Earlier this month, Sarah Cohen of Duke University and Jennifer LaFleur of ProPublica helped uncover some of the mysteries of stimulus reporting in a one-hour IRE webinar. A recording of this session is now available for purchase and download here. During the webinar, Cohen and LaFleur explain stimulus basics and how to follow the dollars from Congress to your town. They also share useful tools to make it all easier. This session can help you make sense of stimulus data, find out what is available and be better prepared for potential data pitfalls.

The cost of the recording is $5 ...

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The crisis in Haiti has sparked an outpouring of concern and aid pouring in from around the world. With this goodwill comes an opportunity for charities to shine and journalists to make sure that those charities are doing what they promise. Check up on charitable organizations in your community or educate your readers and viewers to investigate those charities themselves. Form 990s are readily available for download via Guidestar. Charity Navigator can also help as it's a site that ranks and rates nonprofit organizations. Here are some tipsheets that can help you unlock a 990's secrets:

• Ron Campbell ...

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The 2010 Computer-Assisted Reporting (CAR) Conference is quickly approaching.  Make your plans and register TODAY!

Last year, participants were scrambling to find a hotel room after the room block had filled.  This year we are in Phoenix during Spring Training, and hotel rooms and rates outside our block can be higher than our discounted rate.  To get the discounted rate of $139 plus tax, please make your hotel reservation by Friday, February 5.  For details on how to make a hotel reservation, visit http://data.nicar.org/CAR2010/hotel.  Preliminary schedule and expected speakers have been posted to the conference ... Read more ...

The deadline for submitting entries for the IRE Awards is this Friday, January 15. All entries must be postmarked by midnight on Friday. As you review work from 2009, don’t forget that we have added a new category to the contest that honors breaking news investigations. It is open to all journalists, regardless of media platform. And as always, individual categories will honor work done in print, broadcast and online, with a special category honoring student work. For more details on this category, and all the information you need about the contest, go to http://www.ire.org/resourcecenter ... Read more ...