Event
2018 Boston Watchdog Workshop
Hosted by: Boston University College of Communication
IRE will offer several of its core sessions, designed to improve your ability to find information on the Web quickly, and point you to key documents and data that will help you add depth to your daily work and produce quick-hit enterprise stories. In addition, this workshop will give you tips on bulletproofing stories, digging deeper on the Web with social media, search engines 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.
Expected speakers include: Nicole Dungca & Todd Wallack, The Boston Globe; Sarah Hutchins, IRE/NICAR; Ryan Kath, NBC Boston; Jenifer McKim, New England Center for Investigative Reporting; Phillip Martin, WGBH Radio; Jeff Pyle, Prince Lobel Tye LLP; Eric Rasmussen, WFXT-Boston; Andrew Tran, The Washington Post; and Brooke Williams, Boston University.
Join IRE's experienced trainers and a group of veteran reporters for our Watchdog Workshop Saturday, October 20.
Time and place
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018 - Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018
Boston University College of Communication
640 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, Massachusetts 02215
Registration information
Registration for this event is open! Click here to begin.
Hurry! Registration closes on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 12:30pm.
Schedule details
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Panel
Welcome & overview
Speaker: Sarah Hutchins of IRE and NICAR
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Panel
Developing a watchdog mindset
Speakers: Andrew Tran of The Washington Post; Brooke Williams of Boston University; Ryan Kath of NBC Boston
Learn how investigative methods and tools can transform your stories, whether they're quick turns or long-term enterprise pieces.
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Panel
The datasets you should be using
Speakers: Andrew Tran of The Washington Post; Todd Wallack of The Boston Globe
We'll list a wide range of local and national databases you can request or download immediately, along with related story ideas that will position you to lead coverage while holding governments of all levels accountable.
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Panel
Public records tips & tricks
Speakers: Todd Wallack of The Boston Globe; Jeff Pyle of Prince Lobel Tye LLP
Hear practical advice and strategies for crafting public records requests, tracking them and holding officials’ feet to the fire. Includes strategies for dealing with excuses and obstacles from public officials who stand in your way of getting key documents and data.
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Outside Event
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Panel
Investigating inequality
Speakers: Nicole Dungca of The Boston Globe; Phillip Martin of WGBH Radio
Hear from journalists on the front lines of investigating racial and other inequities. Get story ideas as well as reporting and writing tips, along with advice on how best to frame stories in the proper historical context. Relevant public records and data sets also will be discussed.
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Panel
Art of the interview
Speakers: Jenifer McKim of New England Center for Investigative Reporting; Eric Rasmussen of KSTP-Minneapolis/St. Paul
Watchdog stories pose special challenges, including how best to prep for interviews, approach sources, handle tough situations, navigate ethical trouble-spots and more. Learn how to master the interview to hold your sources accountable.
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Panel
Web & social media sleuthing
Speaker: Sarah Hutchins of IRE and NICAR
When news breaks, you need to be nimble and smart in finding sources, backgrounding people, verifying what’s real vs. fake, and staying ahead of the competition. Learn key sites, apps and social media strategies to quickly build a digital dossier on someone.
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Panel
What IRE can do for you
Speaker: Sarah Hutchins of IRE and NICAR
Explore key resources and services from IRE to help you bolster your watchdog reporting after the workshop.
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Hands-on
Optional Computer-Assisted Reporting Training
Speaker: Sarah Hutchins of IRE and NICAR
Attend this hands-on workshop and learn how to use Google Sheets, 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.
*You will need to bring your own laptop to participate in this hands on training. Please have an active Google account as the training will be done in Google Sheets. If you have questions you can contact logistics@ire.org.
NOTE: Registration is required for this session. Click here to sign up.