Free webinar: Covering law enforcement

From crime stats to violence by police, reporters are tasked with cutting through red tape, rhetoric and other roadblocks when covering some of the most powerful agencies in our communities — and the country. Come to this session to learn how to report on law enforcement, how to push back when the police are trying to withhold information, and how to hold powerful law enforcement institutions accountable. Considered one of the most important beats in journalism, learn some of the best techniques on covering law enforcement from sourcing, digging into docs to crime stats and framing.

This free webinar is only available to current IRE members.

Date and Time

Thursday, November 14, 2024 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. (ET)

Speakers

Francisco Vara-Orta, IRE & NICAR (moderator)
Francisco Vara-Orta brings 17 years of newsroom experience to his role as IRE's first director of diversity and inclusion. Vara-Orta joined the IRE staff in February 2019 as a training director. While working as a trainer, he has conducted sessions on managing data and investigative reporting for journalists across the United States and internationally. He has worked for a variety of online and print publications, including Chalkbeat, Education Week, the San Antonio Express-News, Austin Business Journal, Los Angeles Business Journal and the Los Angeles Times. He earned a master’s degree in investigative/data journalism at the University of Missouri and a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

Michael Barajas, Bolts
Michael Barajas is a journalist in Texas and managing editor of Bolts, a nonprofit news publication that covers local policy, politics, and organizing around voting rights, criminal punishment and mass incarceration.

Adam Rhodes, IRE & NICAR
Adam M. Rhodes is a first-generation Cuban American journalist whose work primarily focuses on queer people and the criminal justice system. Their recent work has examined HIV treatment access in Puerto Rico, HIV criminalization in Illinois, and anti-LGBTQ+ bias in capital punishment cases across the country. Rhodes was most recently a staff writer and social justice reporter at the Chicago Reader, and they have been published in outlets including BuzzFeed News and The Washington Post.

Ticket Price

• Free for current IRE members. You must still go through the ticketing/registration process so Zoom info can be sent prior to the webinar

Location

The workshop will be held online via Zoom, registered attendees will receive login information before the webinar.