IRE's Resource Center

2009 IRE Awards

The IRE Awards, among the most prestigious in journalism, recognize outstanding investigative reporting across all media. All contest entries include a detailed questionnaire on the investigation, and together these create a unique and invaluable teaching resource for fellow journalists by providing insight into the successes and challenges of each investigation. The postmark deadline for the 2009 IRE Awards was Friday, January 15, 2010.

For the 2009 IRE Awards, we introduced a new category for Breaking News Investigations. This category was created to recognize outstanding investigative work done following a news event or development. The category is open to all journalists regardless of media platform. All work entered in this category had to be published, broadcast or posted within 30 calendar days of a news event, and entries could include no more than five stories.

The 2009 IRE Awards winners will be announced in late March 2010, and the awards will be presented at the 2010 IRE Conference in Las Vegas.

Updated Investigative Reporter's Handbook now available

The fifth edition of "The Investigative Reporter’s Handbook" by Brant Houston and Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is now available to order from the IRE Bookstore. Order the book online or call the IRE Resource Center (573-882-3364). $48 for IRE members; $58 for non-members

"The Investigative Reporter’s Handbook" is the best-selling classroom and newsroom classic. Useful as a textbook in advanced journalism courses and as a reference for professional journalists, this book shows students how to use fundamental news reporting and writing skills like gathering sources, tracking information, and interviewing to pursue investigative stories in a variety of beats — from the government and education to healthcare, the environment and real estate. In addition to discussing the latest techniques and challenges in the profession, the fifth edition is now thoroughly streamlined, making it easier to locate the resources that investigative reporters need to get the story.