Question before dataset
Start with what needs to be understood. Data collection is designed around the question, not carried out for its own sake.
About RecordSignal
Journalism starts with a question.
Public bodies generate vast quantities of information. Much of it is technically public but effectively invisible—because nobody has asked the right question, requested the right records or joined the right datasets.
Where RecordSignal operates
Between the record that exists and the story nobody has found.
The hard part is rarely producing another spreadsheet. It is knowing what information could settle a question, how to get it, how to test it and which result is genuinely new. That requires the habits of both a researcher and a journalist.
RecordSignal works across that whole chain: from a first hunch to a defined question; from scattered public records to a usable dataset; and from statistical output to a finding that is accurate, clear and worth somebody's attention.
Mark Tovey
Freelance data journalist and researcher
Mark is a British journalist whose work combines the editorial judgment to recognise a story with the quantitative skills to establish whether it is true. He has professional experience developing stories from Freedom of Information disclosures, public records and datasets, including work published by The Guardian and The Telegraph.
He is NCTJ-qualified and graduated from the University of Sussex in 2016 with a first-class degree in Economics. That background informs his work on statistics, public spending, regulation, health policy and financial subjects—but the final test is always whether the evidence has been communicated so a non-specialist reader can understand it.
Mark has authored and co-authored published research for UK think tanks, alongside his work in national journalism and financial writing. Those reports include original economic modelling, international and regional data comparisons, workforce analysis and a nationwide Freedom of Information study of NHS trust policies.
RecordSignal is deliberately founder-led, not presented as a large anonymous consultancy. Clients work directly with Mark from the research question through to the finished story, campaign evidence or report.
JournalismNCTJ qualification; published by national British newspapers
EducationBA Economics, first-class honours, University of Sussex
MethodsFOI campaigns, public-record research, dataset construction and quantitative analysis
Long formAuthored and co-authored published reports for UK think tanks and research organisations
Working principles
Useful evidence, handled properly.
Caveat before claim
Methods, gaps and limits are part of the work. A strong finding does not need to be made stronger by hiding what the evidence cannot prove.
Clarity before jargon
Complex evidence is translated, not flattened. The aim is simple writing that preserves the real substance underneath it.
Work directly with the founder
Bring the question. Build the evidence.
RecordSignal is available for commissioned journalism, media research and substantial quantitative reports.
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