IRE News
3 leaders share 3 tips on how to build up your investigative unit
It’s a paradox of modern journalism. For newsrooms struggling to stay afloat, an easy way to cut costs is to spend less on investigative reporting. Yet it’s often these watchdog stories that bring in (and keep) the biggest audience. Many newsrooms across the country are devoting more and more resources to investigations. But it’s not…
Read MoreCall for entries: 2016 Philip Meyer Award
It’s once again time to enter the Philip Meyer Journalism Award contest. Entries are now being accepted online, through Nov. 18. Established in 2005, the award was created to honor Philip Meyer’s pioneering efforts to utilize social science research methods to foster better journalism. The contest recognizes stories that incorporate survey research, probabilities, and other social…
Read MoreElection 2016: Watch free videos on campaign finance, advertising analysis tools
As part of our NICAR-Learn video series, we’ve released three new training videos on working with election data, specifically campaign finance and advertising. We’ve made the videos – and a few others we think might be useful for election coverage – free and available to everyone between now and Election Day. After that, the videos…
Read MoreIRE names Doug Haddix as new executive director
Doug Haddix Investigative Reporters & Editors, a worldwide organization representing more than 5,500 journalists, has named Doug Haddix as its new executive director. Haddix, director of the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism, previously worked as a training director for IRE and as an investigative editor at The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio. “The entire IRE…
Read MoreBehind the Story: How a little-known law can send you to prison for a murder you never committed
Alison Flowers (left) and Sarah Macaraeg (right) You might think you have to kill someone to be charged with murder. But at least in Illinois, you’d be wrong. In an investigation for the Chicago Reader, independent journalists Alison Flowers and Sarah Macaraeg spent several months looking into a controversial law called the “felony murder rule,”…
Read MoreNICAR, ProPublica partner to sell data to non-members
ProPublica recently relaunched its data store. As part of the relaunch, ProPublica also announced a partnership with IRE to manage sales of data sets maintained by the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR), a program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism. ProPublica will begin marketing five of IRE’s most popular data sets to…
Read MoreWhen checking your mailbox isn’t enough: 3 tips for investigating local elections
Image by Justin Grimes. Used under Creative Commons License. In September, New York Times reporter Susanne Craig checked her mailbox. Checking for snail mail wasn’t abnormal for her, but what she found was: a copy of Donald Trump’s 1995 tax returns. The document led to a notable scoop for the Times and plenty of lessons for reporters. Craig…
Read MoreIRE looks to hire new director of data services
Investigative Reporters and Editors is looking for someone with data analysis skills who enjoys tackling a variety of projects, leading workshops, working with smart and motivated students, and helping shape the future of data journalism. We’re seeking a new director of data services for IRE and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting(NICAR), a worldwide leader in computer-assisted…
Read MoreJoin IRE at our Cleveland Meetup!
If you’re in the Cleveland area, we hope you’ll join us for a Meetup on Sunday, Oct. 9. We’ll be gathering at Jukebox starting at 3 pm. This event is open to any member of our industry who has a passion for investigate reporting. Seasoned veteran? Rookie on your first beat? Student journalist trying to break into…
Read MoreBehind the Story: How IndyStar uncovered sexual abuse within USA Gymnastics
“Out of Balance” from the Indianapolis Star In many ways, the summer of 2016 was an exciting time for USA Gymnastics, the national governing body that oversees the sport and its thousands of athletes. American gymnasts were Olympic darlings. They brought home more medals in their sport than any other country in the world. However,…
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