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By Margo Smit Though from a small country half a world away, I try to make IRE conferences a regular on my calendar. And after six conferences in the last seven years, I almost feel like a veteran here. “IRE is my family,” said broadcast journalist Tisha Thompson at the IRE Awards luncheon. It feels…
Read MoreBy Alexandra Berzon My track at my very first IRE conference inadvertently ended up something that could best be described as “How to talk to people.” I found myself drawn to the panels of legendary investigative journalists candidly describing how they get people to tell them things. My favorite part of reporting is the talking-to-people…
Read MoreIf you missed the 2009 IRE Conference — or if you were there but just miss the conference — here are some online recaps and blog posts on the IRE site and elsewhere. Visit IRE’s On the Road blog for posts by Alexandra Berzon of the Las Vegas Sun, Margo Smit of VVOJ, and Dawn…
Read MoreA five-part series in The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) put the spotlight on costly state policy decisions. Stories addressed wide-ranging topics: the high cost of enforcing the state’s mandatory sentencing law for low-level felons; lack of generic drug requirements for Medicaid patients; pet projects and untracked spending; corporate tax loopholes; and the hidden cost…
Read MoreIn her ongoing series “Cashing in on Kids” which has found millions of dollars in fraud within Wisconsin’s $350 million taxpayer subsidized child-care system, Raquel Rutledge writes that hundreds of convicted criminals, including those who had physically abused children, are being licensed to run day care centers. Some of them now appear to be scamming…
Read MoreBy Steve Weinberg With all the gloom about the future of newspapers and other mainstream media, the speakers at the showcase panel “Doing great work in tough times” at the 2009 IRE Conference provided a mostly upbeat alternate conventional wisdom. Jill Abramson, New York Times managing editor, moderated the panel. She is bullish on the…
Read MoreBy Roy Harris With his first words, Bob Woodward signaled the blunt, no-nonsense tone of “Accountability Reporting and Digging Deep,” the 2009 IRE Conference showcase panel with Woodward and Leonard Downie Jr. Downie– the longtime executive editor at The Washington Post, now headed for Arizona State University–had begun the discussion by describing the 37-year reporter-editor…
Read More(This is the news release from the Knight Foundation’s announcement at the IRE Awards Luncheon, June 13, at the 2009 IRE Conference in Baltimore.) The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced a $15 million initiative to help develop new economic models for investigating reporting on digital platforms. The grants, some on-going, some…
Read MoreThe Panama City News Herald tallied farm subsidy data for Florida and examined the subsidies paid to U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd and other Congressional leaders with ties to agriculture. Matt Dixon reported that in “Boyd’s first 10 years in Congress, Boyd Family Farms has received $1.2 million in subsidy payments, ranking it 12th out of…
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