack of available philanthropic funds to continue operations.{{cite news|title=Chi-Town Daily News Abandoning Non-Profit Model In Shakeup|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/11/ichi-town-daily-newsi-aba_n_283807.html|accessdate=2013-05-15|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date= 11 Nov 2009|first=Tim|last=Taliaferro}}
=''Chicago Current''=
In 2010, Dougherty and a group of former Chi-Town Daily News reporters launched Chicago Current, an insider political paper modeled after Politico.{{cite news|title=What's happening with the Chi-Town Daily News?|url=http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20100218.php|accessdate=2013-05-15|newspaper=Chicago Reader|date= 8 Feb 2010}}
=''Computer-Assisted Reporting''=
Before launching the two online newspapers, Dougherty was the computer-assisted reporting editor at the Chicago Tribune, where he undertook investigations on coal mining{{cite news|last=Jackson|first=David|title=Safety is casualty as firms chase profits in coal country|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0209240353sep24,0,5453963.story|accessdate=2013-05-14|newspaper=Chicago Tribune}} and food safety.{{cite news|title=Schools Flunk Food Safety|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/12/10/schools-flunk-food-safety/|access-date=2013-05-15|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date= 10 Dec 2001|first1=David|last1=Jackson}}
Earlier, he served as computer-assisted reporting editor at the Miami Herald, where he played a key role in the paper's investigation into the flawed presidential election of 2000, and the subsequent effort to examine and analyze all of the discarded ballots in Florida.{{cite news|title=Who, what, when, where and how of this review|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/2001-04-03-floridahow.htm|accessdate=2013-05-15|newspaper=USA Today|date=2001-04-03}}
=''U.S. News & World Report''=
Dougherty is now a journalist for U.S. News & World Report, performing quantitative analysis on health care-related topics. In 2015, he and Steve Sternberg reported on increased procedural complication rates for surgeries at low-volume hospitals.[https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/05/18/risks-are-high-at-low-volume-hospitals Sternberg S and Dougherty G. "Risks are high at low-volume hospitals."] The US News and World Report. Published 2015-05-18. Accessed 2015-07-06. This led Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and the University of Michigan Health System to impose policies of minimum volume for certain procedures.[https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/05/19/hospitals-move-to-limit-low-volume-surgeries Sternberg S. "Hospitals move to limit low-volume surgeries."] The US News and World Report. Published 2015-05-19. Accessed 2015-07-06.
Education
Dougherty received his MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where is currently a PhD candidate. He has received a student award from The Mary B. Meyer Memorial Fund.[http://www.jhsph.edu/about/honors-and-awards/ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Honors and Awards. Accessed 2015-07-06.]
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dougherty, Geoff}}
Category:Journalists from Chicago
Category:American male journalists