IRE Conference Blog
A conversation with Ian Auzenne of KATC in Lafayette, Louisiana
At the 2016 IRE Conference in New Orleans, Knight Scholar Ashley Jackson talked with Ian Auzenne, an executive producer at KATC in Lafayette, Louisiana. Jackson: Tell me about your journey and how you got into the position that you are in today? Auzenne: It starts back to 1998, when I was 10 years old. I…
Read MoreSheila Coronel delivers keynote speech at IRE 2016
.@SheilaCoronel @columbiajourn greeting her inspired students @IRE_NICAR #IRE16 #IRE2016 pic.twitter.com/1Ed4VWlJzf — Francisco Vara-Orta (@fvaraorta) June 18, 2016 By Sarah Gamard The word “family” comes up often at IRE conferences. Sheila Coronel began her keynote speech in New Orleans by saying she felt she was in a room with 1,800 cousins from all over the world…
Read MoreHold grown-ups accountable when kids fail, and other tips for covering schools
By Moriah Balingit Covering schools can be grueling and it can be easy to get caught up in the mundane. At an IRE Conference panel, Dallas Morning-News reporter Tawnell Hobbs, Tampa Bay Times reporter Michael LaForgia and University of Missouri graduate fellow Francisco Vara-Orta offered their advice on how to dig deep on the schools…
Read MoreHow two reporters came together to report and write an unbelievable story
By Sarah Gamard T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong broke down their Pulitzer Prize-winning collaboration “An Unbelievable Story of Rape” to a packed conference hall at IRE 2016 in New Orleans. Last year, Miller was working on a series about rape for ProPublica when he got a tip that police had caught a serial rapist…
Read MoreHow to deal with hoaxes, con men and frauds in your reporting
By Taeler De Haes It’s important to understand where the information you’re getting comes from. At the recent IRE Conference in New Orleans, Ira Rosen of 60 Minutes, Tony Kovaleski of KMGH in Denver and Matthew Mosk of ABC shared tips on how to spot frauds – including unreliable sources, misleading or false documents and flat-out…
Read MoreExperts share tips for prying records out of government agencies
By Andrew Kreighbaum Working on a beat where most sources prefer to remain anonymous, VICE News reporter Jason Leopold has turned to extensive and aggressive FOIA work to get officials on the record. Leopold, who covers national security, said he has 1,500 FOIA requests out at any one time. “I then seek out the people…
Read MoreCovering 21st century policing in the social media age
By Andrew Kreighbaum Washington Post reporter Kimberly Kindy said social media has had a profound role in shaping the paper’s coverage of police shootings in 2015. When someone is shot and killed by an officer, readers demand answers in real time from both authorities and the media. Quantifying the issue helps journalists answer those questions…
Read MoreSatellites and secret cameras: How the Associated Press freed 2,000 slaves
By Moriah Balingit It’s an island few outside of Indonesia had ever heard of. Accessible only half the year because of violent monsoons, Benjina is located in the southernmost portion of Indonesia. The island held a shocking secret: it was where slaves languished — sometimes in cages — before they were forced onto boats and…
Read MoreA conversation with Tonya Simpson of WTMJ-Milwaukee
Tonya SimpsonPhoto by Aliah Williamson At the IRE Conference in New Orleans, 2016 Knight Scholar Aliah Williamson spoke with Tonya Simpson, executive producer of the investigative team and special projects at WTMJ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Williamson: What interests you about investigative journalism? Simpson: I feel like all journalism is important, sharing stories and shining a light…
Read MoreHow journalists cover crime and policing in the wake of Ferguson
By Reade Levinson Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri changed the way journalists cover law enforcement. At the 2016 IRE Conference in New Orleans, civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson joined reporters Oliver Laughland of the Guardian US, Errin Haines Whack of the Associated Press, and Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post to discuss what’s next…
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