In a video interview with IRE, Manny Garcia of The Miami Herald explains how Twitter and Facebook are helping his newspaper’s ongoing coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. His advice applies to using social media tools on any breaking news story. Garcia shared his tips and advice during an IRE Ethnic Media Watchdog Workshop in January in New Orleans. Watch the video on our IRE On The Road blog.
Stimulus webinar available for download
Posted on January 27th, 2010
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 for IRE members and $10 for nonmembers. (Please note that Adobe Media Player must be installed to watch the downloaded video. Get the player for free by following the link on the webinar download page.) Please contact webinar@ire.org should you have any questions.
Please read below for more information about the speakers:
SARAH COHEN joined the faculty of Duke University’s DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy as a Knight chair in July. Previously, she worked as a database editor for the Washington Post for more than a decade. At the Post, she shared in most major journalism awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, the IRE gold medal and the Goldsmith Prize for investigative reporting. She has also worked as IRE training director and as a reporter in Florida, most recently for the St. Petersburg Times.
JENNIFER LaFLEUR is director of computer-assisted reporting for ProPublica, a public-interest investigative newsroom in New York. She formerly was the CAR editor for The Dallas Morning News, where she worked on the News’ investigative team. She has held similar positions at the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was IRE training director back in the olden days and co-authored an IRE Beat Book on mapping.
Investigating nonprofits in wake of the crisis in Haiti
Posted on January 22nd, 2010
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 of the Orange County Register dissects a nonprofit and tells you what you can expect line-by-line in “Digging into nonprofits.”
- In “Reporter’s fact sheet on new IRS nonprofit Form 990” Craig McCoy of the Philadelphia Enquirer explains recent changes to form 990s.
- “Quick hit watchdog stories: No-nonsense nonprofit reporting” offers tips from Teri Sforza of The Orange County Register on how to quickly assess a charity use 990s.
Check out an investigation into Wyclef Jean’s foundation by Stephen Stock of CBS4 Miami. Find examples of other investigations into charities here.
The CAR Conference hotel deadline is quickly approaching.
Posted on January 20th, 2010
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 website. Please check back frequently as this is updated on a regular basis.
Conference registration is open – register prior to March 1 to receive the early-bird rate of $190.
For additional conference details, visit http://data.nicar.org/CAR2010.
Friday, January 15 is postmark deadline for 2009 IRE Awards
Posted on January 14th, 2010
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/contest/.
IRE offers webinar on stimulus
Posted on December 18th, 2009
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/training/online/ for more information and to register. For questions please contact webinar@ire.org.
Once you’ve registered for the event, we’ll send you details on how you can access it. If you do not receive such details by 5 p.m. CST January 4, please email webinar@ire.org.
