What We're Reading: November 2024

Election 2024. It dominated the news cycle for the majority of the year, and now that it has come to pass, we are stuck examining the outcome and figuring out how it happened. The selections for this month feature analysis of the election on the national, state, and local levels. We pull articles from the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Standard for this reflection, with an emphasis on the data graphics each paper employed to tell the story with more than words. And lastly, for a little bit of something else, we have an article from the Chronicle about the ongoing issues around transgendered players in the college women's volleyball scene that puts SJSU at the center of the drama. The Chronicle has been doing in-depth, targeted reporting on the issue, which should be highlighted.

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Key to Trump's Win: Big Losses for Harris Across the Country

New York Times, November 23, 2024

So many of us San Francisco voters are wondering what went wrong in the election at the beginning of this month. This piece from the New York Times takes a look at the voting behaviors of the country as a whole, offering compelling graphics that chart the voting change from 2020 to 2024. Read it in PressReader, which offers a digital replica of the print paper, so you can see the graphics in their printed glory, or read it on NYTimes.com where you can interact with the data with this courtesy link.

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Hanging out in SF’s Trumpiest neighborhoods

San Francisco Standard, November 11, 2024

The Standard uses data from the San Francisco Department of Elections and interviews with residents to dig into the trend towards Trump observed in the City's southeast corner, including Visitacion Valley and the Portola District. The handiwork of the Standard's data graphics person, Noah Baustin, is on display in an interactive graphic that maps votes by precinct in this piece as well as others filed under Election 2024, for example the article reporting on the low(er) voter turnout this year. The Chronicle put out a similar piece with interactive maps that explores the Trump trend in the southeast corner of SF, getting even more granular by highlighting, on a map, the two "Trumpiest" precincts in the entire City, showcasing the handiwork of graphics reporter Harsha Devulapalli and deputy data editor Aseem Shukla. 

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2024 Election Results

San Francisco Chronicle, last updated Dec. 7, 2024

As a special project dashboard, the SF Chronicle's 2024 election results page has been updated daily since the election and provides many interactive graphical representations of voting trends on a national, state, and local level. We offer this to you with a gift link to bypass any potential paywalls since this is the type of dynamic reporting not available in the library's subscription to the Chronicle through NewsBank. You can also view their California election dashboard and their San Francisco election dashboard. One of the most striking graphics is the change from blue to red of many counties in California, as well. 

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Legal Bid to Bench Trans Player Spiked 

San Francisco Chronicle, November 27, 2024

This article is the penultimate piece to date in the Chronicle's reporting on the lawsuit barring transgender women from playing college volleyball as brought forth by some players on the San Jose State University team. Now, the SJSU volleyball season is over, but several lawsuits and the future of women's sports remain. You can check out reporter Anne Killion's most recent piece to see where everything stands at the moment.