Posts by adam@ire.org
The rise, fall and (possible) resurgence of FOIA audits
The rise, fall and (possible) resurgence of FOIA audits By Jordan P. Hickey, independent journalist On Aug. 23, 1999, just after 8 a.m., regional supervisors for the Arkansas Health Department started getting phone calls from county health officials. Not exactly the most breaking news of the day, but what set those calls apart was…
Read MoreMichael Keaton to receive IRE’s Champion of Investigative Journalism Award
(July 31, 2025) — Investigative Reporters and Editors is pleased to announce Academy Award-nominee Michael Keaton, star of “Spotlight” and “The Paper,” will receive the Champion of Investigative Journalism Award at IRE’s 50th Anniversary Gala in September. The gala, IRE’s first fundraiser of its kind, will be an entertaining evening of good food and fun…
Read MoreCapturing global investigative journalism’s oral history
By Silas Tsang, WTOL-TV There is a new effort to document the oral history of investigative journalism around the world. It’s the brainchild of investigative reporter Adiel Kaplan at Columbia Journalism School. The goal of her project is to preserve key perspectives on how the methods and tools of accountability reporting spread globally since the…
Read MoreDespite attacks, industry turmoil, journalists declare: We are staying
By IRE staff Editor’s note: Legendary journalist James B. Steele was one of the first to join IRE after it started in 1975 and has stayed active throughout the years in the organization, serving as a mentor for countless young journalists and participating in dozens of conference sessions, among other roles. A former contributing editor at…
Read MoreReporting on an American health crisis
By Nakylah Carter, IRE & NICAR When investigating topics with large data sets, reporters have to become creative and proactive in order to include all the crucial information to make the story pop. In this edition of Data Dive in The IRE Journal, we feature two investigative data pieces about the American health crisis. In…
Read More5 essential data journalism guides from Ben Welsh’s palewire
By Nakylah Carter, IRE & NICAR This edition of “Show Your Work” compiles five essential data journalism resources from Ben Welsh’s website, palewire. Welsh, a longtime IRE member, frequently speaks at IRE and NICAR conferences. His website offers transparent guidance for others to build their data journalism skills, while also providing tips and tricks for…
Read MoreProbing the ethics of controversial brain research
By Audrey Carleton, Bruce Gil, Emily Nadal and Zachary Smith The four of us met in a classroom in midtown Manhattan in the fall of 2021 — donning masks during the throes of the pandemic. Then final-semester graduate students at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, we…
Read MoreNew survey reveals state of investigative journalism
By Gerry Lanosga, Indiana University, and Brant Houston, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Continued expansion in the nonprofit sector, a diversifying investigative workforce, and growing pessimism about the future of journalism are among the main takeaways from a broad national survey of IRE members conducted in 2023. Our survey of membership — made possible through the…
Read MoreHydrogen sulfide hotspots, regulatory failure
By Will Evans, The Examination, and Caroline Ghisolfi, Houston Chronicle We knew we had a story when Sam Birdwell answered our call and began talking openly. Birdwell had retired after a long career with the state of Texas, patrolling oil fields to make sure companies followed the rules concerning hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a toxic gas…
Read MoreReverse engineering Medicare, Inc.
By Christopher Weaver, The Wall Street Journal One doesn’t just wake up one morning and decide to reverse engineer the federal government’s convoluted Medicare Advantage payment system. Taxpayers spend billions of dollars each year on excessive payments to private insurers in Medicare Advantage, but it is shrouded in secrecy and fueled by vast reams of…
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