On the Road
Taking CAR 2011 home
There is plenty to take home from the CAR Conference, whether or not you made it to Raleigh, N.C. The four-day conference offered hands-on training of new analytical resources, along with dozens of other tips for journalists. With so much information, it’s good to take the next few weeks to process it all. IRE staff…
Read MoreConsider giving a lightning talk
Editor’s note: Lightning Talks is one of more than 100 sessions being offered at the 2011 CAR Conference in Raleigh Feb. 24-27. This session consists of short, (no longer than five minutes), presentations proposed and voted on by conference attendees. See the current proposals and votes here. By Michelle Minkoff IRE Member Some quick notes…
Read MoreCensus offerings at CAR conference
Confused by the 2010 Census? Not sure of the difference between the decennial census and the annual American Community Survey? Worried about data issues? Looking for fresh census story ideas? If so, the 2011 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference has you covered. If you haven’t registered, you have until noon (CST) on Monday, Feb. 14, to register…
Read MoreAsk, and often you receive
By Doug Haddix, IRE training director A public records request for e-mails sometimes can produce quick-turn watchdog stories with powerful results. Take the experience of John Russell, a business reporter for The Indianapolis Star. Russell sharpened his investigative skills during a two-day IRE watchdog boot camp in Nashville for Gannett employees. The training was one…
Read MoreSharpen rural coverage
By Doug Haddix, IRE training director Plenty of watchdog stories are waiting to be told in small towns and rural areas across America, says Daniel Gilbert of The Wall Street Journal. “There aren’t enough of us (reporters) in rural areas, so there are lots of opportunities to plow new ground,” he told participants at an…
Read MoreDon’t be a stenographer and other tips from a Pulitzer Prize winner
By Mark Horvit, IRE Executive Director Nigel Jaquiss has a strong but simple message for those who cover local government: “Do not be a stenographer.” Jaquiss, a Pultizer Prize and IRE Award winning reporter for the Willamette Week in Portland, offered a series of recommendations to help those who cover local government do more than…
Read MoreDig into local leaders
By Doug Haddix, IRE training director Reporters should make one to three calls a day to sources whom they don’t need for a deadline story. That’s the most effective way to develop sources who’ll come through for you later with ideas and help, according to Ryan Gabrielson of California Watch. Gabrielson spoke during an IRE…
Read MoreIRE census training in Vegas plus webinars
Investigative Reporters and Editors will present a half-day census workshop Oct. 4 during the SPJ national convention in Las Vegas. Full details are online at http://www.spj.org/c-halfday.asp. USA TODAY database editor Paul Overberg and IRE training director Doug Haddix will lead the in-depth sessions. You’ll leave with story ideas, a better understanding of how to use…
Read MoreQuick fix to tame PDFs
By Jaimi Dowdell, IRE training director A couple of weeks ago, I was teaching at a computer-assisted reporting boot camp in San Diego. The class had been through spreadsheets and databases, and I was finally demonstrating how to deal with pdf’s. After showing some online options, I walked the class through my old stand-by: XPDF. If…
Read MoreBe active with records requests
By Doug Haddix, IRE training director Getting public records often takes far more effort than filing a written request and simply waiting for the juicy documents to arrive. “It’s reporting, not requesting,” says Shawn McIntosh, public editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The best reporters realize that a written public-records request usually is just one step…
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