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(June 21, 2025) — IRE members have elected six journalists to the Board of Directors.
Five incumbents — Jodie Fleischer of Cox Media Group, Brian Rosenthal of The New York Times, Cindy Galli, Josh Hinkle of KXAN, and Ana Ley of The New York Times — have been re-elected to the Board.
One newcomer, Caresse Jackman of InvestigateTV/Gray Media, has been elected. Board members serve for two-year terms.
IRE members also elected two members, Walter Smith Randolph and Mark Lagerkvist, to the Contest Committee, which judges the IRE Awards. Contest Committee members serve for one-year terms.
Voting was conducted virtually. Results were announced at the 2025 membership meeting at the IRE Conference in New Orleans on June 21, 2025.
IRE’s Board of Directors consists of 13 total seats and serves as the governing body of Investigative Reporters and Editors. Board members vote on IRE business, serve on committees and task forces, and raise funds for the organization.
The new Board will meet soon to elect officers.
(June 21, 2025) — Investigative Reporters and Editors has awarded the Don Bolles Medal for 2025 to Rocío Gallegos, editorial director and co-founder of La Verdad, an investigative news outlet she helped form in 2018 to fight the censorship and control of information that the Mexican government exerted over local news organizations.
Gallegos has courageously reported from the U.S.-Mexico border since 1994, exposing government corruption and the impact of narcopolitics, including helping to report the truth behind the murders of two other journalists. She spent her early career at El Diario and co-founded the Juarez Journalists Network in 2011 as a way for local journalists to support and protect each other. That association evolved into La Verdad after it became clear that the government was successfully pressuring established news outlets to suppress stories.
They publish at great risk — for their own safety and that of their families. But it’s not an option to be silent, she said in Spanish, through an interpreter.
“It’s very difficult to explain, and it is very difficult to understand, but there is a lot of information that has to be made public,” she said. “Information has to be made public for change to occur — change for our community and for our families, too.”
“We choose to inform,” she said. “We choose to inform regardless of the risk.”
The Don Bolles Medal recognizes investigative journalists who have exhibited extraordinary courage in standing up against intimidation or efforts to suppress the truth about matters of public importance.
Because of her example, leadership and commitment to the work, IRE selected Gallegos for the 2025 Don Bolles Medal.
“She represents the often-invisible courage of local journalists covering migration, border violence, and institutional failure. Unlike better-resourced organizations or high-profile journalists, she operates in relative isolation and under continuous threat,” said committee member and previous honoree Pelin Unker.
The seven-person Don Bolles Medal committee also included three other previous recipients: Roman Badanin, Jeremy Jojola and Eric Meyer. Kaela Malig, John Ferrugia and AmyJo Brown also served.
“It is an incredible act of character to do this work when so much is personally at risk,” said Brown, the committee’s chair. “And it’s local journalists like Rocio who we need to hold horrible power to account.”
“In this time of increasing threats and shrinking accountability, her example reminds us what real courage looks like and why we need it more than ever,” said IRE Executive Director Diana Fuentes.
The Don Bolles Medal was created in 2017 in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the Arizona Project, an effort led by IRE to finish the work of Don Bolles. The Arizona Republic investigative reporter was killed in 1976 by a car bomb in retaliation for his reporting.
Bolles' death came a few days before the first national IRE conference in Indianapolis, where the veteran reporter had been scheduled to speak on a panel. At the time, Bolles had been investigating allegations of land fraud involving prominent politicians and individuals with ties to organized crime.
After his murder, nearly 40 journalists from across the country descended on Arizona to complete his investigation. News organizations across the country published their findings.
Their message: Efforts to suppress the truth will be met by even greater efforts from the rest of the journalism community to tell it.
(June 21, 2025) — Shredding and blocking access to records of vital public interest detailing controversial federal government actions has earned Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) the 2025 Golden Padlock Award from Investigative Reporters and Editors. The award celebrates annually the most secretive government agencies in the U.S.
DOGE was chosen from a competitive field of contenders on the strength of aggressive secrecy measures including removing itself from the transparency requirements of access to information legislation, having staff use outside computer servers and communication tools featuring disappearing messages and the mass firing of public servants, including those responsible for speaking to reporters.
A federal judge who ordered DOGE to release public records in March described the agency as operating in "unusual secrecy." In the process of dismantling USAID, DOGE ordered the shredding of documents by staff who then placed the remains in bags labelled "SECRET."
IRE's Golden Padlock committee also named four other finalists that exemplified the techniques of secrecy and obfuscation the award seeks to highlight.
The winner of the 2025 Golden Padlock Award was announced during the awards luncheon at the IRE Conference in New Orleans. IRE invited Musk and DOGE officials to attend and accept the award, but received no response.
(May 19, 2025) – Investigative Reporters and Editors has named its finalists for the 2025 Golden Padlock Award, recognizing the most secretive public agency or official in the U.S.
This year's competition highlights a competitive field of government agencies and public officials who have distinguished themselves in the art of secrecy.
"From surreptitiously shredding public records to masking the impacts of serious government failures to undermining the principles of open courts, these finalists have distinguished themselves in the field of bureaucratic opacity," said Robert Cribb, chair of IRE’s Golden Padlock Committee. "We honor them for the lengths they have gone to ensure the public interest does not threaten personal expediency.”
The finalists for the 2025 Golden Padlock Award are:
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice under President Trump, for their remarkable and ongoing lack of transparency around using the Alien Enemies Act to ship more than 238 Venezuelans accused of Tren de Aragua affiliation to a notorious El Salvador prison. The lack of transparency extends to the locations, criminal history, alleged gang ties and even the current well-being of the people sent to a prison linked with human rights violations. The administration refused judicial orders, citing vague and unverified national security concerns and fired at least one lawyer who acknowledged government mistakes in court. The government has still not released a public list of those sent to the prison. The men’s families and their legal counsel have mostly relied on a list published by CBS News to learn the fates of the 238.
The City of Columbus and Mayor Andrew Ginther: Hours after news broke that hackers had stolen a massive cache of data from the City of Columbus in 2024, Mayor Andrew Ginther told reporters the information was encrypted and posed no risk to citizens. But the hackers dumped much of the data on the dark web and, with the help of a whistleblower, NBC4 was able to show that this stolen data included social security numbers and driver's license information for hundreds of thousands of people, crime victim information and undercover officer identities. After the news broke, the city sued the whistleblower source, issuing a temporary restraining order to silence him, only dropping it after he agreed to stop sharing the data with the media and help the city with their investigation. City officials have since refused interviews and delayed public records requests. To date, they have still not acknowledged why the mayor told the public their personal data was not at risk. The city is now facing two class actions over the handling of the data.
The administration of Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, for fighting to change transparency laws to avoid releasing data about the state’s criminal justice system. Most notably, after the state’s FOIA commission ordered the administration to release the case-level data requested by CT Insider and others, the administration instead hid a new exemption in a 351-page budget bill — avoiding debate. The exemption imperils the public’s access to even more state records, allowing any agency to reject an open record request for records created by other agencies.
The Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk: The mass firings of federal employees and dramatic reshaping of government by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has unfolded with little of the transparency expected of federal agencies. The Trump administration contends DOGE is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The staff has used outside computer servers to conduct its work and an app that features disappearing messages to communicate. A federal judge who ordered DOGE to release public records in March described the agency as operating in "unusual secrecy." The DOGE-led dismantling of USAID included staff being ordered to "shred" documents and place the remains in burn bags labelled "SECRET." And DOGE efforts to downsize government also triggered 10,000 layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services including the entire FOIA office at the Centers for Disease Control. This is happening under the auspices of the Trump Administration, which has scrubbed 150,000 pages of public information and data from government websites, a volume The Internet Archive's director has called "unprecedented" in scope and scale.
Minnesota's Ramsey County Judge Joy Bartscher, for ordering the destruction of public court records and barring journalists from reporting on treatment failures that contributed to a double murder. The record — a sentencing memo — detailed how an outpatient treatment facility repeatedly ignored clear warning signs that a man with a history of violence had relapsed before killing two men. After the memo was briefly posted to the court’s website, Bartscher not only ordered its removal but also blocked KARE 11 reporters from publishing its contents. Under threat of contempt, reporters were forced to withhold information learned from the memo. KARE 11 successfully challenged the gag order before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which ruled the judge’s actions unconstitutional. Yet to this day, the public still cannot access the memo through the court’s website but can read it only through media coverage.
The winner of the 2025 Golden Padlock Award will be announced during the awards luncheon at the IRE Conference on Saturday, June 21, in New Orleans.
(May 15, 2025) – Investigative Reporters and Editors’ premier investigative and data journalism training is just a few clicks away this fall, with a major gift to celebrate IRE’s 50th birthday!
The 2025 AccessFest Conference will take place online Thursday, Oct. 9, through Saturday, Oct. 11. IRE is thrilled to announce registration will be $50 for all journalists and educators for a limited time.
After Sept. 8, registration will go up to $199. Students can register anytime for a flat rate of $50. IRE membership is required to attend the conference.
The super-duper discount rate was approved by the IRE Board of Directors last month, as another way to recognize IRE’s rich legacy of educating and empowering journalists since 1975.
“We’ve listened to our members over the years: traveling to a conference or taking an extended period of time off isn’t always feasible, especially as newsrooms face financial constraints, budget cuts, and backlash against inclusivity,” said Francisco Vara-Orta, IRE’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion. “We hope this special rate will help us provide training during a politically turbulent time when high-quality journalism is of the utmost importance.”
Each year, AccessFest seeks to foster important conversations around belonging, equity and inclusion in the journalism space – both within the newsroom and in news coverage. This IRE conference is virtual by design, created with the goal of expanding IRE training to journalists around the world in a more accessible and affordable format.
The conference will include sessions on reporting and writing skills, investigative techniques, public records, newsroom leadership, career advice, and more. Check out last year’s schedule for a glimpse of programming.
The keynote conversation is always a highlight at AccessFest, featuring intimate, in-depth conversations with journalists who set the gold standard for what belonging, equity and inclusion look like in journalism. This year, IRE is honored to announce that Sara Luterman of The 19th and Wendy Lu of The New York Times will join in conversation for the AccessFest keynote.
Luterman is the Disability and Aging Reporter at The 19th. She previously worked at WNYC’s Radiolab and has written for The Nation, The American Prospect and The Washington Post. In 2023, she was a Long Term Care Crisis Fellow at the National Press Foundation. Her reporting at The Nation has been previously shortlisted for the Deadline Club Mosaic Award, which recognizes excellence in “coverage of disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, social justice, equity and inclusion.”
Lu is a deputy editor on the Flexible Editing desk at The New York Times and a global speaker on disability representation in the media. She is also a board member for the National Center on Disability and Journalism. Her debut middle-grade novel, “Casting April,” about a talented disabled girl who will do anything for a chance at the spotlight, will be released next summer.
“As the umbrella expands in our minds on what DEI means to each of us, these conversations are pivotal to better serving our communities with all its vibrant intersectionality,” Vara-Orta said. “We look forward to our members hearing this powerful conversation built off of years of work by journalists with disabilities that came before us, remain among us and will make it better for generations of all of us to come.”
AccessFest is one of IRE’s three major conferences each year. The 2025 NICAR Conference took place in Minneapolis earlier this year. The 2025 IRE Conference will take place June 19-22 in New Orleans.
As IRE plans ahead for AccessFest, the team is seeking ideas and feedback for the conference. Please fill out this form by July 27 – no suggestion is too small.
Registration for AccessFest is open now. IRE membership is open to journalists, educators and students. Learn more about member benefits and join today.
(May 13, 2025) – Investigative Reporters and Editors is helping journalists and students around the country attend the 2025 IRE Conference in New Orleans.
Thanks to the help of our generous sponsors and donors, IRE was able to offer more than 60 fellowships for this year’s conference. This cohort of fellows represents newsrooms and colleges across the country. IRE is eager to host and offer them the best of our training.
Congratulations, IRE25 fellows!
Established in honor of the late David Dietz, award-winning journalist and past president of IRE, this fellowship supports early-career journalists who have a demonstrated interest in financial investigative reporting.
Established to honor late IRE member Eric B. Sager, who worked mainly in trade publications, this fellowship supports U.S. and independent journalists.
Established by longtime IRE member David Jackson to honor trusted Chicago Tribune colleague Gary Marx, this fellowship supports U.S.-based college journalism students and early-career journalists.
Established by former IRE board member Nancy Stancill and her family in memory of her father, Godfrey Wells Stancill (who was an editor and publisher of the Suffolk News-Herald), this fellowship supports journalists working for newspapers with a Sunday circulation of under 50,000.
Established by several individual IRE members and new organization sponsors, this fellowship is intended to support journalist of colors and prepare them for a solid career in investigative reporting. In 2023, the fellowship was renamed in honor of murdered journalist Chauncey Bailey.
Named in honor of Dr. James Richard Bennett, professor emeritus of English at the University of Arkansas, this scholarship supports journalism students in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
Funded by the Jeff German Fund for Investigative Journalism, this fellowship is meant to help continue the kind of game-changing reporting late Las Vegas-Review Journal reporter Jeff German devoted his life to producing.
Established by former IRE president David Cay Johnston to honor his wife, Jennifer Leonard, this fellowship supports women who are college journalism students or early-career professional journalists.
Established to honor and memorialize Mike Levine, a columnist and executive editor of the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, NY, this fund supports journalists working in daily or weekly print news organizations or digital-only news outlets.
Established by the Napoli Management Group, this scholarship supports early-career TV journalists interested in investigative reporting.
Established by ProPublica, this fellowship supports U.S.-based journalists, educators and students of color; those in the LGBTQ+ community; and those with disabilities.
Established by family and friends of late IRE member Sandra Thomas, this fellowship supports journalists working to shine a light on the environment and find better ways to preserve it.
(May 9, 2025) — Investigative Reporters and Editors will mark its 50th anniversary with a gala in September, an elegant evening of camaraderie and entertainment paying tribute to the outrage that has driven investigative journalism since 1975.
The fundraiser, the first of its kind in IRE’s history, is set for Sept. 15 at Gotham Hall in the heart of New York City. Guests will enjoy elevated dining, lively conversation and a spirited auction, woven into an unforgettable experience honoring some of the top names in news.
“IRE is responsible in many ways for the development of modern investigative journalism,” said Brian M. Rosenthal, the IRE Board President and investigative reporter for The New York Times. “It has trained tens of thousands of reporters and editors and maintained high standards in the industry. And at a time when fact-based journalism is under threat, IRE has never been more important.”
Co-chairs of the event are Paul Sagan, chair of ProPublica; AG Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times; and Judy Woodruff, senior correspondent at PBS NewsHour. Funds raised go toward the nonprofit organization’s vital training programs.
The honorees who will be recognized at the gala represent milestones from each decade since the organization’s founding in 1975:
“These stars of journalism, who all received training at IRE, exemplify the power and future of journalism, the very foundation of democracy,” said IRE Executive Director Diana Fuentes. “We are proud to celebrate their contributions to our industry and look forward to a memorable evening reflecting the heart and soul and never-quit passion for truth we all share.”
The 50th Anniversary Gala is a fundraiser, with tables starting at $10,000. Find more information here.
The gala is just one of the many ways that IRE is marking its 50th anniversary.
The biggest event is IRE25, our annual conference set for June 19-22 in New Orleans, with a special programming track dedicated to the past, present and future of investigative journalism; a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Jim Steele; a reunion for longtime members; and a celebratory riverboat cruise.
The organization recently hosted a virtual “Titans Talk” featuring IRE founders Len Downie Jr., legendary Washington Post editor who oversaw the Watergate coverage, and Indiana State Rep. Ed DeLaney, the organization’s first attorney. Another virtual event, planned for May 28, will feature a conversation with several of IRE’s executive directors through the years.
More 50th anniversary events will be announced in the coming months.
Learn more about IRE’s history and upcoming anniversary celebrations here. To support our mission and help us continue this work, visit our online donation page.
April 30, 2025 — IRE is going back to school! With the pressing need for high-quality investigative journalism today, Investigative Reporters and Editors is expanding efforts to nurture a new generation of watchdog reporters.
A pilot program of IRE student chapters is in place across the country. The goal is to introduce more students to the organization and bring investigative training to college campuses.
Within just a few months of launching, there are now IRE student chapters at Boston University, Arizona State University, Northwestern University and the City University of New York’s Newmark Graduate School of Journalism — with more in the works.
Chapter meetings serve as a chance for students to gather, network and learn about investigative journalism topics, from how to FOIA records to finding your place in the industry. Guest speakers have included some of the best journalists in the field — Jason Leopold from Bloomberg; Walter Robinson, Matt Carroll, Stephen Kurkjian, Patricia Wen from the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team; and veteran New York journalist Tom Robbins.
“What stood out in all these conversations is how investigative reporting demands creativity and persistence. When the trail goes cold, how do you keep digging? That's the kind of thinking we hope to inspire,” said Cherry Salazar, president of CUNY’s IRE student chapter.
This initiative, led by longtime IRE members on our Academic Task Force, reflects a significant interest in investigative journalism on college campuses. Students and educators make up about 25% of IRE’s membership. IRE’s last major event, the NICAR Conference in Minneapolis, hosted about 1,000 attendees, with nearly one-third being students.
“Students and professors play a crucial part in the organization,” said IRE Board Member and CUNY chapter advisor Andrew Lehren. “They are on IRE conference panels. They are part of our meetups in cities across the country. Their outstanding work is recognized each year in the IRE Awards.”
This year’s winners in the Student (Large) category were reporters at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland and Boston University. Their months-long investigation shows how — despite reforms — lobbyists fund travel for U.S. House of Representatives and their staffs.
CUNY’s NYCity News Service was recognized as a finalist for their reporting exposing deaths and injuries in poorly regulated daycares, as well as wage theft in daycare centers in New York and nationally.
“Student” journalism has been a vital voice on college campuses for years. Northwestern’s Medill Local News Initiative recently wrote about how college students are filling coverage gaps in communities where newspapers are struggling. The University of Vermont's Center for Community News has undertaken great efforts to support college journalists in this effort.
From The Independent Florida Alligator's investigation into the university president's finances to the Daily Northwestern's exposé on hazing in the football program (just to name a few examples), students across the country are producing great work and proving you don’t need to wait for graduation to start your investigative career.
Another key aspect of IRE’s student chapters is offering mentorship from experienced investigative journalists, Lehren said.
“These efforts are all part of the ways that IRE works to teach student journalists real-world skills from top investigative reporters so they will be better prepared for their careers when they graduate.”
Students can join IRE for $25/year. In addition to our conferences, student members have access to thousands of tipsheets and free webinars throughout the year, opportunities to attend regional workshops and bootcamps, and a community of nearly 5,000 journalists to lean on for support.
IRE also has a mentorship program with Journalism Mentors, so you can connect with IRE members to get advice on investigative journalism or navigating the media industry.
The IRE Academic Task Force includes: Jodie Fleischer (chair), Andy Lehren, Mark Greenblatt and Maggie Mulvihill (subcommittee co-chair).
About IRE: Investigative Reporters and Editors is a grassroots nonprofit organization providing training, resources and a community of support to thousands of journalists around the world. Membership is open to journalists, educators and students. Learn more about membership requirements here.
Interested in sponsoring a student member? Follow this link.
As part of IRE's 50th anniversary and spring member drive, we’re sharing some of the biggest moments in investigative journalism since 1975.
(April 15, 2025) — When most people think of investigative journalism, they think of “Spotlight.”
The biopic follows The Boston Globe’s investigative unit as it uncovers decades of sex abuse by priests of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and how church leaders covered it up. The original newspaper series was published more than 20 years ago, by reporters Matt Carroll, Sacha Pfeiffer, Michael Rezendes and editor Walter V. Robinson.
How did a team of journalists expose an institution as renowned and secretive as the Catholic Church?
“The Catholic Church was an unconventional target for the Spotlight Team,” Sacha Pfeiffer wrote for The IRE Journal in 2003. “For much of its (history), Spotlight had carried out its mission of exposing corruption by taking on municipal and government institutions, like bad cops, crooked politicians and corrupt public agencies.
At the same time, newspapers across the country had been writing stories for years about clergy sex abuse … but most of those stories focused on isolated cases of abuse, and on the actions of individual priests rather than church officials.”
But in 2001, when newly-named editor Martin Baron arrived at the Globe, he carried with him a story by Globe columnist Eileen McNamara that said records in a child sex abuse lawsuit against Cardinal law and other church officials had been sealed by a judge. If the case were settled out of court, common practice at the time, the records would “never see the light of day.”
Baron asked the Spotlight Team to investigate, and asked the Globe’s attorney to assess the chances of overturning the judge’s order. The Catholic Church would never be the same.
The Spotlight team spent months researching the Boston archdiocese, interviewing victims, and digging through church records and directories. The newspaper’s legal arm fought to get those court documents unsealed. Their first story, “Church allowed abuse by priest for years” (2002) made an unprecedented impact in Boston and beyond.
Rezendes reflected on the series for Spotlight’s 50 year anniversary, telling The Globe in 2021 that they were expecting protests when the story was published. They were surprised when, instead, they were met with an outpouring of calls from readers and other victims.
“It was like a dam bursting,” Rezendes said. “Suddenly, all these victims realized, ‘Hey, I’m not the only one.’ What happened in Boston that week reverberated around the world, with literally tens of thousands of victims coming forward.”
Pfeiffer explained the team’s reporting process and her shared her reflections in The IRE Journal, writing in 2003:
“The story has been a refreshing reminder that newspapers should not shy away from questioning even society’s most revered institutions. It also has renewed our belief that there are always ways to extract information from seemingly impenetrable institutions.
Throughout this project, our extensive contact with victims has demonstrated the immense value of reaching out to readers, who are often rich repositories of information. And our investigation has taught us that there is no substitute for documents to prove a case of this magnitude. In the end, the church’s own files were its downfall, and the Globe’s decision to go to court to unseal them was worth the resources it took to do so. Other newspapers would be well-served to do the same.”
Read Sacha Pfeiffer’s IRE Journal column here.
The article has been made publicly available from the IRE Resource Center, which is home to thousands of journalism tipsheets, stories, audio recordings and other resources to help enhance your reporting. The Resource Center is available for free to IRE members, and it's just one of our many member benefits!
Learn more about member benefits and join IRE today.
(April 11, 2025) — Investigative Reporters and Editors has a longstanding history of teaching journalists and students across the country. Along with planning our own events, our training team and longtime members also teach at conferences hosted by our partner organizations.
“This outreach helps reinforce our belief in collaboration and that all journalists can use watchdog techniques in their work,” said Francisco Vara-Orta, IRE’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion. “We’re grateful to our partners for opening their doors to us and always welcome them at our events in the spirit of collaboration, especially as we all collectively strive to help journalists do better work.”
So far this year, IRE staff and members serving as guest speaking ambassadors have attended the World Journalists Conference in Seoul, the Religion News Association and SABEW Conferences in Washington, D.C., and the SPJ Region 8 Conference in Texas.
Here’s where else IRE will be throughout 2025:
Jeff German Investigative Workshop | April 11-12
IRE is partnering with Weber State University to host the Jeff German Investigative Workshop April 11-12. We’re bringing in speakers from Salt Lake Tribune, FOX 13 Utah, and other local newsrooms to teach watchdog techniques and digital security tips. The workshop honors Jeff German, a longtime IRE member and Las Vegas-Review Journal investigative reporter killed in 2022.
SEJ Conference | April 22-26
Society of Environmental Journalists is hosting their annual conference at Arizona State University. This year’s theme is “Heat, Water and Growth: Confronting the Past, Surviving the Future.” Registration is open to SEJ members, nonmembers and students. IRE will be teaching classes on mapping and data journalism with Google Sheets.
AHCJ Conference | May 29-June 1
The Association of Health Care Journalists is hosting their annual conference for journalists, health care professionals, policymakers and other experts. IRE will teach classes on accessing health data and barriers trans people experience with accessing health care. Registration is open to AHCJ members, nonmembers and students.
Last year, IRE partnered with AHCJ to host a series of webinars on investigating the business of health care.
EWA National Seminar | May 30-31
The Education Writers Association is hosting their National Seminar to help attendees cover education on the federal, state and local level. IRE will be presenting sessions on data journalism and how to cover DEI issues.
IRE Conference | June 19-22
This is IRE’s biggest conference of the year, with timely training sessions on investigative techniques and data skills, as well as celebrations for IRE’s 50th anniversary.
Registration is open to IRE members (journalists, educators and students). The early-bird rate is available through April 28, with a special discount for members who are early-career journalists, full-time freelancers or currently unemployed. Not an IRE member yet? Learn more about member benefits and join today.
MVJ25 | July 8
Military Veterans in Journalism is hosting a day of workshops and panels for veterans and military spouses in the news field. IRE will teach a session.
NAHJ Conference | July 9-12
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is hosting their annual conference, with leading Hispanic journalists and media professionals. IRE will teach a session.
ACP College Media Mega Workshop | July 10-12
Associated Collegiate Press’ annual workshop is at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus this year. It’s geared toward collegiate journalists and advisers to prepare them for their challenges going into the academic year. IRE will teach a session.
Advanced Data Journalism Bootcamp in R | Aug. 4-8
IRE’s third in-person bootcamp of the year will focus on R. This weeklong program will teach you how to use R, a powerful, open-source programming language for cleaning, analyzing and visualizing data. We'll also discuss finding and negotiating for data, solidifying your analysis, and using numbers in your stories.
Fellowships are available to help radio and TV journalists; journalists, students and educators of color; those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community; and those with disabilities. Apply using IRE’s Common App by May 6. Fellowships are also available for journalists serving rural communities. Apply by May 6.
NABJ Convention | Aug. 6-10
The National Association of Black Journalists is hosting their annual convention and also celebrating their 50th anniversary. IRE will be teaching classes on public records, verifying information online and how to incorporate watchdog techniques into everyday reporting.
IJA Conference | Aug. 13-15
The Indigenous Journalists Association is hosting their annual conference to support and enhance the knowledge and skills of journalists covering Indigenous communities. IRE will be teaching classes on backgrounding and verifying information online.
In addition to these events, IRE staff will be representing at the NLGJA Convention in Atlanta (Sept. 4-7), MediaFest25 in Washington, D.C. (Oct. 15-18), and the GIJN Conference in Kuala Lumpur (Nov. 20-24).
We're also hosting our all-virtual conference, AccessFest, in October, with dates to be announced soon. This conference offers the best programming from our in-person IRE and NICAR Conferences, as well as sessions focused on diversity, equity and inclusion in the newsroom and in news coverage.
We hope to see you soon!
If you can’t make it to one of these events, IRE offers custom training options where our trainers visit your newsroom (in-person or virtually) to teach you the skills you need. We offer classes on more than 50 topics, as well as select sessions in Spanish. Explore options and book a training today.
Want to partner with IRE? Reach out to the training team at training@ire.org.
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