Welcome to the inaugural episode of the IRE Radio Podcast. On these regular audio features you'll find a brief recap of IRE news and upcoming events, interviews with journalists and IRE staff, and audio tips from the best in the biz. We'll try to keep each episode around 15 minutes.

For now the podcast is hosted on our Soundcloud page and, unlike our IRE Radio clips, it's available for download.

Here's what we have in this week's episode:

• Get caught up on IRE news, including information on the upcoming conference in San Francisco.
• Database Library ...

If you’ve been spending time on our site recently, you’ve likely noticed something new – audio.

For the last three months we’ve been working with a team of Mizzou journalism students to highlight and share our extensive library of audio recordings.

On IRE Radio you’ll find a collection of short audio clips pulled from our conferences, workshops and special events. Check back regularly to hear journalists discuss story ideas, tips and tools of the trade.

Here are a few packages we’ve already put together:

• Inside the 2013 IRE Awards: Audio from some of the reporters, editors ...

Total Newsroom Training provides intense, in-house training for small and medium-sized newsrooms dedicated to watchdog journalism. This is the second year IRE has offered the free program. 

More than 80 applications were submitted. Training is customized and includes two days of sessions ranging from public records battles to hands-on data analysis.

"We had a large number of very qualified applicants, which made it tough to select winners," said IRE Executive Director Mark Horvit. "It's very encouraging to see that so many newsrooms are putting a premium on watchdog journalism and on gaining additional skills that will help them better ...

The winners of the 2013 IRE Awards provided unprecedented insight into the ways in which the government deploys technology in surveillance programs with a shockingly wide net. They used deep sourcing to overcome government roadblocks and uncover atrocities and corruption. They fought and won precedent-setting victories in open records battles to shine light on increasingly opaque government agencies. They exposed threats to children, uncovered financial malfeasance, highlighted government waste and tracked hidden assets across the globe.

Ziva Branstetter, chair of IRE's Contest Committee, said the winners show that powerful investigative journalism is being published, aired and posted at all ...

Dear Friends and Members of IRE:
This has been a remarkable year for IRE. Our two annual conferences were among the largest we’ve held, our trainers worked with journalists in 23 states and in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and membership is at its highest point in many years.
Our reach has grown, strengthening IRE’s 38-year commitment to teaching journalists ways to uncover facts that make a difference. We stretch each dollar we receive to strengthen the investigative reporting skills of journalists in every medium.
More than ever, IRE has been there for you ...

ENTER YOUR BEST INVESTIGATIVE WORK INTO THE 2013 IRE AWARDS.

It’s that time of year again – time to consider entering your best work into the IRE Awards. Among the most prestigious in journalism, the IRE Awards recognize outstanding investigative reporting across all media. Eligible entries must have been published or aired between January 1 and December 31, 2013. The deadline for submissions is January 10, 2014.

For details on how to enter, go here. To view past winners, go here.

We've got a great opportunity on the IRE staff for someone who's ready to take the lead on running our website.

We're looking for candidates with a passion for investigative and watchdog journalism, who are interested in developing online training sessions and playing a leading role in keeping our site innovative. Our site features coverage of investigative stories, industry news, data journalism, open government issues and much more. You'll work with some of the best journalists in the world and contribute to the industry every day while expanding your tech skills and knowledge of investigative techniques ...

Nancy Stancill, an IRE member for 25 years and a former board member, has pledged royalties from her debut suspense novel Saving Texas, to the IRE endowment. 

Stancill, of Charlotte, N.C., has pledged the royalties from the first thousand books she sells to support the Godfrey Wells Stancill Small Newspaper Fellowship. The fellowship, established in 2006 in memory of her father, so far has paid expenses for six journalists from small dailies to get training at IRE's national conference. Stancill's father was a longtime editor and publisher in Virginia. 

Nancy Stancill's novel, published by Black Rose ...

The Knight Foundation has published a new book titled "Searchlights and Sunglasses: Field Notes from the Digital Age of Journalism," which looks at the challenges facing journalism and includes essays on investigative reporting.

Written by Eric Newton of the Knight Foundation, the text is intended to double as a tool for journalism educators, with more than 1,000 lesson plans and resources.

The text is available at searchlightsandsunglasses.org. You can read more about the project on the Knight Blog or follow the conversation on social media with #edshift.

Join IRE on a Google+ Hangout for a discussion on investigating local sports, Wednesday at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

• Kevin Blackistone, University of Maryland professor and frequent ESPN panelist, will moderate a discussion including:
• Eric Prisbell, National College Basketball Writer at USA Today
• Amy Shipley, Reporter at the South Florida Sun Sentinel
• Scott Reid, Reporter at The Orange County Register

Drawing on the issues presented in the latest IRE Journal, the discussion will focus on the need for investigative reporting in local sports, techniques for finding stories and balancing investigative work with beat reporting.

Tune in here at 10 ...