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IRE Journal
IRE Radio Podcast | Navigating Nonprofits
Americans donate about $300 billion a year to charities, with about 30 percent of that taking place in December. But not all charities are good stewards of donated dollars. For our last podcast of 2014 we’re talking about how to investigate nonprofits and charities. Here’s the lineup: Justin Elliott of ProPublica talks about investigating the…
Read MoreAUDIO: How to find specific forgotten victims
At the 2014 IRE Conference, a panel of three journalists, moderated by New England Center for Investigative Reporting senior investigative reporter Jenifer McKim, talked about finding how they found forgotten victims and tackled overlooked issues. Senior citizens in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, Detroit citizens unfairly affected by the city’s recent bankruptcy, black lung-afflicted…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | Housing Horror Stories
It’s a special Halloween episode of the IRE Radio Podcast, and this week we’re telling some housing horror stories. Here’s the lineup: Marisa Kwiatkowski of The Indianapolis Star talks about her story “The exorcisms of Latoya Ammons,” which became the most-read story in the Star’s history. Kate Berry of American Banker explains “zombie foreclosures” and…
Read MoreAUDIO: How to track and report on gun violence
There is no perfect or universal way to classify a mass shooting. As such, reliable, nuanced data on the topic is sparse. And further complicating the reporter’s job is the way even the most human stories can become fuel for the right-versus-left fire. It’s with these challenges in mind that three reporters and researchers came…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | Hazardous Health Care
It’s not easy prying information out of hospitals and health departments. On our podcast this week we’ll hear from journalists who successfully negotiated for the data or documents they needed to fuel an investigation. Here’s the lineup: Gary Dotson of the Belleville News-Democrat shares the paper’s 2012 story about the state’s failure to investigate after…
Read MoreAUDIO: How to structure your story
You’ve done all of your reporting and now it’s time to write, but how do you structure your story? Jacqui Banaszynski, winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing, explored this issue during the 2014 IRE Conference in San Francisco, demystifying the process and offering insight on how to think beyond the traditional inverted…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | Policing the Players
You don’t have to be a full-time sports reporter to investigate athletes. This week we’re looking at sports investigations on several levels: college, military and professional. Join us for tips on getting around secretive athletics departments and digging deeper when players get in trouble. Here’s the lineup: Tom Roeder of the Colorado Springs Gazette discusses “Broken…
Read MoreAUDIO: Tips for getting key sources to talk
Investigative reporters spend months on story basics, building data and documents. But without the right sources, even the most telling facts can read a bit, well, boring. With that in mind, four battle-tested investigative reporters spoke at the 2014 IRE Conference on the topic of building trust with sources. Ellen Gabler, of the Milwaukee Journal…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | The dark side of the oil & gas boom
Think oil and gas stories are just for reporters in a few key states? Think again. There are more than 1.1 million active oil and gas wells in 36 states. On this podcast we’ll explore the dark side of the oil and gas boom with journalists who have investigated elements of the industry. Here’s the…
Read MoreAUDIO: The data-driven story from start to finish
New to data reporting? Anthony Cormier, Sarasota Herald-Tribune; Jaeah Lee, Mother Jones; Rob O’Dell, The Arizona Republic; and Shawn McIntosh, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution walked journalists through their tips at the 2014 IRE Conference. Make it your job to develop good reporting habits. Keep track of data in relation to your reporting, like bankruptcy filings for…
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