IRE thanks the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation and the Las Vegas Sun, Barbara J. Greenspun, publisher for helping underwrite these events.

Watchdog Workshop

Urbana-Champaign, Ill. — April 5-6, 2008
(Saturday and Sunday)

Hosted by the College of Communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Sponsored by The Knight Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting, Journalism Department, College of Communications at University of Illinois

Two workshops in one!

IRE is combining its highly rated Better Watchdogs Workshop for reporters, editors, and producers with a special program for midlevel editors, called Unleashing the Watchdogs. Unleashing the Watchdogs is presented in conjunction with the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Several sessions will be presented to everyone in attendance - including editors, producers, and reporters -and will be relevant for journalist in every medium. Other sessions will be specifically for reporters or for editors. But anyone can attend any session they wish to. 

The Better Watchdogs track will offer practical nuts and bolts instruction for reporters, especially those at small- to medium-sized newsrooms and in bureaus of larger news organizations. The instructors will be experienced journalists and trainers from IRE.

The Unleashing the Watchdogs track will feature editors who have years of experience in producing investigative and enterprise work. They share tips and techniques on how to get watchdog journalism done, especially from reporters covering beats and daily stories.

The workshops also cover the guiding of reporters in the effective use of the Internet, open-records laws, computer-assisted reporting and anonymous sources.

Expected Speakers:

Laura Frank (Rocky Mountain News)
Alden Loury (The Chicago Reporter)
Ron Nixon (The New York Times)
Jaimi Dowdell (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Jason Grotto (The Chicago Tribune)
Brant Houston (University of Illinois)
Rich Martin (University of Illinois)
Doug Pardue (The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier)

Workshop Fee (includes a six-month IRE membership): $40 professional, $20 student

Optional Computer-Assisted Reporting Training will be offered on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for a registration fee of $30.

• Introductory: Attend this hands-on workshop and learn how to use Excel, a powerful electronic spreadsheet, for deadline and beat reporting on budgets, salaries, and Census data. Also learn how to dig deeper using the Internet and find valuable datasets for your stories. Class size is limited; register early to reserve a seat on a first-come, first-served basis. (Room 31, limited to the first 20 to sign up)
• Intermediate: If you can comfortably move around, write a formula and import information into a spreadsheet, this is the session for you. This hands-on workshop will help reporters use Microsoft Access to delve into databases for more in-depth stories. The session will cover searching a database, summarizing and sorting data, and importing information into a database. (Room 3, limited to the first 15 to sign up)

Workshop Location
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
College of Communications, Department of Journalism
Gregory Hall - Room 112

Courtyard Champaign (A Marriott Hotel)
1811 Moreland Blvd
Champaign, IL  61820
hotel phone: 217-335-0411
hotel fax: 217-355-0411

A block of rooms have been set aside for this training.  To reserve a room in this block, you will need to call the hotel directly at 217-355-0411 and ask to make a reservation in the Investigative & Editors block.  These rooms are available at a nightly rate of $119.99 plus tax.

If you have general workshop or hotel questions, please contact Stephanie Sinn, conference coordinator, stephanie@ire.org or 573-882-8969.  If you have registration questions, please contact John Green, membership coordinator, jgreen@ire.org or 573-882-2772.