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Posts by Alena Rehberger
IRE nomination call for most secretive government agency or individual
Investigative Reporters and Editors is now welcoming nominations for its third annual Golden Padlock award recognizing the most secretive government agency in the United States. “Governments have elevated secrecy into a form of high art,” said Robert Cribb, chair of the Golden Padlock committee. “We seek to honor those who have excelled in the practice…
Read MoreApply now for a Freelance Fellowship
IRE is once again offering fellowships for independent journalists who are working on investigative projects. And thanks to the generosity of IRE members and a donor who provided matching money, we’re able to offer larger fellowships this year. First place will win $2,500; second place will get $1,500 and third place will get $1,000. Applications…
Read MoreUpdated data on small business loans now available
This week we posted updated data on loans backed by the Small Business Administration. The SBA 7a database has loan records going back to 1990 (prior years available on request); fields include the name and address of the business getting the loan, franchise and industry codes, the bank lending the money, the amount loaned, and (where…
Read MoreJames Risen to headline 2015 IRE Conference in Philadelphia
James Risen We hope you’re making plans to join us in Philadelphia June 4-7 for the IRE Conference. We’ll be sharing expected speakers and panels soon, but we’re excited to announce our 2015 keynote speaker – James Risen. Risen is an investigative reporter for the New York Times, based in Washington. He was the winner of…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | The Navy’s Most Crash-Prone Helicopter
When a Navy helicopter crashed off the coast of Virginia in January 2014, Jason Paladino lost one of his childhood friends – Petty Officer Third Class Brian Collins. But instead of grieving the loss and moving on, Paladino, a journalism grad student at UC-Berkeley, decided to investigate. Working with The Virginian-Pilot and NBC News he…
Read MoreJournalists share tips, stories about getting started in the industry
Want to know how some of the biggest names in journalism got where they are today? We did. So we asked some of our 2015 CAR Conference Knight Scholars to interview conference attendees and share pieces of their conversations for our blog. Rikke Østergård Hansen Rikke Østergård Hansen, Danish Broadcasting Corporation Before Rikke Østergård Hansen…
Read MoreYou got your hands on a great data set. Now what?
By Glynn A. Hill Four journalists discussed tips for reporting out a data story at the 2015 CAR Conference in Atlanta. Steve Myers, visiting professor at Texas Christian University and special projects editor at The Lens, facilitated the panel. Speakers included James Ball, a special projects editor at The Guardian; Andy Lehren, a reporter for…
Read MoreA special Sunshine Week videos series on the NSA files
This week is Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of open government and access to public information. To honor the occasion, we’re unveiling a special video series on the NSA files. We talked with James Ball, special projects editor at the Guardian, about reporting one of the most high-stakes stories in the last decade. He discusses…
Read MoreLack of protocol revealed in Oklahoma execution
Following the April 29th execution of Clayton Lockett, the Tulsa World, along with legal representation from The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, filed a lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma. On Friday, more than 5,000 pages of interview transcripts and other records were released. The transcripts include about 100 interviews the Department of…
Read MoreWatchdogging law-breaking law enforcement
By Kasia Kovacs Ask anyone the biggest news story of the past year, and chances are you’ll hear some variation of “Ferguson” or “police shootings.” It’s a hot topic, and not without reason. After the shooting of an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Mo., the police chokehold that killed Eric Garner in New York, and the…
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