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Posts by Alena Rehberger
Help us plan the 2017 CAR Conference
We’re already gearing up for the 2017 CAR Conference in Jacksonville, Florida, and we want your input. What panels do you want to attend? What tools do you want to demo? What hands-on skills are you looking to learn, or to teach? Whether you’d like to be a speaker or not, please let us know…
Read MoreHow one paper filed a FOIA request in Michigan—and got sued by the county
By Jonathan Peters, CJR Editor’s Note: This article first ran on August 2, 2016 on the Columbia Journalism Review’s website. Michigan’s primary elections, taking place today, may offer few competitive races. But one of them has offered a look at an unusual type of legal action—one in which a government entity sues a local media outlet in response…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | White Coat Criminals
A team of journalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution uncovered a nationwide phenomenon of sexual abuse in the medical community. Thousands of doctors, many still practicing, had a lurid history of sexual misconduct, their crimes hidden from the public. On this episode, we’re talking to reporter Carrie Teegardin and illustrator Richard Watkins about how they found…
Read MoreThe public records process can be messy. Muckrock hopes to tidy it up.
By Chava Gourarie, CJR Editor’s Note: This article first ran on July 14, 2016 on the Columbia Journalism Review’s website. The team behind Muckrock, a nonprofit that helps users navigate government records laws, launched a project today that aims to catalog all of the reasons state agencies give for rejecting public records requests. In doing so, they hope…
Read MoreA joint investigation complicates old narratives about public housing in Chicago
By Jackie Spinner, CJR Editor’s Note: This article first ran on July 15, 2016 on the Columbia Journalism Review’s website. In the years since officials in Chicago began to demolishthe city’s troubled public housing projects, people in the region have become accustomed to hearing stories about where the former residents of Cabrini-Green, the Robert Taylor…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | Profiting from Prisoners
Prisons have long posed a challenge for investigative journalists. And when you’re trying to report on a private prison – one owned by a company, not the government – the situation becomes even more challenging. On this episode, we’re talking to three reporters who managed to pull back the curtain on the for-profit prison system. Shane Bauer describes…
Read MoreIRE welcomes new trainer
Denise Malan is joining IRE full-time as a member of our training team in August. For the past three years, Denise has worked at the Institute for Nonprofit News in a joint position with IRE. She spent the first two years helping nonprofit news organizations around the country collaborate on data projects, then served as…
Read MoreIRE awards 3 fellowships and free training to 10 newsrooms
Ten newsrooms have been chosen for IRE’s Total Newsroom Training this year. TNT provides intense, in-house training for small and medium-sized newsrooms dedicated to watchdog journalism. This is the fourth year IRE has offered the free program. IRE also awarded three TNT Fellowships for IRE’s data analysis boot camp next month. TNT alumni are still encouraged to apply for six…
Read MoreIRE to offer half-day workshop at AAJA convention in Las Vegas
Boost your data skills for just $10 at our hands-on, half-day workshop taking place August 10, before the 26th Annual AAJA National Convention at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. Get experience working with data to help you beat the competition in any market. You’ll come away with plenty of quick-hit story ideas and also learn about…
Read MoreA nonprofit and a daily dig deep into Chicago’s handling of police misconduct allegations
By Jackie Spinner, CJR Editor’s Note: This article first ran on June 28, 2016 on the Columbia Journalism Review’s website. A pair of investigations that arrived just days apart last week—one from a small nonprofit, the other by a leading daily—brought new scrutiny to the way the city of Chicago handles allegations of police misconduct.…
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