May 17, 2010

Esri Provides Free Data to Investigative Reporters and Editors

Complimentary GIS Software and Data Saves Journalists Time and Money with Accurate, Current Information

Redlands, California—Esri and Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE), announce a program that provides IRE members located in the United States with a complimentary subscription to Esri Business Analyst Online (BAO), an easy-to-use, Web-based demographic data exploration application. This combination of GIS software technology and extensive demographic data for the United States will make it easier for reporters to investigate demographic patterns for news articles.

"This new partnership brings IRE members a new tool they can use to add demographic data to their stories," states IRE executive director Mark Horvit. "Esri and IRE have a long-standing partnership that has been of great benefit to our members, and this new arrangement with BAO adds another important element to that."

With BAO, IRE members can access information including demographic data, street basemaps, imagery, data from government sources, and Microsoft's Bing business location information. Data summaries can be prepared easily through 17 preformatted reports and maps, or users can interact with the data, creating their own thematic maps and uploading additional data. Reporters and editors can highlight data such as street addresses, event locations, and areas of interest to show analysis according to factors such as drive times. All data and analysis can be accessed with BAO using Web browsers on both PCs and Mac computers.

For specialized data needs, news outlets can obtain data and maps from the Esri product marketing team, which has extensive experience working with news media. Esri employs many data sources and proven methodologies to ensure delivery of the industry's most accurate current-year demographic data estimates and five-year forecasts. Updated demographic data variables are available at a wide variety of geographies, including national, state, county, census tract, and block group. Other proprietary databases developed by Esri are available including Consumer Spending, Market Potential, Retail MarketPlace, and Tapestry Segmentation.

More information can be found at http://www.esri.com/ire. IRE members can access their complimentary BAO subscription at http://www.ire.org/membersonly/esri.

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Press Information:
Karen Richardson, Esri
Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-3491
E-mail (press only): press@esri.com
General Information: info@esri.com