Event
2016 Salt Lake City Watchdog Workshop
Hosted by: Brigham Young University School of Communications
IRE will offer several of its core sessions, designed to improve your ability to find information on the Web quickly, point you to critical documents and data for more depth in your daily work and help you produce quick-hit enterprise stories. Workshop sessions will also give you tips on how to negotiate for records, get sources to open up and much more.
These sessions are designed for reporters, editors, and producers from small, midsize and large publications, TV, radio stations, Web-only news sites and news blogs. Freelancers, students and journalism educators are also encouraged to attend.
Join IRE's experienced trainers and a group of veteran reporters for our Watchdog Workshop Friday, October 28th from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Get the tools and the tricks of the trade that you need to be a better, faster, watchdog journalist.
This program is made possible thanks to support from the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation.
Optional Computer-Assisted Reporting hands-on training
Saturday, October 29th, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Attend this hands-on workshop and learn how to use Excel, a powerful electronic spreadsheet for deadline and beat reporting on budgets, salaries, election data and more. Also, learn how to dig deeper using the Internet and find valuable datasets for your stories. Class size is limited; register early to reserve a seat on a first-come, first-served basis.
Campus Map
Directions: Brigham Young University Salt Lake Center
Map: Brigham Young University Salt Lake Center
Parking
Attendees should enter from 400 West between North Temple and South Temple (there is a light there) into the BYU Salt Lake Center Parking Terrace. Please tell the attendant you are there for a BYU event and you will be allowed in.
Workshop Fees (includes a one-year IRE membership, if you are a current IRE member, your membership will be extended by one year. Attendees must meet IRE membership terms)
$55 Professional
$25 Student
$30 Optional Computer-Assisted Reporting Training (hands-on)
Registration Information
If you are a current member, please complete your registration online by logging into your member profile. Once you have logged in, click on my profile, next to the welcome and your name, select conferences and events on the left-hand side of the screen and the 2016 Salt Lake City Watchdog Workshop.
If you are not a current IRE member, you can still register here for the workshop online.
Cancellations must be sent via email to Stephanie Sinn, [email protected] There is a $25 processing fee for professionals ($10 for students) for cancellations until the day before the event.
Refunds will not be given for cancellations on the day of, or after the event.
Workshop evaluations
Attendees can access the workshop evaluation online. We appreciate feedback from attendees as this allows us to improve the program and provide feedback to our funders.
Time and place
Friday, Oct. 28, 2016 - Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016
BYU Salt Lake Center Auditorium, Room 101
3 Triad Center, Suite 300
345 W. North Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah 84180
Registration information
Registration for this event is open! Click here to begin.
Hurry! Registration closes on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 12:30pm.
Schedule details
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Panel
Welcome and workshop overview
Speaker: Jaimi Dowdell of Reuters
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Panel
FOI and open records
Speakers: Jeffrey Hunt of Parr Brown Gee & Loveless; Joel Campbell of Brigham Young University
Learn how to use federal and state open records laws to draft records requests the right way. Covers ways to challenge denials and keep a steady flow of information coming into the newsroom with FOI.
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Panel
Web, search and social media for investigators
Speaker: Jaimi Dowdell of Reuters
Find documents and databases on deadline with better search techniques and the invisible Web. Learn how to locate reliable websites for enterprise stories and receive guidance on the best social media tools for your next investigation.
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Panel
Bulletproofing your reporting
Speaker: Nate Carlisle of The Salt Lake Tribune
Learn how to check the facts, assumptions and public records that underpin your story. Tips for making sure your reporting, including graphics and online components, say what you think they’re saying.
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Outside Event
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Panel
Art of the interview
Speakers: Judy Fahys of InsideClimate News; Howard Berkes of NPR
Learn strategies to prep for interviews, approach sources, handle tough situations, navigate ethical trouble-spots and more.
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Panel
Investigating the regulators
Speaker: Howard Berkes of NPR
Government agencies have the authority, means and responsibility to regulate and enforce, but that doesn’t mean they have the will. They have their own detailed data but don’t necessarily use it to enforce vigorously. We will show how to find the human impact of regulatory policy, using the agencies’ own data to pull back the curtain.
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Panel
Digging deeper with data and docs
Speaker: Ron Nixon of The Associated Press
Move beyond anecdotes and he-said, she-said journalism with data and documents. Advice on developing a documents state of mind, navigating public records, understanding records retention schedules, exploring key records on a variety of beats and becoming familiar with key national data sets to produce high-impact local stories.
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Panel
Wrap-up
Speaker: Jaimi Dowdell of Reuters
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Hands-on
Optional computer-assisted reporting training
Speaker: Jaimi Dowdell of Reuters
Attend this hands-on workshop and learn how to use Excel, a fairly simple but powerful spreadsheet application, to begin analyzing data for stories. We'll start from the beginning with basic formulas and work our way up to summarizing information using pivot tables and more. How do you think about data analysis as a journalist? How do you find the story within the columns and rows?
Class size is limited; register early to reserve a seat on a first-come, first-served basis.
NOTE: Registration is required for this session. Click here to sign up.