Tipsheets
Tipsheets
Browse more 5,000 tipsheets from our national conferences and Watchdog Workshops on how to cover specific beats, conduct a great interview and learn countless tips on where to find the information you need.
Logged-in members can download any tipsheet, for free. Contact the Resource Center 573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org for questions.
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Finding, nurturing and protecting sources
This tipsheet will share techniques and strategies essential to landing and protecting the most sensitive and delicate sources around - sexual assault victims, government administrators, whistleblowers and insiders within criminal organizations. -
How to turn your investigation into a narrative: Getting them to read to the very last word
Deep reporting? Check. Killer interviews? Check. But how do you pull it all together? Learn from master storytellers on key approaches to organization, writing, revising and self-editing to produce compelling stories with high impact. -
On the beat: How to ferret out government contracting abuse
Learn how to unearth shady or improper government contracting arrangements at the federal, state and local levels. The panelists will provide details of how they uncovered shenanigans that cost taxpayers millions of dollars -- even billions of dollars -- in procurements for two-way radios, K-12 education and Pentagon work. Learn more about filing public records requests, contacting the competitors of suspect companies and tracking incestuous relationships involving contract officers. -
What is that politician hiding? And other backgrounding tips
Election season is upon us. We’ll discuss the best tips, websites and tools for scrubbing candidates at all levels of government, from the Trump administration to City Hall to the courthouse. We’ll show you how to investigate through politicians' business ties, past work experience, public records and even family to find potential conflicts of interest while writing the investigative profile — plus other stories that help inform readers. You'll learn backgrounding techniques that can be used for stories about politicos in the never-ending election season or for profiles about everyday individuals in your community. -
Reporting on the opioid epidemic
Overdoses are killing more Americans each year than U.S. military deaths during the Vietnam War, yet there are only a handful of reporters on the opioid beat. Hear from reporters who are dedicated to covering the epidemic from multiple angles as they share the stories behind articles they’ve written and tips on how to cover this national crisis. Learn how to use data to show the scope of the epidemic, how to investigate pharmaceutical companies making painkillers, how to create empathy for a disease that is incredibly stigmatized, and how to navigate source-reporter relationships with active drug users and dealers. -
Super ninja web searching
Learn some handy and effective web searching tools to enhance your research and reporting. -
Introduction to data journalism
Learn the history and the basics of data journalism and some of the strong examples of good data reporting. -
Investigative podcasts
Learn how to report, produce and market a successful investigative podcast. -
We Charity vs. Canadaland
“A CANADALAND investigation reveals that WE is connected to no fewer than three companies known to use child and slave labour in their supply chain. In fact, WE logos can be found promoting products made in part by children, including Hershey’s products that contain cocoa farmed by child labourers in West African countries, and Kellogg’s products that contain palm oil farmed by child labourers in Indonesia. WE also has a large partnership with Unilever, which has been a major purchaser of palm oil produced with child labour.” -
Mastering the investigative interview
Learn how to improve your investigative interviews and how to get the best information from sources.