The early bird deadline for 
The 2025 Freelance Fellowship Recipients
Honoring longtime IRE member and mentor Susan Carroll By Lise Olsen, The Texas Observer As a monster storm approached in August 2017, my friend Susan Carroll arranged for others to care for her young children in order to camp out in the Houston Chronicle newsroom along busy Loop 610. She stayed there awaiting the arrival…
Read More(September 23, 2025) — Investigative Reporters & Editors and its Board of Directors join with numerous newsrooms and journalism organizations in condemning the Pentagon’s new requirement for reporters to sign a pledge limiting their ability to report without government approval in exchange for a press credential. “This unprecedented move undermines the fundamental principles of journalistic…
Read More(September 23, 2025) — Investigative Reporters and Editors joins dozens of organizations in demanding the release of detained journalist Mario Guevara. Guevara was arrested June 14 in metro Atlanta while covering a protest, then transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, where he remains. He has been detained for more than 100 days —…
Read More(September 23, 2025) — Investigative Reporters and Editors has a new fellowship in honor of the late Susan Carroll Alvarez, a fearless watchdog journalist beloved for her mentorship and leadership skills. Family members, friends and journalists around the country have raised more than $25,000 to create the new Susan Carroll Fellowship to support journalists covering…
Read More(September 18, 2025) — Investigative Reporters and Editors hosted a star-studded 50th Anniversary Gala in New York City this week, bringing together the industry’s biggest trailblazers and raising more than $1.5 million for the grassroots nonprofit. With donations from $50 to $150,000, and the support of major funders including the ProPublica Board of Directors and…
Read More(September 4, 2025) — One of Hollywood’s most celebrated stars will join a parade of journalism legends in New York this month for the Investigative Reporters and Editors 50th Anniversary Gala, honoring five decades of grit, guts and glory. Michael Keaton, acclaimed actor, director and press freedom advocate, will receive IRE’s first Champion of Investigative…
Read More(Sept. 2, 2025) — IRE Training Director Adam Rhodes will take over editing The IRE Journal, Investigative Reporter and Editors’ online publication offering stories about investigative journalism, blueprints for award-winning work, useful tips for accessing public records and much more. “I’m excited to take the helm of the publication for so many reasons, but two…
Read MoreBy Doug Meigs In towering all-caps, a 1972 Omaha Sun headline proclaimed: “BOYS TOWN: AMERICA’S WEALTHIEST CITY?” followed by a biblical quote: “‘Give an account of thy stewardship…’ (Luke, 16)” So began an eight-page broadsheet investigation into the murky finances of Boys Town, an esteemed charitable institution that Father Edward J. Flanagan (now on the…
Read MoreThe rise, fall and (possible) resurgence of FOIA audits By Jordan P. Hickey, independent journalist On Aug. 23, 1999, just after 8 a.m., regional supervisors for the Arkansas Health Department started getting phone calls from county health officials. Not exactly the most breaking news of the day, but what set those calls apart was…
Read More(July 31, 2025) — Investigative Reporters and Editors is pleased to announce Academy Award-nominee Michael Keaton, star of “Spotlight” and “The Paper,” will receive the Champion of Investigative Journalism Award at IRE’s 50th Anniversary Gala in September. The gala, IRE’s first fundraiser of its kind, will be an entertaining evening of good food and fun…
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