Al Shaw
Al Shaw is a Senior News Application Developer at ProPublica.
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Al Shaw is a Senior News Application Developer at ProPublica. He uses data and interactive graphics to cover environmental issues, natural disasters and politics.
A year before Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, Shaw was part of a team that produced “Hell and High Water,” which warned of the region's vulnerability to coastal storms. The project won a Peabody Award in 2017. Shaw's project, “Losing Ground,” about the century-long erosion of Louisiana's coast won a Gold Medal from the Society for News Design. His interactive maps surrounding FEMA's response to Hurricane Sandy were honored with the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi award. Before joining ProPublica, Shaw was a designer/developer at the political news website Talking Points Memo.
Income Inequality Near You
Income equality is expected to be a major theme of President Obama's State of the Union address tonight. Explore the income equality of your county, based on data from the 2010 American Community Survey.
Journalists: Send ProPublica Your Redaction Classics
The Obama administration’s take on transparency can be rather opaque. Send us your most memorable FOIA documents for our Redaction Classics collection.
How We Made the 3-D New York City Flood Map
We used features only available in the most modern web browsers to create the interactive map of the city's flood zones.
Sharpening the Government’s Blurry Maps
The Senate may soon vote on legislation that would require FEMA to prepare more accurate maps before flood insurance rates can be raised.
How Well Did FEMA's Maps Predict Sandy's Flooding?
When Superstorm Sandy struck New York and New Jersey last year, the accuracy of FEMA’s flood-risk maps for the area, used to help guide development and set flood insurance rates, varied widely. In some cases, the data behind the maps dated as far back to the 1970s. Click a county below to see more about FEMA’s data for that county.
Federal Flood Maps Left New York Unprepared for Sandy — and FEMA Knew It
The agency ignored state and city officials' appeals to update the maps with better data until it was too late.
How Much Acetaminophen Are You Taking?
Many common over-the-counter drugs contain acetaminophen. Taking more than one at the same time increases your chance of “double-dipping” -- accidentally overdosing.
Why You Should Be our 2014 OpenNews Fellow (and Join the Epic Team of Awesome)
For the second year, the ProPublica News Applications desk has a unique opening for a ten-month-long fellowship as part of the Knight-Mozilla OpenNews program.