Jan. 23, 2009

CAR 2009: New schedule and Jazz Bash

The schedule of panels for the CAR Conference in Indianapolis is now online. Watch for frequent updates to speakers and detailed panel descriptions. Hands-on classes will be added soon.

More than 60 panels and hands-on classes are in the works for the conference, including sessions tailored to covering business and the economy, and how to plan smart CAR strategies for shrinking newsrooms.

The Jazz Bash is back, too, after a successful debut last year in Houston. Enjoy music and mingling Friday night at The Jazz Kitchen, one of Indianapolis's hottest spots for local and national talent, while helping raise money for IRE and NICAR. Advanced tickets are $15 each and include two drinks; ordering information is on the registration form. Any remaining tickets will be sold for $20 at the conference.

Feb. 24 is the last day to receive the discounted conference rate for rooms at the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre. Please make your plans early; the room block may be full before the deadline. See registration and hotel details.

If you're interested in finding a roommate to share hotel expenses in Indianapolis, see the conference roommate forum.

El Paso Watchdog Workshop will focus on border issues

This unique version of our popular Better Watchdog Workshop series will offer sessions in both English and Spanish. Bilingual experts from both sides of the border will help you improve your ability to find information on the Web quickly, point you to key documents that will help you produce quick-hit enterprise stories and give you tips on the best approaches when conducting interviews or developing sources.

In addition, this workshop will give you tips on how to cover immigration issues and make your stories error-free. We'll also offer a session on how to find the information you need when covering the border.

These sessions are designed for reporters, editors and producers from small, midsize and large publications and TV stations and Web-only news sites and news blogs. Join IRE's experienced trainers and a group of veteran reporters for our Better Watchdog Workshop Feb. 20-21. Those interested in getting some hands-on training in computer-assisted reporting should sign up for the special half-day session on Feb. 21. (See details and registration information. Para información en Español, haga clic aquí).

Presenters include: Manny Garcia, The Miami Herald; Gerardo Reyes, El Nuevo Herald and author of "Periodismo de Investigación;" Alejandra Xanic, Cambio; Molly Molloy, New Mexico State University and author of "LaGuia" border guide; Rocio Gallegos, El Diario de Juarez and Zita Arocha and Lourdes Cardenas of UTEP; Alfredo Corchado, Nieman Fellow (on leave from the Dallas Morning News); Lise Olsen, Houston Chronicle and Jaimi Dowdell, IRE Training Director.

Get the tools and the tricks of the trade that you need to be a better, faster, watchdog journalist.

2008 Meyer Award winners named

Three major investigative reports that used social science research methods as key parts of their probes were named Jan. 22 as winners of the 2008 Philip Meyer Journalism Award.

Scripps Howard News Service took top honors for "Saving Babies: Exposing Sudden Infant Death." Reporters Thomas Hargrove, Lee Bowman and Lisa Hoffman found administrative inconsistencies in the state and local review boards that examine infant deaths.

Mike Casey and Rick Montgomery of The Kansas City Star took second place with its investigation into safety issues linked to airbag failures finding that nearly 300 people die in the U.S. each year when airbags fail to deploy.

In third place, an investigation by Mark Fazlollah, Dylan Purcell, Melissa Dribben and Keith Herbert of The Philadelphia Inquirer revealed that black citizens were arrested in disproportionate numbers for minor crimes in suburban Philadelphia. Follow-up investigations found more cases of police misconduct.

The Meyer Award recognize the best uses of social science methods in journalism. The awards will be presented on March 20 in Indianapolis at the 2009 CAR Conference. The first-place winner will receive $500; second and third will receive $300 and $200 respectively.

IRE Member Updates

News Literacy Project seeks volunteers

By Alan Miller
Founder, News Literacy Project

The News Literacy Project is seeking active and retired IRE members to participate in a new national program to bring journalists into middle and high schools to help students sort fact from fiction and to light a spark of interest in news that matters. The News Literacy Project welcomes volunteers worldwide for our in-the-classroom program and in New York City for our after-school program.

In 2008, I left the Los Angeles Times after 21 years as a reporter to found the program. Its board includes Vivian Schiller, John Carroll, Chuck Lewis and Soledad O'Brien. Our funders are the Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Our greatest current need is for our after-school mentoring-apprenticeship program. We're working with Citizen Schools, a national model, which is in middle schools in East Harlem and Brooklyn. Teams of journalists will work with 10-12 students for 90 minutes one afternoon a week for 10 weeks, beginning in February. Students will learn about journalism and do a project in the community, such as creating a newspaper, news report, video or Web site.

We will also begin pilots in classrooms in New York and Bethesda, Md., in February and plan to grow into a national program. Journalists will work in partnership with the project's staff and teachers. Participation will range from a single classroom appearance or videoconference to multiple school visits. For more information or to enroll, please call me at 301-651-7499, or send an e-mail to info@thenewsliteracyproject.org.

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