Deena Zaidi


Data Journalist

Hi!

A data journalist with over 10 years of writing and reporting experience. I’ve had the pleasure of working for a local news paper in Seattle for about 2.5 years, after which I worked as a data visual journalist around two years in a leading broadcast news room in Canada.

I’ve written a wide range of stories— from hidden COVID-19 fatalities and rising Omicron numbers to immigration backlogs to soaring inflation and real estate markets. I am comfortable with mapping tools and have created multimedia interactives through ESRI’s GIS interface. These stories included “50 Years Later: Expulsion from Uganda” and “Canadian Urban Skies Turn Lethal for Migratory Birds“.

Prior to CTVNews, I wrote data-driven stories for, Seattle’s Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ)—one of the 44 markets of American City Business Journals. I also maintained the database for the local market which were published as weekly lists. The role involved fact-checking and in-depth research through surveys and phone calls. These lists ranked regional businesses on different metrics and were eventually compiled into the Annual Book of Lists.

Early in my career, I wrote extensively for various digital publications such as TheStreet.com, VentureBeat, Seeking Alpha, BuzzFeed, and Truthout with bylines in Reuters, Yahoo Finance, and MSN Money. I’ve authored a working paper on “The role of credit rating agencies in the Eurozone debt crisis” for Global Credit Review at the University of Singapore.

As a data journalist, I am always keen to look at the investigative side of stories where data is fundamental. My strength lies in data-driven stories that look beyond the numbers published in public records. I have solid experience in data analytics, with experience in mapping and creating interactive visuals.

I have an MSc. in International Banking and Finance from the University of Durham, England, and an MBA in Finance from ICFAI Business School, India. I hold a certificate in Data Analytics from Northeastern University and have been a part of a data bootcamp hosted by Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. (IRE) in Seattle.

Feel free to browse through my portfolio.

stories written

years of experience

words written

Category: Technology

  • Time to Clean your Audience — Ways to Spot a Bot on Social Media

    Time to Clean your Audience — Ways to Spot a Bot on Social Media

    Twitter is a dynamic world that works in a confined space of 140 characters but the impact it can have on an audience is huge. Just like fake news, fake followers can be detrimental to the image of businesses and even to those individual users who rely heavily on social media marketing. Since Twitter places…

  • Five Industries Benefiting from The Chatbot Disruption

    Five Industries Benefiting from The Chatbot Disruption

    Chatbots arrive to disrupt multiple industries. Here’s a look at some of the sectors that are most effected and demonstrate how chatbots continue to make businesses more cost effective and responsive. 1. Human Resource Space Chatbots are digitizing human resources processes and slowly transforming the space which was primarily dominated by human employees. A recent survey…

  • Bots Got you Covered as AI disrupts Insurance

    Bots Got you Covered as AI disrupts Insurance

    For long, insurance firms have been relying on traditional virtual assistants. But with the advent of improved analytics, insurance technology startups (better known as Insurtech)are paving way for smarter and more innovative platforms.

  • Machine Learning uses facial expressions to detect suicidal behavior

    Machine Learning uses facial expressions to detect suicidal behavior

    Suicide is extremely difficult to predict, especially in depressed individuals. But AI- algorithms could soon help doctors differentiate between patients who are depressed and those who are suicidal. Joseph Franklin, Ph.D. from Harvard University and author of a suicide research published by the American Psychological Association said, a suicide expert who conducted an in-depth assessment…