IRE Journal
Chronicling capture: how investigative journalism covers private actors usurping public institutions
Covering state capture: how do investigative journalists report on private interests taking over public institutions? By By Alexandra Gillies, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) | Published October 19, 2026 James O’Brien/Zuzanna Michalak “Those are the guys who really run the country. Everyone knows they hold the power behind the scenes.” That kind of…
Read MoreIn an era of rewritten history and disappearing data, archives are a lifeline for journalists
Greg Shea / GBH Archives By Rebecca Fraimow & Peter Higgins, GBH | Published October 1, 2026 In 2008, GBH’s investigative news program Frontline was putting together their regular special on the year’s presidential candidates: The Choice, featuring Barack Obama and John McCain. Working on a hunch, the editors went back into GBH’s local news…
Read MoreHow to Build Stories in a Data Desert
How to Build Stories in a Data Desert By Helal Al-Anwah, Aljumhuriya Media Network | Published September 15, 2026 In the United States, investigative journalists can often begin their work with a powerful tool: a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. But access to public records isn’t created equally, especially in countries more hostile to…
Read MoreLGBTQ+ inclusive data journalism is more important now than ever, here’s how to start
LGBTQ+ inclusive data journalism is more important now than ever, here’s how to start By Emilia Ruzicka | Published September 8, 2026 Inclusive reporting is more important than ever as basic democratic freedoms are under attack in the U.S. More and more, LGBTQ+ people are being excluded from spaces like public bathrooms and youth sports,…
Read MoreUsing LLMs in Data Journalism Can Be Trustworthy, If These Five Elements Are In Your Methodology
Using LLMs in Data Journalism Can Be Trustworthy, If These Five Elements Are In Your Methodology By By Jeremy B. Merrill, The Washington Post | Published August 13, 2026 Nadia Nadesan & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ AI may bode ill for the journalism industry as a whole, but for us data journalists, it…
Read MoreFemale investigative journalists still face sexual harassment and bias, new study finds
Erin Orr was at the inception of her journalism career in the 1990s, working the business and real estate beat.
As she was interviewing a source at an evening business event, the man repeatedly called her “honey,” commented on her dress, and drew her in for a lingering embrace — all in front of his wife.
Read MoreWork smarter, dig deeper: 10 AI tools for investigative journalists
Work smarter, dig deeper: 10 AI tools for investigative journalists By Benét J. Wilson, IRE & NICAR My first introduction to AI was a Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism fellowship presentation by Caitlin Dewey, a writer and occasional essayist based in Buffalo, N.Y. In it, she demonstrated 11 ways journalists could use AI in practical and…
Read MoreInvestigating religious groups? These records might help
By Liam Adams, The Tennessean I went out of my way to attend NICAR 2026 for the first time, hoping to unlock a bunch oftrade secrets for accessing records on my beat. As a religion reporter who often encounters legal hurdles for public access to internal info, I ventured up to Indianapolis from Nashville with…
Read MoreFifty years after Don Bolles’ murder, we owe it to him to continue his courage
By Jeremy Duda, Axios On June 2, 1976, Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles was backing out of a parking space at Phoenix’s Clarendon Hotel, where he’d been lured for a fake meeting, when a dynamite bomb exploded under his car. He used his last words to tell paramedics and bystanders who he thought was responsible,…
Read MoreThe Digital Fortress: Engineering a Secure, Independent Newsroom for Yemen’s ‘Republic Generation’
By Helal Al-Anwah, Aljumhuriya Media Network In the fragmented landscape of Yemen, a journalist’s most dangerous enemy is often not a bullet, but a hyperlink. A single phishing click can expose an entire network of sources, leading to detention centers rather than headlines. Since 2014, the war has shattered not only our geography but also…
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