Your identity and your reporting: A workshop with Andrea Ball

Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society for Features Journalism are partnering to bring you this workshop by Andrea Ball, of the Houston Chronicle:

Find Out Who You Are And Do It On Purpose: How to use what you have to do great work.

We can talk all day about interviewing, investigating, writing and FOIAs. What we don't talk about is the thing that affects everything: Who we are. If we pay attention to who we are, we can lean into (or away from) what makes us tick, helping us see and execute stories like no one else can.

This session focuses on some of the qualities that make us unique: life experience, instinct, personality, empathy, voice, connection, self awareness and control. And we'll look at great stories that illustrate all of this.

This webinar is free to all IRE and SFJ members. You must be a current IRE or SFJ member to attend.

Date and Time

Tuesday, June 10, 2025 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. (ET)

Speakers

Andrea Ball, Houston Chronicle 
Andrea Ball is an investigative reporter at the Houston Chronicle. Over the last three decades, she has written about local and statewide issues, including policing, foster care, social services and psychiatric hospitals. Andrea is a passionate advocate of narrative writing. She uses storytelling techniques in as many stories as possible. Before joining the Chronicle in January 2023, Andrea worked as a reporter for USA Today and the Austin American-Statesman. Her work has been recognized by National
Headliners, IRE, SPJ/Sigma Delta Chi and Texas APME. She was part of the Austin American-Statesman team named a 2023 Pulitzer finalist for its work on the Uvalde school shooting.