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Justice Department seizure of AP phone records has dangerous implications
The Justice Department’s seizure of telephone records from editors and reporters of The Associated Press was an attack against a free press with dangerous implications for the ability of journalists to gather information, the president of Investigative Reporters and Editors said Tuesday. “This is what police states do, not governments of the people,” IRE Board President…
Read MoreICIJ discusses offshore project for broad-ranging audience
IRE hosted a Google Hangout on Tuesday with members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, who discussed their ongoing investigation into offshore banking secrets. The reporting began with a leaked cache of 2.5 million records, and has since involved — at last count — 86 journalist in 47 countries. Viewers from all over the…
Read MoreCalling for IRE Contest judges
We need two thoughtful and committed judges for the 2013 IRE Contest Committee! They will be elected by the membership at the Annual Membership Meeting in San Antonio. What are you getting into if you say yes? You will learn so much from your colleagues work. We guarantee you will feel good about what you…
Read MoreIRE announces winners of Freelance Fellowship competition
A strong group of stories were submitted to IRE for the IRE Freelance Fellowship competition. The winners of the Freelance Fellowships for 2013 are: Wally Roberts, for his story on abuse in the nation’s largest nursing homes; Leah Bartos, for her work regarding shoddy forensic work; Erin Segal, for her work on misunderstood aspects of…
Read MoreIRE April 2013 Membership Drive
A big “Thank You” to all who participated in another successful membership drive! The results of the drawing are: 1st Place – Kate Perry, The Florida Times-Union3 Hotel nights and registration for the 2013 IRE Conference in San Antonio 2nd Place – Abby Rapoport, KNXV-PhoenixTwo years of free IRE Membership 3rd Place – Lori Jane…
Read MoreColumnist Charles Davis named dean of University of Georgia’s journalism school
Longtime IRE Journal FOI columnist and University of Missouri professor Charles Davis has been named dean of the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Davis has enlightened IRE members with his FOI column in every issue since 2000. “Charles has the ability to effortlessly cut through obfuscation and bureaucratic smokescreens to…
Read MoreInvestigating the Cleveland missing and rescued women case
On Monday, three young Cleveland women who had been missing for nearly a decade were found alive and, according to authorities, appeared unharmed. Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight were kidnapped and held for years as prisoners inside a house in Cleveland. Police arrested the house owner, Ariel Castro, 52, and his two brothers, Pedro Castro, 54 and Onil Castro,…
Read MoreSons of well-known reporters are latest deaths in violence against Mexican journalists
Two men were killed by gunmen in Chihuahua, Mexico, Saturday morning who are both sons of different well-known Mexican journalists, Reuters reported. A spokesman told Reuters that the deaths of the two men were unrelated to their parents’ professions. The incident prefaced another later that weekend in which authorities found seven people dead in a…
Read MoreIRE seeks nominations for inaugural government secrecy award
Investigative Reporters & Editors, Inc. is launching a new award — dubbed the Golden Padlock — recognizing the most secretive publicly-funded agency or person in the United States. It is calling on journalists and the public for worthy nominees. “This honor acknowledges the dedication of government officials working tirelessly to keep vital information hidden from…
Read MoreBehind the Story: NICAR data leads to OSHA investigation
In October, the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting sent an email over its listserv announcing that updated data were available from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Ron Shawgo of the Journal Gazette of Indiana then realized the paper had never examined OSHA data for Indiana. So he requested the data. Through his analysis, he…
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