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Learn to write code, build a web scraper at our September workshop
IRE and the University of Missouri Journalism School are offering a special workshop Sept. 4-7 that will introduce the basics of newsroom programming by teaching how to build one of the simplest but most useful tools in a data journalist’s toolbox: a web scraper designed to automate the downloading of data. The workshop will also…
Read MoreBehind the Story: The Desert Sun’s investigation into off-duty Marine deaths
Brett Kelman | The Desert Sun In 2011, three car crashes caught the attention of Greg Burton, executive editor of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, California. The first involved a 100 mile-per-hour road race that led to a deadly wreck at a park. The other two also ended with fatalities. All three involved Marines. The news…
Read MoreIRE and Esri mapping fellowships awarded
IRE and Esri, the leading commercial publisher of geographic information system (GIS) software, have awarded 13 fellowships to attend Esri’s annual International User Conference and IRE’s mapping bootcamp. Fellowships to the User Conference July 13-17 in San Diego were awarded to: Leslie Griffy, Independent journalist Chris Hanson, KTRK-Houston Glenn Howatt, The Star Tribune Ingrid Lobet, Houston Chronicle Hoa Nguyen,…
Read MoreIRE announces winners of Freelance Fellowship competition
Projects investigating segregation, health care and cold cases have been awarded IRE Freelance Fellowships this year. Winners of the 2014 competition are: Maya Dukmasova, for her work on segregation and public housing in Chicago. Arthur Kane, for his work investigating the Affordable Care Act as well as marijuana legalization in Colorado. Lee van der…
Read MoreNew webinar focuses on data journalism for broadcasters
KTVB-Boise investigative reporter Jamie Grey explains how to get started on data projects, offering story ideas and tips for visualizing data on air. She walks through several examples including: Finding stories in airport and flight data Analyzing interstate crash data using basic Excel techniques Charting population change using driver’s license data Using county jail data…
Read MoreNICAR releases updated Death Master File, for cheap
The NICAR Database Library has just updated the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File (DMF), which is now current as of Nov. 30, 2013. We purchased the last full copy of the data available before the Social Security Administration changed the rule around access, limiting the most recent three years of data (and most likely…
Read MoreIRE, Esri partner to offer fellowships for mapping training
IRE and Esri have partnered to offer fellowships to attend mapping training at the 2014 Esri International Users Conference from July 13-17 in San Diego or the IRE Mapping Boot Camp from August 8-10 at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Mo. The users conference fellowships cover airfare and four nights lodging, and the boot camp fellowships cover airfare and three nights lodging. The users conference schedule includes attendance…
Read MoreConsider running for the IRE Board of Directors
2014 Board Election Schedule May 1 – Period to declare candidacy for the IRE Board begins May 30 – Deadline for candidates to file to appear on the initial ballot June 9 – Voting period begins, candidate statements posted online June 26 – Deadline to get on the ballot June 28 – Candidate forum at 6…
Read MoreDo universities play a role in student suicides?
By Nikhila Henry, The Times of India Photo from the The Struggle Committee for Justice for Mudasir Kamran Facebook page Can the dead talk? In rare cases they do. Mudassir Kamran, a 25-year-old Kashmiri student hanged himself in a single bed hostel room at English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, India on March 2, 2013.…
Read MoreBehind the Story: The Indianapolis Star’s probe into the billion-dollar deer farming industry
Ryan Sabalow It’s like a gold rush. There’s money to be made, but the cost of those riches is a host of harmful, unintended consequences. A recent Indianapolis Star investigation uncovered evidence linking lucrative deer farming operations to the spread of invasive lice and diseases such as bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease in wild…
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