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The 2026 Golden Padlock Award Nominees
The 2026 Golden Padlock Award Nominees Investigative Reporters and Editors has named its finalists for the 2026 Golden Padlock Award, honoring the most secretive public agency or official in the U.S. The 2026 award celebrates four finalists for their outstanding achievement in the art of keeping public interest information hidden from the public. “Undermining the…
Read MoreIRE Announces New ‘Diana Fuentes Service to IRE Award,’ Names Liz Lucas First Recipient
IRE Announces New ‘Diana Fuentes Service to IRE Award,’ Names Liz Lucas First Recipient The staff of Investigative Reporters & Editors has named Liz Lucas, former IRE senior training director, as the recipient of the inaugural Diana Fuentes Service to IRE Award, named in honor of IRE’s late executive director to recognize outstanding volunteer contributions…
Read MoreLynnie McIlvain joins IRE as director of development
IRE is pleased to announce that Lynnie McIlvain, most recently of InvestigateWest, will join the team as director of development on May 18.
Read MoreSign up for the IRE 2026 mentor program
Sign up for the IRE 2026 mentor program Applications are now open for the mentorship program at IRE 2026 in National Harbor. If you’re joining us for the conference, you can fill out this form to sign up as a mentor or mentee. IRE will match mentors with mentees and arrange for them to meet…
Read MoreConference resources available again
Conference resources available again Tipsheets, slides, session recordings and other resources from recent IRE & NICAR conferences are available again at this link. Logged-in members can browse this list of resources, which is a temporary fix while we finalize the import functionality of the new IRE Resource Center. ⚠️ Note: You must be a logged-in,…
Read MoreWhat 700 Deaths Couldn’t Prove: Investigating Institutional Failure Without Intent
By NaBeela Washington On July 15, 2025, a lightbulb went off at an evening “unveiling.” I sat in a room full of residents and community organizers while Northwestern University researchers presented Chicago’s heat vulnerability index. Graphs flashed on the screen. Neighborhood-level data. Risk factors mapped to census tracts. The kind of granular information that could…
Read MoreIRE Recognizes Legacy of Late Executive Director Diana Fuentes with Ring of Honor Nomination
IRE Recognizes Legacy of Late Executive Director Diana Fuentes with Ring of Honor Nomination March 22, 2026 — Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Board of Directors voted Sunday to nominate the organization’s late Executive Director Diana R. Fuentes for induction into its Ring of Honor. Fuentes was completing her fifth year as the leader of IRE…
Read MoreIRE mourns the loss of Executive Director Diana R. Fuentes
IRE mourns the loss of Executive Director Diana R. Fuentes March 20, 2026 — A message from IRE Board President Josh Hinkle: Dear IRE members and the broader journalism community, I’m reaching out on behalf of IRE’s Board and staff with a heavy heart. I’m so sorry to share the news that our executive director,…
Read MoreDon’t know what to attend at NICAR26? The IRE staff is here to help!
So you’ve landed in Indianapolis. You’re at the JW Marriott. You’re checking the schedule and….. whoa. It’s pretty overwhelming, right? With more than 200 hours of programming spanning nearly a week, it’s hard to plan what to see, who to talk to and when to go where. But the IRE staff is here to help…
Read MoreSign up for the NICAR26 mentorship program
Sign up for the NICAR26 mentorship program (January 27, 2026) — IRE is now accepting applications for the NICAR26 mentorship program! Our annual data journalism conference is taking place March 5-8, 2026 in Indianapolis. If you’re joining us for the conference and are hoping to get (or give) one-on-one guidance, you can sign up for…
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