The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "covering disasters" ...
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Dodging disasters: How to avoid making errors with data
We'll cover common assumptions and mistakes in data-driven stories, from misunderstanding data to writing bad SQL. Learn techniques for checking your work and creating a safety net to help you sleep at night.
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Dodging disasters: How to avoid making errors with data
We'll cover common assumptions and mistakes in data-driven stories, from misunderstanding data to writing bad SQL. Learn techniques for checking your work and creating a safety net to help you sleep at night.
Tags: data, SQL; data-driven stories
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Putting It All Together: Breaking News and Disaster Coverage
Learn tips about how to sucessfully report on breaking news and cover disasters.
Tags: Breaking News; Disaster Coverage
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Covering the big disaster (and quick-hit story ideas)
Dowdell offers step by step instruction on how to cover big disasters and quick-hit stories. She also includes many helpful database links such as OSHA, EPA, and FAA.
Tags: natural disasters; OSHA; EPA; FAA; IRE; lotteries; taxes
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Covering Natural Disasters
Covering natural disasters can be an overwhelming task, use these tips from McClure, Chief Environmental Correspondent at InvestigateWest. He provides advice for before the weather starts.
Tags: tornadoes; hurricanes; floods; post-disaster coverage
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Children and Trauma: Interviewing Tips
Black provides interview guidelines for reporters interviewing children who have been through traumatic events. She provides general guidelines, as well as details for interviews at the scene of a crime or disaster; covers interview pointers for past traumas, too. (Available in English and Spanish.)
Tags: children; trauma; disasters; crime; violence; grave illness; guidelines
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Working the Edges
This tipsheet addresses being ready to cover disasters - beginning with a "spot-news" checklist, and recommendations for handling coverage once a disaster happens.
Tags: breaking news; disasters; broadcast
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After Disaster Strikes: Be A Recovery Watchdog
Cervantes details how the Union-Tribune covered the wildfires that ravaged San Diego in October 2007. The city and county governments offered "free" demolition and debris removal for destroyed properties. "We got a tip contractors were charging outrageous rates, so we decided to investigate and analyze the public records and data to see what was being done with taxpayer money."
Tags: disaster; wildfire; Union-Tribune; FEMA; California Public Records Act; FOIA; demolition permit applications; RFP; requests for proposals; Governor's Office of Emergency Services; San Diego; GIS mapping; mapping
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Databases in Disaster
Kucharski details how to report on natural disasters with the assistance of databases. He covered the June 2008 flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "Databases played an important role in our coverage as the community went from a state of shock to rebuilding. We used databases in three main ways: simple searchable databases providing basic community information, as a tool to assist our ongoing reporting and as a stand-alone storytelling tool."
Tags: natural disasters; disasters; flooding; databases; computer-assisted reporting; CAR; assessor
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Data Before and After a Disaster
Heath lists and describes different federal programs that provide financial assistance after a natural disaster. He discusses where to get records of each program's spending, and how to best incorporate that information into a CAR story. Heath also describes the programs used by federal agencies to run simulations and assess potential damage; most of those programs are available for free and could be useful for reporters covering a recent disaster.
Tags: natural disaster; FEMA; forest service; demographics; geophysical data; SBA loans; flood insurance; housing assistance