IRE thanks the Chicago Tribune Foundation and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, and the Las Vegas Sun, Barbara J. Greenspun, publisher for helping underwrite this event.

A crucial duty of a journalist is to serve the public interest by acting as a watchdog on government and business. This duty has become all the more important at a time when governments are restricting the flow of information. At such times, broadcast and print journalists must redouble their efforts to use freedom-of-information laws to obtain public documents and help the public appreciate the value of such laws.

A Better Watchdog Workshop is intended to help those journalists at small- to medium-sized news organizations — and those in bureaus of larger organizations — to learn the investigative skills that keep government and business accountable and to produce enterprising and informative stories. Critical among the skills is the ability to use federal and state FOI laws to open the doors to public information.

The workshop will be held at the SPJ Region 1 Spring Conference. You must be registered for the conference to attend the workshop. SPJ is offering its member rate to IRE members.

To access information about the conference, click here: http://www.pcli.org

To register for the conference and/or workshop, click here: http://www.pcli.org/pdf/2007_Regional_Conference_Registration.pdf

If you have questions about the conference, please contact Bill Bleyer, Bill.Bleyer@newsday.com, 631-843-2750.