Join Sarah Cohen of Duke University and Jennifer LaFleur of ProPublica in a one-hour webinar that will help you understand how to follow stimulus dollars from Congress to your town and discover useful tools to make it all easier. You'll learn how to make sense of stimulus data, find out what is available and be better prepared for potential data pitfalls. They'll also discuss what's next regarding stimulus coverage. The webinar will be held Tuesday, January 5 at 10 a.m. CST. Registration is $5 for IRE members, $10 for nonmembers. Click here http://www.ire.org ... Read more ...

In a short video, Minnesota journalists describe what they learned during three days of custom IRE training in December. Topics include Twitter, searching the "Deep Web" and using IRS 990 forms to probe nonprofit organizations. Check out the video on the IRE On the Road blog. Nearly 60 reporters, editors and publishers from small newspapers in southern Minnesota participated. The specialized IRE training was sponsored by Huckle and Mainstream newspapers.

Tired of feeling frustrated by spreadsheets or intimidated by databases? Or maybe you’ve mastered basic computer-assisted reporting skills and are ready to dive into mapping. Intensive IRE boot camps can help you hone new skills to produce more compelling stories and make yourself invaluable in your newsroom, all in a few days of practical training. Seats are still available for upcoming IRE boot camps to help you master spreadsheets, databases or mapping software. Mapping boot campers receive a valuable software discount as well. Check out IRE’s On The Road blog to see how other journalists have put their ... Read more ...

We'd like to thank everyone who helped make IRE's membership drive a success and announce the winners in the drawing. More than 440 people joined IRE, renewed expired memberships or signed on for another year during October. We also received several thousand dollars in donations, made by those of you who chose to offer additional support when you joined or renewed. Much of this success was due to the many members who volunteered to recruit and who held informational sessions in their newsrooms or on their campuses.  IRE is only as strong as its membership, and we are ... Read more ...

Today is the anniversary of the murder of El Diario de Juarez’ top crime reporter Armando "Choco" Rodriguez. At noon, his fellow journalists in Ciudad Juarez, who have attempted to continue his work in documenting the relentless violence in the largest US-Mexico border city, are gathering to remember him on the Plaza of the Journalist. They seek to remember him and to remind people that no one has been arrested for the slaying. Rodriguez was killed while sitting in a car outside his home as he prepared to take his 8-year-old daughter to school. In 2008, Rodriguez' work in documenting ... Read more ...

Great investigative work is often done in the days, or even hours, following a breaking news event. The IRE Awards have often honored such work, and now we are pleased to introduce a new category dedicated to such efforts. The Breaking News Investigations category spotlights outstanding investigative work done following a news event or development, across all media platforms. "We think this will help recognize the investigative work involved in covering breaking news," said Cheryl Phillips, chair of the IRE contest committee. "Very often, investigative reporting skills are key to producing important journalism on deadline and in the hours and ... Read more ...

IRE has compiled some resources that may assist in covering the fatal shootings that occured today at Ft. Hood in Texas.  If you have other resources that could be of help to your fellow reporters, please feel free to contact us, and we can add it to the list.  (Email the IRE Resource Center, rescntr@ire.org.) Tipsheets 2360: Janet Lundblad's tipsheet lists resources that are helpful in tracking down people in the military - from books to websites. She also provides a few tips doing this sort of investigation, such as using social security numbers from personnel records to ... Read more ...

Several new tip sheets are available in the Resource Center from recent Ethnic Media Watchdog Workshops. Topics include tracking federal stimulus money, analyzing Census data, obtaining public records and honing interview skills. For the newest tip sheets, search for "ethnic media" and restrict the year to 2009. IRE members can download tip sheets at no cost. Read highlights from the workshops on the IRE on the road blog.

It's once again time to apply for the Philip Meyer Award. Established in 2005, the award was created to honor Philip Meyer's pioneering efforts to utilize social science research methods to foster better journalism. The contest recognizes stories that incorporate survey research, probabilities and other social science tools in creative ways that lead to journalism vital to the community. (To learn more, listen to "Precision Journalism: Where we've come from and where we're going," a panel discussion between Phil Meyer and Steve Doig on the history and future of precision journalism at the 2008 IRE Conference ... Read more ...

IRE, in partnership with Education Writers Association and the Student Press Law Center, is launching a program to share investigative reporting skills with college and university students that they can apply to covering campus issues. Seventy-five students from around the country will be selected to receive full scholarships to participate in the Campus Coverage Project. The centerpiece is a national workshop from Jan. 7-10, being held at Arizona State University in Phoenix. Sessions at the workshop will focus on specific campus-coverage issues and overall reporting techniques and skills. Additional training opportunities will be provided throughout the year. The program is ... Read more ...