The Press Cohort (Colorado)
Chris Vanderveen isn’t a math guy. His spreadsheets are messy, at best. But at some point, in the late spring of 2020, he found himself trying to help people who wanted more than complicated charts and numbers.
They wanted context.
In essence, they wanted to know, “What’s it all mean?”
Chris, an investigative reporter at Denver’s KUSA-TV, turned his twitter account into a daily, one-stop shop for Coloradans interested in knowing more about what the virus was up to in the state.
There, generally around 4pm, people could get info on patient counts, case counts, positivity and deaths.
With the help of his ridiculously simple graphics (arrows drawn via mouse), Chris turned the state’s daily data dump into a way for people to watch and analyze the trends. His daily updates have turned into a daily watering hole monitored by state health officials and twitter newbies alike.
On Twitter, he’s snappy and sharp. He doesn’t tolerate nonsense, and gets a lot of flack for it. He promotes science and research, and engages in discussion with those seeking answers — while shutting down those who propagate fringe ideas. With his signature red-pen, talent for graphics and video, and propensity for facts, Chris delivers information the way it was meant to be — with honesty.
A few words from those who nominated Chris:
“In Colorado, Chris Vanderveen has been my go-to. Great job reporting numbers and also providing “what does it all mean” analysis.”
“Keeps us updated with relevant rates, graphs, and context. Great resource!”
Click here to follow Chris on Twitter
We are working to complete our profiles for the more than 500 nominees submitted during the month of February. If you’d like to add to this profile, please email us at: Contact@Data-Usa.org
COVID-19 Data Hero Awards 