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Posts by Alena Rehberger
Connect with IRE members in the Bay Area
Join us Monday, July 11 at 6 p.m. for the IRE Bay Area Investigators with Drinks! Invite your friends and get them to RSVP here so we have enough snacks to go around. Share what you learned at the IRE Conference and catch up with colleagues at the tropical-themed Natoma Cabana. The bar is just a…
Read MoreTips for turning your investigation into a longform, multiplatform narrative
A serial killer. An Afghan teenager in London. A porn star with an immense knowledge of shell corporations. “Gee,” you might say, “is that the cast of the latest Wes Anderson film?” Actually, these characters are all real people, featured in stories by the speakers at the “Longform Investigative Journalism: Stories on Different Platforms” panel at…
Read MoreA guide to mastering the investigative interview
Learn the rules, then break them. That’s how to excel in the not-so-delicate art of the investigative interview, according to Julian Sher, a producer of the CBC’s The Fifth Estate. Investigative journalists have their strengths: battling with officials for public records, digging through documents, analyzing Excel spreadsheets. But navigating tough interviews? Well, that can be…
Read MoreFollow the money in state, local elections
By Kaitlin Washburn Journalists from the Sunlight Foundation, National Institute on Money in State Politics, and Voice of OC discussed strategies for following the money in state and local elections. Melissa Yeager, a senior staff writer for the Sunlight Foundation, started by giving specific reasons why state and local coverage is so important: There’s more…
Read MoreA conversation with Vanessa Araiza of WBRC in Birmingham
Will Fuller and Vanessa Araiza at the 2016 IRE Conference in New Orleans.Photo: Will Fuller At the 2016 IRE Conference in New Orleans, Knight Scholar Will Fuller sat down with Vanessa Araiza, a weekend anchor and reporter at WBRC in Birmingham, Alabama. Fuller: Why journalism? Araiza: I was never a news junkie. I wanted to…
Read MoreTips for putting a human face on your data-driven story
By Soo Rin Kim There’s nothing more boring and unappealing than seeing a story full of numbers. “But it’s a data story,” you say. “I can’t help it!” Put aside your excuses. Data stories can be and always have been human stories. Mc Nelly Torres of NBC6 Miami, Andrew Lehren of the New York Times…
Read MorePanama Papers: How the world’s largest collaborative investigation came together
By Soo Rin Kim Journalists who worked on the Panama Papers came together at the IRE Conference to discuss what it take to pull off the world’s largest collaborative investigation. Chrys Wu of The New York Times moderated the panel, which included Michael Hudson, Mar Cabra and Joachim Dyfvermark. Here are some of the most…
Read More‘Spotlight’ journalists take us behind the movie, discuss the future of investigative reporting
By Emma Henderson “The truth may never be known.” That quote from an article in the Boston Globe is what motivated Marty Baron to get the paper’s Spotlight team to investigate the Archdiocese of Boston. The team’s reporting uncovered an unprecedented and elaborate cover-up of clergy sexual abuse of children. Now, more than a decade…
Read MoreA conversation with Jenise Morgan of the Florida Courier
Jenise Morgan of the Florida CourierPhoto by Akira Kyles At the IRE Conference in New Orleans, 2016 Knight Scholar Akira Kyles spoke with attendee Jenise Morgan, senior editor at the Florida Courier. Kyles: How did you fall in love with journalism? Morgan: I fell in love with journalism when I was in the 11th grade…
Read MoreReporting strategies for going beyond the traditional women’s health narrative
By Ashley Balcerzak When writing about abortion or reproductive rights, it can be difficult to move past the debate itself. Many stories lean on a formula of pro-life versus pro-choice activists and ultimately land on a somewhat expected left-leaning takeaway. At this year’s IRE Conference panel “How to investigate the war on women’s health,” Hannah…
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