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 "fairness" ...
-
Tools, Techniques, and Research for Public Affairs Reporting
The Reporter's Lab aims to produce reviews that are consistent, independent, fair and above all, useful for a reporter with little time or patience for technical details.
-
Resources for Covering California's State Capitol
Joseph created a list of resources when covering the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. His list includes a brief description of what information is available through each resource, along with the pertinent links.
Tags: California government; capitol reporting; state senates; Cal-Access; California Legislature; Cal Channel; Capitol Morning Report; Legislative Analyst's Office; LAO; Department of Personnel Administration; California Fair Political Practices Commission; Leginfo; California Election History
-
Surveys: The bad, the ugly and the good (your own, that is)
This PowerPoint presentation covers the fine art of crafting an effective, accurate survey. The author offers some examples of poorly designed surveys, as well as tips and advice on creating a new survey. He includes sources where you can borrow questions, as well as tips for keeping the survey objective and fair.
-
Neighborhood basics
"10 steps to figure out which areas of your community are thriving and getting their fair shares of resources -- and which aren't."
Tags: beat reporting; city government; county government; government; neighborhoods; funding;
-
Unsung Documents: Little Known or Hidden Files
"Some of the best documents you'll ever use are little-known ones that you probably haven't found yet. Don't assume the document you need doesn't exist. There's an endless and continually expanding lode of documents to be mined."
Tags: documents; background; research
-
A Basic FOIA Primer from TRAC
Burnham first offers general guidelines for filing successful FOIA requests. Then, he specifically discusses how the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonprofit at Syracuse University, is working to improve the fairness and effectiveness of federal freedom of information laws.
Tags: TRAC; freedom of information; public records; FOIA; data negotiation; federal government
-
The story of Investigative Reporters and Editors: Helping journalists to get the most accurate, fair and important story
Houston reviews how IRE has benefited investigative reporters over the last thirty years. He discusses the changing face of journalism, and reminds us that there are some principles of investigative reporting that will always prevail. Those principles include skepticism and maintaining independence from government and corporate influence.
Tags: investigative journalism; media organizations; watchdog; resources; training
-
CAR from start to finish: The data is in - now what?
Tamman details what a savvy journalist needs to do to become intimately acquainted with the data they are using for a story. He offers ways journalists should look at data beyond the obvious. Also included are tips about packaging, writing and being fair with data.
Tags: CAR; data; database; dataset; interviewing; analysis; outliers; medians; average; rates; statistics; mapping; editing; lottery; education; writing
-
Backgrounding businesses on the Internet
Backgrounding businesses on the Internet is fairly simple, especially with this tipsheet to guide the way. IT covers everything from basic information, such as address and phone number, to more complex facts, like business news, stock quotes, and the most recent annual reports.
Tags: None
-
How to be an attention deficit reporter
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a big story, and covering isn't as difficult as it may seem. This tipsheet gives pointers on where to get data for covering this story, as well as some basic tips on the disease that will help reporters cover it fairly.
Tags: None