Seven seats on IRE's 13-member Board of Directors will be up for election in 2008. Candidates who wish to appear on both the election day and absentee ballots must file by April 18.
All candidates who file by May 21 will have their statements posted on the IRE Web site. The final day to declare candidacy and be listed on the election day ballot is June 6 at noon. Filing instructions are online here.
The election will be held at the annual membership meeting June 7 at the 2008 IRE Conference in Miami. Members who will not be attending the conference may request an absentee ballot from April 18 to May 19. E-mail .
Spread the word about IRE's new freelance fellowships. April 30 is the application deadline for the first round of fellowships, which will provide $1,000 or more to support investigative projects.
Proposals will be judged by an independent panel of three freelance journalists. At the request of the anonymous donor who provided $55,000 to create these fellowships, proposals dealing with whistleblowers, business ethics and/or privacy issues will receive priority; projects involving other topics will be given serious consideration by the committee as well. The freelance projects must be published or aired primarily in U.S. outlets. Applications are available at www.ire.org/training/fellowships.html.
Online Database Coordinator
The Tulsa World
Tulsa, Okla.
Deputy Business Editor
The Democrat and Chronicle
Rochester, N.Y.
Business Reporter
The Democrat and Chronicle
Rochester, N.Y.
Business News Data Specialist
The Associated Press
New York, N.Y.
This is the kind of scenario that keeps editors awake at night.
Members will be receiving copies of the March/April IRE Journal with typos on the cover. We had discovered the errors and ordered corrections, but our printer mistakenly shipped the original version. A corrected copy will be sent to all libraries and institutional subscribers; members may request a new copy from the IRE office.
Needless to say, we’re embarrassed, and we’ve taken steps to try and ensure that this doesn’t happen again.
Thanks for your understanding,
Mark Horvit
IRE Executive Director
To see issues of the IRE journal, go to www.ire.org/membersonly/resourcecenter/irejournal/.
Make history at the 10th Anniversary Blues Bash! Join your IRE colleagues and the ghost of Al Capone on Thursday, June 5 — the opening night of the 2008 Conference in Miami – for a party you’ll never forget.
This year’s headliner will be The Albert Castiglia Band, led by the best unknown blues slinger you’ve never heard. Castiglia was lead guitarist for the late Chicago blues great Junior Wells. Now on his own, Castiglia is ready to leap back into the national spotlight with his upcoming CD, “These are the Days.” For more info, visit www.albertcastiglia.com.
But that’s not all. This year, two stellar supporting acts will try to steal the show: JP Soars & the Redhots, winner of 2008 South Florida Blues Society Challenge, and the Gypsy Blue Acoustic Review, an intriguing ensemble that features a gypsy jazz genre popularized by Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt in the 1930s and 1940s.
To showcase this sizzling music from these three hot acts, we’ve booked Tobacco Road – the coolest venue in Dade County history. (Read a profile from a Miami nightlife Web site.)The music will alternate from stages on Tobacco Road’s Outdoor Patio and Upstairs Cabaret starting at 7:30 p.m.
All of this fun benefits a great cause. The Blues Bash has contributed nearly $27,000 to the IRE Resource Center – the place to call when you need clips, videotapes, tipsheets, recordings of conference panels and other reference materials from IRE’s vast archive.
We expect another sold-out show this year, building on our history of great shows featuring Canned Heat, Guitar Shorty, W.C. Clark, Eddie Shaw, Sandra Hall, Lady Bianca, Luther “Houserocker” Johnson, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and other top blues artists.
Don’t miss out! Buy your ticket online while you still can at a pre-registration bargain price of $20 – and sign up for the conference!
-- Mark Lagerkvist, Blues Bash organizer and former IRE Board member
April 11-12, 2008 - Los Angeles
Better Watchdog Workshop
April 12-13, 2008 - Minneapolis
Ethnic Media Training.
This workshop for journalists working for ethnic news organizations will cover how to do investigative and enterprise journalism quickly and effectively.
April 19-20, 2008 - St. Paul, Minn.
Money in Politics Workshop.
This workshop for reporters, editors and producers covers the latest in campaign finance regulations and shows how to use federal and state data to dig deeper into the influence of money before and after elections.
Congratulations to the many IRE members chosen as winners and finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in 2008.
The prize for public service honored The Washington Post's Dana Priest and Ann Hull for detailing the conditions of outpatient care facilities at Walter Reed Army Hospital in "The Other Walter Reed." Their story won a 2007 IRE Medal.
Two projects were named winners in the investigative reporting category. Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker of The New York Times won for reporting on toxic ingredients found in Chinese imports. Their series, "Toxic Pipeline," also won a 2007 IRE Medal. A Chicago Tribune investigation, including work by Patricia Callahan, Maurice Possley and Sam Roe, revealed safety problems in toys, car seats and cribs that led to nationwide recalls. Their series, "Hidden Hazards," was a 2007 IRE Award finalist.
In local reporting, David Umhoefer of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel won for reporting on questionable practices that helped county employees increase their pensions. IRE Board Member Mark Katches edited the stories.
Jo Becker and Barton Gellman of The Washington Post shared the national reporting prize stories exploring the influence of Vice President Dick Cheney.
The prize for international reporting recognized Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post for coverage of private security contractors in Iraq.
More members were recognized as finalists. In the public service category, Miles Moffeit and Susan Greene of The Denver Post were recognized for stories on destruction of evidence in criminal cases. The Sarasota (Fla.) Herald Tribune's Chris Davis, Matthew Doig and Tiffany Lankes were local reporting finalists for exposing predatory teachers. Tim Nostrand, Jeff Pillets and John Brennan of The Record of Beren County, N.J., were local reporting finalists for investigating political influence and public funding in a high-profile development project.
Please note that this list includes members named in the Pulitzer Prize press release or individuals who were also identified as contributors in the IRE Awards. If we inadvertantly overlooked a member's role, please e-mail , and we'll add it to our coverage in the May-June issue of The IRE Journal. (IRE members' names appear in bold.)
Send your ideas for IRE Member Updates. It's an opportunity to highlight stories with impact, talk about new approaches to investigations, FOI issues, or other news of interest to IRE members and supporters. Send suggestions to .