Chris L. Keller
Hi. For the last 14 years of my journalism career, I have combined journalism, data analysis & visualization and computer programming to help an audience understand their world. Currently, I am doing this for the The Associated Press as a Data & Graphics Reporter on its data team.
My particular focus is on building datasets that can help provide big-picture context in breaking news situations and contribute to the overall goal of making sense of the news for the AP’s global audience. In addition, I pursue data-driven storytelling and automated reporting projects in collaboration with reporters and editors across the country and around the globe.
I am adept at understanding complex information and distilling it for the average reader. If you'll permit the metaphor, I consider the entire iceberg and determine what to convey to the audience. See, I enjoy breaking down barriers that prevent access to data. I find satisfaction in documenting a process or a workflow to help others work smarter in the future.
Based in the Southwest, I've worked in a variety of roles in various newsrooms since 2002, including managing editor of Albuquerque Business First; a graphics journalist with the Los Angeles Times and as Data Editor at KPCC where my work on officer-involved shootings and California wildfires earned multiple awards.
Here is my current resume.
I think these examples of my work demonstrate my skills and my approach to journalism.
In the days following flash floods in Texas that killed more than 100 people over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, I wrote code to acquire more than a decades worth of meeting minutes from the Kerr County Board of Commissioners and search them to find previous discussions about flood warning systems. I also analyzed data from an independent study and developed data visualizations to show how FEMA's flood insurance maps can underestimate flood risks because they fail to take into account the effects of heavy precipitation on smaller waterways such as streams and creeks.
Following my efforts in the spring of 2024 to build a database to convey how many people police arrested in connection with pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the United States, this past spring I contacted hundreds of colleges and universities across the country to build a database of how many foreign-born students had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated by the U.S. State Department.
Days after the 2024 election, I started to track the people that then President-elect Donald Trump announced as nominees to join his cabinet. The effort led to this project, which tracked the confirmation process.Shortly after, I collaborated with a couple other graphics reporters to develop this project which sought to show the connections between cabinet members and their relationships to the president.
I spearheaded an effort to provide context for the claim that a proposed soccer stadium would lead to "250 full-time jobs." The reporting leaned on data gleaned from local television ad buys, lobbyist records and other publicly available data. A subsequent records request and analysis found Albuquerque officials approached property owners about selling their parcels prior to any stadium location being finalized. After Albuquerque voters cast their ballots against the stadium proposal, I led a next-day analysis of precinct-level votes to understand support and opposition. For good measure, I hosted an online workshop to show others in Albuquerque how they could do something similar.
When it came time to find patterns in police shootings that took place in Los Angeles County between 2010 and 2014, I helped to develop the database and backend application that powered KPCC’s award-winning investigation Officer Involved. I gave this presentation about the project's origin. I think it offers a glimpse into a process I follow for a new project, whether for an internal or external audience. Essentially, I find it important to outline our primary goal and begin to understand what has been done before.