When Tisha Thompson of WTTG in Washington, D.C., gets a call from a tipster who’s afraid to leave a name or phone number, she has a surefire way of staying in touch. [caption id="attachment_103" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Tisha Thompson of WTTG-Washington, D.C."][/caption] Thompson suggests that the source set up an e-mail account with an alias on AOL, Google or another national provider. To help protect potential whistleblowers, she reminds them not to communicate with her from a work computer or telephone.  Once the source e-mails her from the new account, she has a ...

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The members of the Board of Directors of Investigative Reporters and Editors would like to express our regret and indignation over the murder of veteran crime reporter Armando Rodriguez. His complete coverage of more than 1,300 murders in Ciudad Juarez this year provided key information to all of us about the changing nature of the violent attacks launched by drug traffickers in Mexico. We recognize that it has become increasingly difficult for newspapers to cover what is happening on the border, especially since civilians and journalists are now frequent targets of these attacks. Because of this alarming trend, it ... Read more ...

Today in Ciudad Juarez, Armando Rodriguez, the crime reporter at the Diario de Juarez, was murdered in front of his own home this morning as he got in his car to drive his daughter to school. Rodriguez has covered nearly every murder in the unprecedented wave of violence in Ciudad Juarez -- which is right next to El Paso, Texas. His work was important since no one else had the courage to document these crimes. His stories -- 800 this year alone -- appeared in one of the largest and best newspapers on either side of the U.S. Border - Diario de Juarez ... Read more ...

Chris Halse of KIRO-Seattle recently used federal transportation data to uncover design flaws in high-end recreational vehicles. Learn how Halsne obtained and analyzed the data in this article from Uplink, IRE and NICAR's online computer-assisted reporting newsletter. This story is available as free site content.  Uplink subscribers get full access to the articles and blog posts added to the site weekly and the archive of stories back to March 2007. Not a subscriber?  Sign up online

The 2008 Election Day is upon us! IRE and NICAR have compiled a list of resources to aid in your coverage of stories as they unfold on this historic election day.  Included you will find relevant tipsheets and stories, databases, articles on election coverage from Uplink and The IRE Journal, and other helpful websites. Please contact the IRE Resource Center (573-882-3364 or email) or the Database Library (573-884-7711) for additional assistance.