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Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) shares in the disappointment and sadness across our industry in the wake of recent layoffs at well-known traditional news outlets and in many smaller markets, which have received less attention but are just as devastating.
The cutbacks hurt journalism’s mission to inform the public. Yet, while fewer resources are disheartening, we cannot give up. There is a reason why the founders of the United States saw fit to include journalists in the First Amendment, and we at IRE are marshaling our resources and offering our strongest support to our colleagues, whose work is the very foundation of democracy.
From its beginnings in 1975, IRE has maintained a network of like-minded, fearless journalists who help each other in times of need, be it debugging a bit of code or finding a new job. And IRE members continue to do that today.
Here are some specific ways that IRE members can help today:
Investigative Reporters and Editors is a grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative journalism. IRE was started in 1975 with the goal of providing a forum for journalists throughout the world to share story ideas, news sources and newsgathering and data analyzing techniques. Its first conference was in 1976. It continues to educate, empower and connect journalists today, now with three conferences annually: NICAR in the spring, IRE in the summer and AccessFest, an all-virtual conference in the fall designed to increase accessibility and affordability of IRE’s top-of-the-line training. Members also have access to workshops and webinars throughout the year, as well as thousands of tipsheets and other resources online. The IRE network is thriving, with members reaching out to each other regularly online to resolve individual technical and content issues. If you’re not yet a member, join IRE here.
With the 2024 elections right around the corner, IRE is offering a new series of webinars, workshops, panels and hands-on classes to help equip journalists to better cover local, state and federal elections.
Join us for "2024 Elections - Where to begin?" at 1 p.m. ET on November 3 to kick off this series. Hear five experienced journalists from diverse backgrounds and platforms talk about where to begin covering the elections:
This free webinar is only for IRE members. If you are a member, you can register here. If you’d like to become an IRE member, join here.
In the coming year, IRE will gather experienced journalists to lead sessions on how to background political candidates, develop story ideas for local elections, analyze campaign finance data, investigate voting rights violations and more. Many of these workshops will be free to IRE members. Sign up for IRE’s biweekly newsletter, Quick Hits, to learn about what’s coming up next in this series.
"Informed citizens are essential to democracy, and journalists are essential to ensuring citizens are informed," said IRE Executive Director Diana Fuentes. "IRE is committed to providing journalists across the United States with accessible, affordable training and the tools they need to cover the volatile 2024 elections. It's tough but exciting work, and we're here to help."
Investigative Reporters and Editors opens doors for investigative journalism.
While we serve more than 5,300 members of IRE, the nonprofit also works to advance investigative reporting standards in newsrooms around the world through numerous educational initiatives. Together, these efforts ultimately benefit society at large through a more informed public and greater accountability from forces of wealth and power.
The ways that IRE “opens doors” takes many forms. To close out 2022 with our end-of-year giving campaign, we will spotlight eight different IRE members who can speak to a different door that IRE helped open in their work as reporters and editors.
Your support will help IRE continue to open doors for investigative journalism. Please consider donating online at ire.org/donate or by texting “4IRE” to 41444.
Gunita Singh is a staff attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press where she works on litigation, policy, and amicus work, primarily around state and federal freedom of information laws while also helping reporters and news organizations with records requests.
Opening Doors Video Testimonials - Gunita Singh by Gwen Ragno and Matt McCabe
“Working with IRE has been so meaningful, just knowing that we are getting those resources into the hands of investigative reporters who have such a pressing need to get information and records and documents from government agencies.”
- Gunita Singh
Tony Plohetski is an award-winning journalist whose work spans print, television and digital media. A veteran investigative reporter at the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE, he obtained surveillance footage from the Uvalde elementary school massacre that contradicted the official police narrative and proved failures in response to the gunman.
Opening Doors Video Testimonials - Tony Plohetski by Gwen Ragno and Matt McCabe
“Oftentimes, these are ongoing investigations or ongoing stories where you have to keep moving forward in the face of backlash (…) The most important things that I've gotten from IRE are just those resources and that level of support — people who can cheer you on during the course of your watchdog or investigative reporting.”
- Tony Plohetski
Alexandra Kanik is the data visualization editor for the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. A longtime NICAR teacher, she is an exceptional educator and advocate for journalist training. Kanik brings numbers to life — and wants to help others do the same.
Opening Doors Video Testimonials - Alexandra Kanik by Gwen Ragno and Matt McCabe
"To really understand the nuance of code and how to work with data as it pertains to journalism, I had to go elsewhere; I had to go outside of my organization (…) I never would have been able to get there, to learn how to work with data had it not been for IRE.”
- Alexandra Kanik
Mc Nelly Torres is an editor at the Center for Public Integrity and the 2022 Gwen Ifill Award winner. She was the first Latina elected to IRE’s board of directors and frequently speaks at IRE conferences and training events. Catch up with her (if you can) for a selfie at one of IRE’s upcoming conferences!
Opening Doors Video Testimonials - Mc Nelly Torres by Gwen Ragno and Matt McCabe
“We all get together, we learn about each other and then we go home and we deploy that knowledge. And that creates really good investigative journalism.”
- Mc Nelly Torres
Matt Wynn was a student worker at IRE while attending the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He left the investigative team at USA Today to establish the Nebraska Journalism Trust and Flatwater Free Press in 2021. His first two reporting hires? Both IRE members and former student workers.
Opening Doors Video Testimonials - Matt Wynn by Gwen Ragno and Matt McCabe
"IRE is so vital to the highest calling of this industry. There is a lot of journalism that doesn’t matter and stuff that gets done in the name of journalism that doesn't matter. IRE almost uniquely trains people for the stuff that does."
- Matt Wynn
Zahira Torres is the editor for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative unit, a first-of-its-kind collaboration to publish investigative reporting for and about Texas. Previously at the El Paso Times, she was the first Latina and second woman to serve as the newspaper’s editor in its more than 100-year history.
Opening Doors Video Testimonials - Zahira Torres by Gwen Ragno and Matt McCabe
"It's not just about checking a box, it's about making sure that our journalists are truly reflective of the communities they serve."
- Zahira Torres
Willoughby Mariano is an investigative reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she focuses on housing and criminal justice issues. She was president of the Asian American Journalists Association’s Atlanta chapter and chaired the national AAJA convention in 2019.
Opening Doors Video Testimonials - Willoughby Mariano by Gwen Ragno and Matt McCabe
"It is giving young investigative reporters, who look a little bit more like me – who are not white – the opportunity to not only learn the tools of the trade, but to not feel so lonely in the craft."
- Willoughby Mariano
Zaneta Lowe is an award-winning anchor and investigative journalist at News Channel 3 WREG-TV in Memphis. On top of her work mentoring colleagues in her own newsroom, she has mentored younger IRE members at conferences and currently serves on the regional planning committee for NICAR23.
Opening Doors Video Testimonials - Zaneta Lowe by Gwen Ragno and Matt McCabe
"Being a newsroom leader is second nature. It's something that I feel is part of my job, literally, to share information, share the knowledge that I gain, and to help younger reporters."
- Zaneta Lowe
Thanks to the IRE members featured in this end-of-year campaign. Thanks also to every single member of IRE for your important investigative work. Finally, thanks for your donation to open doors for investigative journalism. Your contribution will go toward supporting fellowships and educational programming that will ensure a brighter future for all.
Donations can be made at ire.org/donate or by texting “4IRE” to 41444.
A USA TODAY investigation shows repeated instances in which small aircraft crashes, deaths and injuries were caused by defective parts and dangerous designs, casting doubt on the government's official rulings and revealing the inner workings of an industry hit so hard by legal claims that it sought and won liability protection from Congress.
Wide-ranging defects have persisted for years as manufacturers covered up problems, lied to federal regulators and failed to remedy known malfunctions, USA TODAY found. Some defective parts remained in use for decades — and some are still in use — because manufacturers refused to acknowledge or recall the suspect parts or issued a limited recall that left dangerous components in hundreds of aircraft. The manufacturers involved paid hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements that received little or no public attention until now.
To see all of the content, visit the project landing page.
$40-billion missile defense system proves unreliable | Los Angeles Times
The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, or GMD, was supposed to protect Americans against a chilling new threat from "rogue states" such as North Korea and Iran. But a decade after it was declared operational, and after $40 billion in spending, the missile shield cannot be relied on, even in carefully scripted tests that are much less challenging than an actual attack would be, a Los Angeles Times investigation has found.
The Missile Defense Agency has conducted 16 tests of the system's ability to intercept a mock enemy warhead. It has failed in eight of them, government records show.
Nebraska prison doors open too soon | Omaha World-Herald
The examination of prison records revealed that Nebraska Department of Correctional Services officials had released or were set to release dozens of prisoners years before their sentences were supposed to end.
All told, state officials had carved at least 750 years off the collective sentences of more than 200 of the state’s worst criminals. The problem: The department was using a formula that doesn’t square with how sentences should be calculated.
After The World-Herald revealed its findings Friday to Corrections Director Michael Kenney, he immediately directed staff to recalculate the sentences. He said he had been unaware of the problem.
Friends want probe of 77-year-old's death after arrest | Springfield News-Leader
Branson residents are questioning why city police arrested a 77-year-old man with health problems on an Arkansas bad check warrant from 1996 and held him in jail for five days.
Shortly after his release from Taney County Jail, Evans E. Ray was found dead in his home. It's unclear how long he was deceased in the home before he was found.
Uncertified teachers in NY state classrooms | Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, N.Y.)
The New York State Education Department’s most recent list of teachers whose credentials do not match their teaching assignments includes 4,280 assignments in more than 1,100 schools across the state, a Central New York Media Group review of state education records found.
While employing an unqualified teacher is a misdemeanor in New York, the state Education Department does almost nothing to crack down on instances where districts sidestep certification rules. The Education Department notifies school districts of instances where teachers may lack proper credentials, but its involvement ends there. Some school districts take action to fix the problem, and others do not.
Secret Summit: 24 hours with the Koch brothers | inewsource.org
Last weekend and into today, the billionaire Koch brothers and supporters converged on the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point. This columned, luxury compound, little more than an hour north of San Diego, has 400 rooms, a spa, a golf course, a private beach and six restaurants. Staff confirmed the entire hotel — including food and beverage service — had been bought out for a special event.
An event so secret it had a code name on the schedule: “T&R Sales Meeting.”
Hotel guests who weren’t part of the conference — including two inewsource reporters who stayed the night Friday — were escorted out of the hotel by security on Saturday afternoon.
Kids with no vaccinations clustered in some schools | The Columbus Dispatch
Some Ohio schools might as well have a target painted on the side of the building as far as public-health experts are concerned.
In some schools in the state, as many as 1 in 3 incoming kindergartners and newly enrolled older students have parents who oppose vaccines, according to a Dispatch analysis of schools’ immunization counts.
Bottom line is more than meets the eyes | The Virginian-Pilot
In one of the most recent releases, Medicare published data about payments to physicians and for outpatient services.
Dr. Alan Wagner’s name stuck out.
According to the records, in 2012, he collected upward of $6 million from the government insurance for seniors, the second-highest amount among nearly 20,000 physicians and other individual providers listed in Virginia. Only a Richmond-based radiologist specializing in minimally invasive procedures ranked higher, receiving $8.2 million from Medicare.
St. Clair County doles out more than $3.3 million in settlements behind closed doors | News-Democrat (Belleville, IL)
More than $3.3 million in legal settlements have been approved behind closed doors in St. Clair County in the past 10 years -- possibly in violation of the state's Sunshine laws.
The settlements range from $900,000 to a teenage boy allegedly sexually abused at the county's Juvenile Detention Center to $1,000 to a person claiming injuries when placed under arrest by sheriff's deputies. The county admits no wrongdoing as part of the settlements. County officials released the settlements to the News-Democrat following a request through the Freedom of Information Act.
"More than $3.3 million in legal settlements have been approved behind closed doors in St. Clair County in the past 10 years -- possibly in violation of the state's Sunshine laws.
The settlements range from $900,000 to a teenage boy allegedly sexually abused at the county's Juvenile Detention Center to $1,000 to a person claiming injuries when placed under arrest by sheriff's deputies. The county admits no wrongdoing as part of the settlements. County officials released the settlements to the News-Democrat following a request through the Freedom of Information Act."
Read the full story from the Belleville News-Democrat here.
The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, or GMD, was supposed to protect Americans against a chilling new threat from "rogue states" such as North Korea and Iran. But a decade after it was declared operational, and after $40 billion in spending, the missile shield cannot be relied on, even in carefully scripted tests that are much less challenging than an actual attack would be, a Los Angeles Times investigation has found.
The Missile Defense Agency has conducted 16 tests of the system's ability to intercept a mock enemy warhead. It has failed in eight of them, government records show.
Read the full story from the Los Angeles Times here.
"The examination of prison records revealed that Nebraska Department of Correctional Services officials had released or were set to release dozens of prisoners years before their sentences were supposed to end.
All told, state officials had carved at least 750 years off the collective sentences of more than 200 of the state’s worst criminals. The problem: The department was using a formula that doesn’t square with how sentences should be calculated.
After The World-Herald revealed its findings Friday to Corrections Director Michael Kenney, he immediately directed staff to recalculate the sentences. He said he had been unaware of the problem."
Read the full story from the Omaha World-Herald here.
"Branson residents are questioning why city police arrested a 77-year-old man with health problems on an Arkansas bad check warrant from 1996 and held him in jail for five days.
Shortly after his release from Taney County Jail, Evans E. Ray was found dead in his home. It's unclear how long he was deceased in the home before he was found."
Read the full story from the Springfield News-Leader here.
"The retreats drum up hundreds of millions of dollars for conservative political candidates and set policy for the Kochs’ network of political organizations, which all share the same goal — moving the country to the right.
Most of the cash is funneled through “dark money” groups that are not legally required to disclose their donors.
According to Forbes, the brothers are worth $41.3 billion.
These are the most elite and most conservative political events in the country, and for the past few years, reporters and political bloggers have attempted to gain access. Twoinewsource reporters booked rooms at the St. Regis, a five-star resort, to find out who would attend and what was on the agenda."
Read the full story from inewsource.org here.
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