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Posts by Alena Rehberger
IRE Radio Podcast | Building chemistry in your newsroom
A good reporter-editor relationship can make or break your investigative project. This week is all about building chemistry in the newsroom. Here’s the lineup: Alexandra Zayas and Chris Davis of the Tampa Bay Times talk about working together on the 2012 series “In God’s Name.” Alison Young and John Hillkirk of USA TODAY walk through…
Read MoreBehind the Story: High-stakes testing in Norwegian schools subject to corruption
By Shazia Sarwar A series of investigative reports by Verdens Gang (VG) in 2013 exposed that principals at all primary and secondary schools in Oslo, Norway’s capital, were given personal incentives and salary benefits in secret working contracts and on the basis of student results on national tests. The investigation found a significant correlation between…
Read MoreA Canadian journalist reflects on the IRE Conference
By Stanley Tromp, IRE member and independent journalist If anyone thinks that investigative reporting is a sunset profession, this idea was obliterated for me after I attended the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ superlative conference in San Francisco in late June. There, some of the toughest and sharpest investigative reporters in the United States shared their…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | Scandals at the VA
Welcome to another episode of the IRE Radio Podcast. We’re excited to announce that this podcast is now available on iTunes. Subscribe to have the latest episode automatically download to your phone, computer or tablet. This week we’re talking about investigating veterans issues, past and present. Here’s the lineup: Dennis Wagner of the Arizona Republic…
Read MoreImprove your watchdog skills for just $10 this summer
It’s the best deal you can get in the nation’s capital. For $10, you can learn investigative techniques from some of the best journalists in the country. Yes, $10. IRE’s Watchdog Workshop will be held in Washington, D.C. on August 13. The workshop will take place at the AAJA annual conference, but it’s open to all…
Read MorePetition offers journalists a chance to support Risen
Last month, more than 1,600 IRE members gathered in San Francisco for training and to discuss the biggest issues facing our craft. Chief among them was the threat of government actions against investigative journalists and their sources, as underscored by Lowell Bergman’s keynote speech, a panel on whistleblowers including Daniel Ellsberg and a showcase panel…
Read MoreBehind the Story: How KATC exposed problems with early animal euthanasia in Louisiana
Video by KATC-Lafayette You don’t need to work in a large newsroom to pull off an investigative story with impact. Earlier this year KATC-Lafayette’s Tina Macias and Allison Bourne-Vanneck revealed that in 2013 a Louisiana animal shelter euthanized a quarter of the dogs that passed through its doors in less than four days – the…
Read MoreHow to break through the secrecy surrounding the death penalty
Journalists from four states recently joined IRE to discuss coverage of the death penalty and execution secrecy. Ziva Branstetter, Chris McDaniel, Brian Haas and Della Hasselle shared reporting tips, story ideas and more during the 45-minute Google+ Hangout. Here are four tips from the chat: When you look into lethal injection practices, don’t stop at…
Read MoreIRE Conference audio available for download
Couldn’t make it to all of the sessions on your IRE Conference wish list? We’ve got audio from nearly every panel and session. Full-length recordings are only available to IRE members. Some short audio clips will be made available to the public using Soundcloud. To access conference audio, log in to IRE website and go…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | Cracking the Crime Stats
Welcome to another episode of the IRE Radio Podcast. On this week’s episode we’re talking about crime – everything from fact-checking police stats to building databases to track gun violence. Here’s the lineup: Michael Berens of The Seattle Times gets things started with a story about an odd beam of light, some dead rabbits and…
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