Skip to content

Jenifer McKim

Jenifer McKim
Statement

Like many of you, I will never forget my first IRE conference. It was 2004, I had left a newborn at home, and I was excited to learn more about investigative journalism.

I left the conference with a notebook full of ideas. Tips I received helped me write my first deep-dive articles about child fatalities linked to the foster care system. A second conference gave me tools to cover human trafficking, a topic I have dug into over decades.

I’ve now won national awards, changed coasts and bosses and adopted public radio as a key medium for story telling. I’ve also become a super fan and evangelizer of how IRE can help journalists around the world. I’ve been a member since 2011, attended at least 10 IRE and NICAR conferences, and moderated and spoken on many panels.

As a journalism professor, I’ve assigned and taught the “Investigative Reporters Handbook.” In 2020, I joined a small group of journalism professors asked by IRE to review the updated version of the book and introduce the authors in a remote conference in 2020. As a staff member with the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, I traveled with IRE staff to teach investigative journalism skills to working journalists in California and Portland, Maine.

More recently, I’ve served on a screening committee for contests and currently am working with the conference committee to plan this June’s event in National Harbor.

Now, with my youngest son graduating from college, I want to give more back to the organization that taught me so much. It couldn’t be a more important time for our tribe to do our work and be supported by a national organization like IRE.

I want to fight for and protect the rights of hardworking journalists. As a board member of the New England First Amendment Coalition, I believe this mission is key to our existence in these divisive times.

I want to increase and protect access to IRE for a diverse and inclusive membership. As a fluent Spanish speaker, who spent six years working as a journalist in Puerto Rico, I know first hand how important it is to be able to speak languages of communities we hope to trust us.

During times of financial constraint, I want to make sure that the next generation of investigative journalists gets the same access to IRE conferences, mentorship and tools as I did. I want to do this by increasing outreach in colleges across the US, increasing regional training offerings, and finding funding to help more young journalists take advantage of what IRE offers.

I want to support our multi-media investigative reporters – especially in audio and short video – through outreach and training. We learn more each year about how different ways to tell stories can penetrate audiences in new ways.

Lastly, I want to support the IRE staff. This has been a hard time for the team with the huge loss of Diana. I look forward to time and space for grief and remembrance as well as carrying on her mission. Come to speak to me in June. I look forward to the conversations.

  • Current Position:
    • Senior Editor, Investigations and Equity & Justice Unit, GBH News, October 2025 to present
  • Prior Experience:
    • Editor, Investigations and Podcasts, GBH News, Jan. 2025-Oct. 2025
    • GBH News Interim Investigative Editor, GBH News, Aug. 2024-Jan 2025
    • Deputy Investigative Editor, GBH News, July 2022-Aug. 2024
    • Senior Investigative Reporter, GBH NEWS, July 2019-July 2022
    • Clinical Instructor of Investigative Journalism, Boston University College of Communication, July 2019–July 2022
    • Senior Investigative Reporter and Educator, New England Center for Investigative Reporting, Aug. 2013-July 2019
    • Business Reporter, The Boston Globe, Aug. 2008-Aug. 2013
    • Reporter/Investigative Reporter, The Orange County Register, Jan. 1998-Aug. 2007
    • Freelance reporter, The Boston Globe, Sept. 1994-January 1998
    • Reporter, The San Juan Starr, Sept. 1989-Aug. 1994
  • IRE experience, including conferences and workshops attended and committee service:
    • Member of the Conference Committee, planning for 2026 IRE conference in National Harbor, Maryland
    • Panelist, Writing short: Narratives don’t have to be long! Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference, New Orleans, LA. June 21, 2025
    • IRE Contest Committee screener, 2024
    • Moderator and speaker, Investigating Forced Labor in the United States and Abroad, Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference, Orlando, FL., June 23, 2023
    • Panelist, “Into the Darkness: Reporting on Human Trafficking,” Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference, Denver, June 24, 2022
    • Moderator, “Meet the author,” Investigative Reporters and Editors, to discuss updated version of “Investigative Reporters Handbook.” Sept. 23, 2020, Remote
    • Panelist, “Finding data for local investigations,” Investigative Reporters and Editors, March 7, 2020, New Orleans, LA
    • Panelist, “How to make data findings come to life on radio,” Investigative Reporters and Editors, March 7, 2020, New Orleans, LA
    • Speaker, “Women in Journalism meetup,” Investigative Reporters and Editors, March 8, 2019, Newport Beach, CA
    • Instructor, taught several day-long and weekend-long investigative journalism clinics for professional reporters across the country, as staff member of the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, in collaboration with IRE, 2013-2019
    • Attendee, IRE, 2016, New Orleans, LA
    • Attendee, IRE, 2015, Philadelphia, PA
    • Attendee, IRE, 2014, San Francisco, CA
    • Attendee, IRE Data Journalism Bookcamp, 2013, Columbia, MO
    • Attendee, IRE, 2012, Boston, MA.
  • Expertise:
    • Investigative journalism
    • Training/Education
    • Leadership/management
    • Public speaking
  • Related links:
  • Issues you would like to address as a board member:
    • Support journalists and a free press
    • Increase and protect access to IRE for a diverse and inclusive membership
    • Increase and support multi-media investigative reporters and reporting – including audio and short video – through outreach and training
    • Increase our base of young reporters and members through outreach and training on college campuses and smaller news organizations

Nominated by Cindy Galli, Director, Justice and Legal Reporting, MS NOW

I am pleased to nominate Jenifer McKim as a candidate for the IRE board.  I have had the honor of working with Jen on the IRE Conference Committee and she is committed to our organization and to ensuring that our training remains first-class, diverse and accessible. I have also worked with Jen outside of IRE in a training capacity and she is a fantastic teacher — and collaborative when working with a group.  Jen is an experienced investigative journalist who believes in our work but also — and most importantly — in IRE's mission.  She is collegial and curious and would make an excellent addition to our board of directors.

 

Second nomination by Todd Wallack, Washington Post

Jenifer McKim is an extraordinary investigative journalist, educator and person. She has deep experience in a variety of newsrooms, including public broadcasting, which has historically been underrepresented on IRE’s board. She has a long history of collaborating with other reporters, students and news organizations. And she has a passion for exposing injustice and telling victims’ stories through her journalism. I am proud to nominate Jenifer McKim for IRE’s board.

Scroll To Top