Chris Zubak-Skees

You donated to kids with cancer. This Vegas telemarketer cashed in.

Worked with data fellow Rosie Cima to analyze a universe of PACs that raised from small-dollar donors and spent mostly on themselves. Zeroed into one telemarketer's charitable solicitation operation with a reporter. Built graphics to tell the story.

data processing & analysis

What first-quarter fundraising can tell us about 2020

To show the state of presidential money, I crunched the data behind this graphics story designed and developed by Julia Wolfe of FiveThirtyEight. The analysis used Python code and relied on a real-time SQL database of campaign finance information. It also informed the rest of filing day coverage.

fun

Suggested poems for Gmail

Released on April Fools' Day 2020, this browser extension replaced Gmail’s Smart Replies with lines of poetry. It was enjoyed by many, including Gmail project manager Paul Lambert, who wrote, “This is amazing. I wish we had thought of it!” It was mentioned on Lifehacker and The Verge. Nearly 600 people installed it.

tool

FEC loader

I released this set of flexible Node.js command line utilities designed to discover, convert and load raw Federal Election Commission filings into a database. This loads filings of unprecedented size with ease, allowing anyone to analyze FEC data in detail.

design & graphics

Abandoned in America

This was an ambitious multi-part series on the places and people with little political clout. I designed and developed the presentation, as well as overseeing data analysis and graphics production.

data processing & analysis

How ActBlue is trying to turn small donations into a blue wave

I analyzed more than 80 million records in a nearly unprecedented analysis of Congressional Democratic candidates' reliance on this fundraising platform as it became the de facto way Democrats raise money.

tool

Public financial disclosure parser

I built a tool that helped four newsrooms build a database of Trump officials' financial histories. This was used to report daily stories by the New York Times and Washington Post, to build ProPublica's Trump Town news app and to report an award-winning national radio story with Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. It caused at least one high-ranking official to revise his disclosures.

story design

Nuclear Negligence

Designed and developed the presentation for this series on the frightening near-misses in the nation's nuclear complex. Worked with an illustrator to develop a look and feel that helped tell the story.

data graphic

Share of women in elected office in every state

Charted data on the growth of women's representation in politics in the 50 states as the first state reached gender parity.

story design

Death in the Trench

Designed the presentation for this striking story on a preventable death and what it says about workplace safety enforcement.

app

Find your state legislators' financial interests

Helped a reporting team collect, track and input data from nearly every state legislator's financial disclosure in the country, then built an app using DocumentCloud to search and view the disclosures.

analysis & cartography

Wilbur Ross will shepherd Trump’s trade policy. He also owns ships.

Built a map using Mapbox.js to display millions of ship locations collected by satellites, found a cabinet secretary's shipping firm docked in Iran at the height of sanctions, designed graphics for the resulting story.

data processing & app

Tracking TV ads in the 2016 state races

Used ad tracking data to map political ads airing across the country. Embedded on USAToday.com.

data processing & app

See how much the 2016 presidential candidates have raised so far

Analyzed FEC data to total presidential and super PAC fundraising. Built this app and updated it throughout the election.

data processing & app

Search the Nonprofit Network

Extracted grant data from more than 850,000 electronic nonprofit tax forms. Made an app that lets readers search for the source of money.

multimedia design

Fatal Extraction

Designed and developed this multimedia presentation on miners dying in Australian mines in Africa. Nominated for an Emmy.

graphic & devops

China Leaks

Helped the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists report the China phase of its Offshore Leaks investigation by facilitating communication and database access between a far-flung reporting team. Designed and developed a graphic to show the results, which was localized into half a dozen languages, embedded by Le Monde, El Pais, Süddeutsche Zeitung.

data graphics

Breathless and Burdened graphics

Designed and developed graphics for this Pulitzer-winning series on miners denied benefits for black lung.