By Doug Haddix

IRE training director

Nearly 60 reporters, editors and publishers from small newspapers in southern Minnesota took part in three days of IRE custom training in December. The specialized IRE training was sponsored by Huckle and Mainstream newspapers. Several reporters and editors shared what they learned in a short video. It touches on topics such as Internal Revenue Service filings for nonprofits, the “deep Web” and Twitter.

Building on IRE custom training, reporter Craig Smith of the Santa Fe New Mexican produced a two-part look at the financial challenges of arts organizations. The first installment gave an overview of the financial picture, while the second story examined salaries and funding for arts organizations. The second piece included a full listing of more than 100 top salaries at organizations such as the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and the Santa Fe Opera.

Smith relied heavily on IRS 990 tax returns, available for free at Guidestar.org.

“The February IRE training was useful to me in preparing this in that it re-honed my Excel skills to some extent. I was glad to have been reminded of how to use different sheets in a workbook,” he said. “What was more important was the enthusiasm I took away from the sessions, on how one reporter can make a difference.”

Particularly in smaller newsrooms, he said, individual reporters and their editors can make a big difference in pushing for investigative stories without waiting for direction from top editors.

Reporters interested in comparing nonprofit organizations in different states can purchase IRS 990 data going back to 1974 from the IRE Database Library, which also has links to tipsheets and other news stories that relied on the tax returns. A subscription service also is available, with data updated monthly.

—  Doug Haddix, IRE training director

Students and advisers gather at the Media Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Photo courtesy of Zephyr McIntyre.

A tsunami map file came in handy recently during custom training at the Student Media Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The mapping file shows the value of looking into local geographic data, even if you don’t know how to use mapping software.

More and more local, regional and state governments are posting mapping files on their Web sites – including Santa Barbara county government. Every smart map has an underlying data table. So, even if you don’t use mapping software, exploring a government or university mapping site can lead you to data sets that you might not have discovered otherwise. And if you or someone in your newsroom uses digital mapping software, the free layers can help you show where trends are happening.

The tsunami layer, for example, shows where water likely flow in the event of a tsunami affecting the California coast. We discovered that, yes, parts of the UCSB campus would be under water should a tsunami strike. Now that’s news you can use.

If you are interested in scheduling custom IRE training in your newsroom or on your campus, see details on our specialized training page.

— Doug Haddix, IRE training director