Don't miss out as some of the best data journalists in the world come together for IRE's annual conference devoted to computer-assisted reporting. Pre-registration ends Monday, Feb. 13, at 5 p.m. (Central Standard Time). On-site registration is accepted, but the fee increases.

Register online before the deadline to reserve your space.

This year's conference, held at the St. Louis Union Station Marriott, offers dozens of hands-on training sessions for beginners to journalists on the cutting edge of digital reporting. In addition to the full schedule of training, this year's conference will feature a 12-hour "Liberate ...

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Three major investigative reports that used social science research methods to: expose serial killings, shine a light on school cheating, and reveal truths about the home foreclosure crisis were named winners of the 2011 Philip Meyer Award.

First place is awarded to "Murder Mysteries" by Thomas Hargrove of Scripps Howard News Service. The series resulted in what experts say is the most complete database available of unsolved murders. Hargrove developed a unique algorithm to identify the likely traces of serial murders. Police in at least eight cities have acknowledged that the clusters found by Hargrove are either confirmed serial cases ...

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Developers will demo a beta version of the newsroom appliance at the 2012 CAR Conference.

Tucked away on reporters' computers are dozens of details that could benefit news coverage, if only other journalists knew where to look.

Newsrooms are swimming in data. Journalistic organizations big and small continue to collect data from local, state and federal governments, and dozens of other places. As the collection grows, making sense of that information can become more difficult.

That's what the PANDA project, a 2011 Knight News Challenge winner, wants to solve — make data analysis easier for journalists and make sharing ...

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It was an unbelievable record for anyone, let alone a public employee. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that one Opa-Locka, Fla., officer had been:

“Fired five times and arrested three, he was charged with stealing a car, trying to board an airplane with a loaded gun and driving with a suspended license.…(He) split a man's lip with a head butt. He opened another man's head with a leg sweep and takedown. He spit in the face of a drunken, stumbling arrestee. One time, he smacked a juvenile so hard the boy's face was red and swollen the ...

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Tired of government agencies that care more about protecting their data than the public?

Frustrated by official websites that defiantly offer no easy way to download vital data sets?

It’s time to fight back.

Join IRE and Scraperwiki for a 12-hour data liberation marathon during the 2012 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference in St. Louis on Feb. 23-24.

We’re soliciting your nominations for data sets that you’re longing to crunch but haven’t been able to get your hands on. We’ll build a list of prime candidates for liberation. Then, on the opening evening of the CAR Conference ...

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Thank you to the dozens of members who submitted more than 40 panel ideas for the 2012 CAR Conference in St. Louis. IRE’s staff, and the local organizing committee for the conference, is reviewing submissions and beginning to piece together the schedule for the four-day conference Feb. 23-26, 2012.

Continue to check IRE.org for updates about the conference including expected speakers, schedule and other events.

A random drawing from all submissions was held, with three prizes awarded. Although the drawing is over, we’d still like to see your ideas. Please keep submitting them.

Here are this year ...

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Four student journalists will be selected as winners in IRE's new student computer-assisted reporting contest. The winners will receive free registration to IRE's Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference on Feb. 24-27 in Raleigh, N.C.; three nights of lodging at the conference hotel; and a slot on a panel. The entry deadline is Jan. 28. The contest is sponsored by three John S. and James L. Knight chairs in journalism: Sarah Cohen, Duke University; Steve Doig, Arizona State University; and Brant Houston, University of Illinois. Entries can include: • Investigative stories published in any medium. • News applications. • Tools to help investigative ... Read more ...

We've received lots of questions about whether the optional Computer-Assisted Reporting day at the Baltimore conference June 11-14 is suitable for people new to CAR. The answer is "Yes." The day will serve as a good introduction to the tools and tricks of analyzing electronic information. In addition, hands-on classes Friday through Saturday will give you actual experience using spreadsheets and databases. Here are some Thursday panels I think would be suitable for those new to CAR as well as seasoned veterans:

Thursday (6/11/09)	Panel(s)
9:00 - 10:00 a.m.	CAR's greatest hits: 2008-2009 ...

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It’s only a little more than two years since The Mozilla Foundation released Firefox 1.0. The new open-source browser on the block quickly became the new browser on the block, playing David to Internet Explorer’s Goliath. In January, Information Week reported that Internet research firm WebSideStory measured Firefox’s share of the browser market at 14 percent. That includes a large following within the computer-assisted reporting community. Users are attracted by the reputation Firefox quickly earned as more stable and secure than IE and loaded with features that IE didn’t have. What even sophisticated users may ...

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