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Students discuss the Missouri Investigative Journalism Workshop for an episode of the IRE Radio Podcast.
On this special episode, students at the Missouri Investigative Journalism Workshop discuss their experiences at the weeklong summer program. Investigative Reporters & Editors supported the workshop, which was held at the Missouri School of Journalism. Corey Johnson of the Tampa Bay Times and Paula Lavigne of ESPN served as guest instructors.
Host: Matthew O'Stricker of Woodward Academy (Georgia)
Guests: Renee Born of Olathe North High School (Kansas), Ellianna Cierpoit of Blue Valley North High School (Kansas) and Kaden Meyer of Washington High School (Missouri).
Music: Sunday Morning by Podington Bear
Production: Sarah Hutchins, IRE & NICAR
The 2019 IRE Conference in Houston.
Nearly 2,000 journalists attended the 2019 IRE national conference in Houston last week — a record number. The previous record had been 1,860 attendees at the 2016 IRE Conference in New Orleans.
In addition, IRE membership reached a record high in May: 6,178 members.
Those milestones are featured in the "State of IRE: 2019" report, now available online. During the annual membership meeting at the Houston conference, IRE Executive Director Doug Haddix and Board President Cheryl W. Thompson also shared other records that IRE set during this fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Haddix and Thompson highlighted the year in IRE training, which included 69 events that reached more than 5,500 journalists, educators and students.
They also detailed progress in diversifying IRE committees, contest screeners and judges, and speakers at national conferences. For instance, journalists of color made up 30 percent of speakers at both the NICAR conference in March and the IRE conference this month. Half of NICAR speakers were women, and nearly 60 percent of speakers were women at the Houston conference.
IRE members returned two incumbents and elected four new members to the organization’s board Saturday.
Incumbents Steven Rich (The Washington Post) and Cheryl W. Thompson (NPR) will be joined on the board by Bethany Barnes (Tampa Bay Times), Jodie Fleischer (WRC-TV NBC4, Washington, D.C), Cindy Galli (ABC News) and Brian M. Rosenthal (The New York Times).
Other candidates for the board were Matt Carroll (Northeastern University) and Rachel Polansky (NBC2 Fort Myers, FL),
Board members serve two-year terms, with seven seats up for election during even-numbered years and six seats up for election in odd-numbered years.
After the election, the newly configured board selected members of the Executive Committee for the coming year: Cheryl W. Thompson, president; Lee Zurik, vice president; Jodi Upton, treasurer; Jill Riepenhoff, secretary; and Nicole Vap, at-large member.
The membership also elected two members to the Contest Committee: Carrie Levine (Center for Public Integrity) and Kameel Stanley (USA TODAY Network).
Investigative Reporters and Editors has named Michigan State University as the winner of its annual Golden Padlock Award recognizing the most secretive U.S. agency or individual.
MSU was selected for this national honor for keeping sweeping sexual assault scandals under tight wraps, including serial abuse by disgraced team doctor Larry Nassar and hundreds of student complaints against faculty, staff and students. Last year, the attorney general’s special counsel accused the university of trying to “stonewall” the Nassar investigation, saying MSU officials were disingenuous in their commitment to transparency by issuing misleading public statements and withholding key documents. That secrecy reached well beyond Nassar's case.
Last year, MSU officials refused to release records detailing whether 38 of its top officials faced misconduct investigations, the Lansing State Journal reported. MSU also fought to withhold names of athletes in campus police records until a 2015 state supreme court ruling awarded ESPN the records.
In a separate 2017 case, MSU took the remarkable step of suing ESPN in response to a similar request for police reports involving student athletes. The lawsuit was dismissed when a judge concluded the lawsuit could "dissuade persons from making FOIA requests...out of fear of being sued by a public body."
“The secrecy tactics employed by MSU to hide the exploitation and abuse of students under its care were sophisticated and effective,” said Golden Padlock committee chair Robert Cribb. “Hiding hard truths and undermining the public’s knowledge of a national tragedy in an effort to protect the university’s reputation has distinguished MSU as a worthy recipient of this honor.”
IRE invited MSU officials to attend the 2019 IRE Conference and receive the honor. No response was received.
“Sadly, we had a lot of competition for the Golden Padlock Award again this year,” IRE Executive Director Doug Haddix said. “As long as officials keep taking extreme measures to suppress information, we’ll keep calling them out for their blatant disregard of the public trust.”
Golden Padlock judges also awarded a special “Local Padlock” recognizing government secrecy in Houston, the location of the 2019 IRE Conference. Former Houston Mayoral Press Secretary Darian Ward received the honor for spending time on the city's payroll working on side projects — including reality TV show pitches — instead of answering reporters' questions. She also tried to hide her emails, which showed she was distracted with priorities that had nothing to do with serving the people of Houston, from public release. After the news broke, Ward resigned and later pleaded guilty in court to conducting personal work on the taxpayer's dime and was granted probation. IRE notified Ward of the prize but did not hear back from her.
To learn about the 2019 finalists, click here.
FINALISTS
JUDGES
CONTACT:
Robert Cribb, Golden Padlock committee chair: 416-579-0289; rcribb@thestar.ca
Doug Haddix, IRE Executive Director: 573-882-1984; doug@ire.org
The 2019 IRE Conference begins Thursday. Below you'll find some information to help you prepare for the conference!
For up-to-date information about panels, speakers and special events at the conference, please visit our conference website. Thank you to our co-hosts and sponsors for supporting IRE19!
The conference is taking place at the Marriott Marquis Houston, 1777 Walker Street, Houston, TX 77010.
Registration opens at 3 p.m. (closing at 6 p.m.) on Wednesday and will be available Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the Texas Foyer located on level 4 of the Marriott Marquis Houston. Be sure to bring photo identification when picking up your name badge.
It's going to be a typical June in Houston: warm and rainy. See the 10-day forecast.
Wireless internet is provided to all conference attendees. Thanks to Gray Television for sponsoring the wireless internet this year.
Network/SSID: IRE_Conference
Password: GrayTV1
Room monitors will be stationed in the hallways during sessions and will be happy to answer your questions.
(Thanks to Advance Local for sponsoring the mobile app this year)
We're giving you several ways to track the full schedule of panels, hands-on classes and special events with accurate, up-to-the-minute details:
Show & Tell sessions allow you to share your investigations with colleagues from around the country. Veteran broadcasters will moderate each session. Each slot runs for 15 minutes. One-on-one mentoring sessions will also be available during the conference with Al Tompkins, Barry Nash and Company, and Maria Mercader. Learn more and sign-up for any of these broadcast options here.
Tweeting from the conference? Use #IRE19 to follow the action.
Be sure to check out the list of IRE special events and partner events taking place this week. And take a moment to stop by Texas Foyer on level 4 to see the exhibitors and recruiters taking part in the conference.
Investigative Reporters & Editors is committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of race, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical ability, age, appearance or religion.
IRE supports vigorous debate and welcomes disagreement, while maintaining a civil and respectful community. Discriminatory or harassing behavior is not permitted.
IRE may take any action it deems appropriate to deal with those who violate our principles, including exclusion from our events, forums, listservs and the organization itself.
This code of conduct covers all participants in IRE events and is in effect the entire time from the beginning until the end of our conferences.
If you feel threatened or in immediate jeopardy during an IRE event, you should call building security by calling 0 from a house phone, or local police by dialing 911.
During the scheduled program, concerns can be brought to the attention of IRE staff or board members in person. Staff members will have red ribbons on their name badges, and board members will have blue ribbons. To report a possible violation, email conduct@ire.org.
The 2019 IRE Conference app is now available through Guidebook!
We encourage you to download our mobile guide to enhance your experience in Houston. You’ll be able to plan your day with a personalized schedule, browse maps and connect with other attendees.
The app is free and compatible with iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches and Android devices.
To get the guide, choose one of the methods below:
Investigations today are full of data, documents and computer programming, but that wasn’t always the case. On this bonus episode, we’re sharing audio from the 2019 CAR Conference. Data journalism pioneer James B. Steele discusses his work with longtime reporting partner Donald L. Barlett. He also offers tips for finding stories and staying curious.
You can find the podcast on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play. If you have a story you think we should feature on the show, drop us a note at web@ire.org. We’d love to hear from you.
Looking for links to the stories and resources we discussed on this podcast? We've collected them for you.
Dusting (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
These Times (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Palms Down (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Up Up Up and Over (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Abby Ivory-Ganja and Kelly Kenoyer co-produced this episode. IRE Editorial Director Sarah Hutchins edits the podcast. We are recorded in the studios of KBIA at the University of Missouri.
Starting today, IRE members can vote online for the IRE Board of Directors and Contest Committee. Ballots will be sent to the primary e-mail listed in your membership profile.
Six of the board’s 13 seats are up for election this year. Four incumbents decided not to run for new terms. Members will also be voting for two members of the Contest Committee, which judges the IRE Awards. To learn more about the candidates, click here.
After your vote is cast, it cannot be changed. Please be mindful that candidates for the IRE board and the contest committee have the option of joining the race up to June 14 (5 pm CDT).
If you’ll be joining us in Houston for the 2019 IRE Conference, you’ll have a chance to hear from the board candidates in person. A short forum will be held at 6:15 p.m. on Friday, June 14, immediately following the Showcase Panel. You’ll still have a day to vote online after the forum.
Voting closes at 6 p.m. CDT on Saturday, June 15. Results will be announced shortly afterward during the annual IRE membership meeting and later posted online. To learn more about the voting process, click here.
Jill Geisler
Jill Geisler, a prominent national expert on newsroom leadership, will be a featured speaker during two sessions at the 2019 IRE Conference in Houston.
Geisler, an internationally known management consultant, author and former TV journalist, holds the Bill Plante Chair in Leadership and Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago. She also is the Freedom Forum Institute Fellow in Women’s Leadership.
Geisler is the author of Work Happy: What Great Bosses Know, a popular book for managers in any field. She wrote the book as an extension of a column and podcast that she produced over several years. Her podcasts have been downloaded more than 13 million times. For 16 years, she worked on the faculty at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. Previously, she spent 25 years at WITI-TV in Milwaukee in several roles: reporter, anchor and ultimately vice president for news.
She will be featured in two sessions:
We're offering more than 200 panels, hands-on classes and special presentations. Learn how to improve reporting and storytelling across all platforms.
“Investigating Trumpworld” will be the featured Showcase Panel on Friday, June 14, at the 2019 IRE Conference in Houston.
The fast-paced panel brings together award-winning journalists from print, radio and TV to offer behind-the-scenes stories and advice about some of the biggest investigations during the Trump Administration. Pierre Thomas of ABC News will moderate the panel, which includes:
The panel will shed light on key documents and data that can help journalists in any community investigate wealthy individuals, companies and foundations. The journalists also will offer advice on developing sources to help you navigate through sticky financial wickets. They’ll also talk about how to deal effectively with pushback and attacks on your work from powerful people — even the president.
We're offering more than 200 panels, hands-on classes and special presentations. Learn how to improve reporting and storytelling across all platforms.
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