The early bird deadline for 
The 2025 Freelance Fellowship Recipients
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI: Investigative Reporters and Editors is proud to announce the finalists for its 2015 Golden Padlock Award celebrating the most secretive government agency or individual in the United States. “There is a unique brand of courage displayed by public officials who deny, delay and circumvent the public’s right to know with a straight-faced sense of duty,”…
Read MoreHave an idea for a great IRE Conference session that’s not on the schedule? There’s still time to make it happen. Starting today you can submit ideas for Pop-up Panels at the conference in Philadelphia. You have until noon on Wednesday, June 3 to propose a 60-minute session. After that, conference attendees will be able…
Read MoreIf you’re having seafood for dinner, there’s a chance it was caught by a slave. That’s what the Associated Press uncovered when reporters traveled to the remote island of Benjina, Indonesia. They found workers trapped in cages, forced to work 22-hour days for almost no pay. And when they followed the fish, they learned some…
Read MoreDo you shy away from stories about science? Worry about making global climate stories fit with local coverage? Struggle to make your audience care about science and environmental topics? A three-hour workshop on Sunday, June 7 will help you accurately communicate scientific information and give you practical ideas to ramp up your science and environmental…
Read MoreProjects investigating medical centers, government corruption and immigration law have been awarded IRE Freelance Fellowships this year. The winners of the 2015 competition are: Emma Jacobs, First Place, is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-area radio and television journalist. Her project will examine a law firm specializing in immigration law and the impact of its work on families trying…
Read MoreDoes your investigation involve complex legal questions? Maybe you’re trying to access sealed court records, communicate with confidential sources or fight for public records. We’ll have three opportunities for IRE Conference attendees to talk with legal experts in one-on-one or small group settings. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press will hold office…
Read MoreWhile many of our hands-on classes still focus on using software, we recognize that it can be incredibly helpful for journalists to sit down with an expert guide to usher them through the process of turning data into a story. So we’re offering something a little different this year at the IRE Conference in Philadelphia…
Read MoreWatch the trailer for “1971” Before Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Wikileaks, there was the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI. In March 1971, eight citizens broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, took hundreds of secret files and shared them with the public. The files revealed massive political surveillance by the…
Read MoreStarting today IRE members can vote online for the IRE Board of Directors. Ballots will be sent to the primary e-mail as listed in your membership profile. So far seven people have declared candidacy; six of the board’s 13 seats are up for election this year. To learn more about the candidates, click here. No one has declared candidacy…
Read MoreRachael Bale Rachael Bale worked at The Center for Investigative Reporting on environmental stories about pesticides and mining, crime and justice stories, among other topics. She also worked as a freelance reporter for KQED public radio, the Bay Area’s NPR affiliate. She just moved to Washington D.C., where she intends to freelance. In 2012 she…
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