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 [email protected] for questions.
Search results for "FOI" ...
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Prying loose public records - sample records request
One major key to digging deeper than your competition? Know your open records laws cold -- and use them. This is a sample public records request letter created for Washington reporters. -
Prying loose public records - slides
One major key to digging deeper than your competition? Know your open records laws cold -- and use them. This presentation offers advice on finding what your state and local governments keep, writing detailed requests to get the data and documents you want, and following up to pry them loose. -
Prying loose public records
One major key to digging deeper than your competition? Know your open records laws cold -- and use them. This tipsheet provides a sample public records request letter for Washington reporters. -
Research geyser
Drilling into the latest investigative research tools and techniques -
Research geyser
Drilling into the latest investigative research tools and techniques -
Using data and documents in your reporting
How to get in the document mindset and look for data and documents on all beats. This tipsheet provides specific examples of documents and data that are available and useful for investigative reporting. -
Using data to cover immigration
The immigration beat is rich with data, but it's not always easy to get or to interpret. You already know about statistical yearbooks, the monthly reports put out by Customs and Border Protection and are familiar with the stats from the Executive Office of Immigration Review, but how do you go beyond that? How can you request the raw data, how do you word FOIA requests to ensure compliance, and how can you merge and analyze information from multiple sources to get a broader picture of what happens at the border? Finally, how can you “roll your own” data when what you get in response doesn’t tell the full story? -
Using data to cover immigration
The immigration beat is rich with data, but it's not always easy to get or to interpret. You already know about statistical yearbooks, the monthly reports put out by Customs and Border Protection and are familiar with the stats from the Executive Office of Immigration Review, but how do you go beyond that? How can you request the raw data, how do you word FOIA requests to ensure compliance, and how can you merge and analyze information from multiple sources to get a broader picture of what happens at the border? Finally, how can you “roll your own” data when what you get in response doesn’t tell the full story? -
Public Records Track: 50 records to request right now
In this presentation, two investigative reporters and public records geeks cover their favorite, most unique, overlooked and under-appreciated records to request from all levels of government. They'll also give examples of how these records were used to produce stories in newsrooms around the country. -
How to Organize Your Reporting (And Your Life)
A presentation from three journalists on how to organize your work using new technology and old-fashioned planning.