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Ultimate shop talk
By Alexandra Berzon My track at my very first IRE conference inadvertently ended up something that could best be described as “How to talk to people.” I found myself drawn to the panels of legendary investigative journalists candidly describing how they get people to tell them things. My favorite part of reporting is the talking-to-people…
Read MoreInternational networking in Baltimore
By Margo Smit Though from a small country half a world away, I try to make IRE conferences a regular on my calendar. And after six conferences in the last seven years, I almost feel like a veteran here. “IRE is my family,” said broadcast journalist Tisha Thompson at the IRE Awards luncheon. It feels…
Read MoreFinding nerd joy at IRE’09
By Dawn Fallik IRE Hell is having your panel at the same time as Barlett & Steele AND Eric Nalder. Plus, we were hidden behind the kitchen (Mike Berens cooked a couple omelets before figuring out where we were.) But huzzah! A good 35-40 people showed up to hear four uber-nerds talk about 990 forms (New!…
Read MoreIowa air pollution levels nearing federal limits
“The air across Iowa is so polluted that the state is perilously close to violating new federal limits aimed at protecting human health. Yet Iowans have no way of knowing what chemicals they are breathing because of a limited – and often inaccurate – system of monitoring pollution statewide, a Des Moines Register investigation found.”…
Read MoreCriminals work as childcare providers in Wisconsin
In her ongoing series “Cashing in on Kids” which has found millions of dollars in fraud within Wisconsin’s $350 million taxpayer subsidized child-care system, Raquel Rutledge writes that hundreds of convicted criminals, including those who had physically abused children, are being licensed to run day care centers. Some of them now appear to be scamming…
Read MoreChildren die as bureaucracy stalls in LA County
“For at least 18 years, Los Angeles County has repeatedly received urgent and sometimes gruesome reminders that its agencies don’t share vital information about potentially abused or neglected children, according to a Times investigation. There have been numerous calls for reform—but little action. In the passing years, an unknown number of children have been harmed…
Read MoreGenerous Assembly
A five-part series in The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) put the spotlight on costly state policy decisions. Stories addressed wide-ranging topics: the high cost of enforcing the state’s mandatory sentencing law for low-level felons; lack of generic drug requirements for Medicaid patients; pet projects and untracked spending; corporate tax loopholes; and the hidden cost…
Read MoreKnight Foundation unveils $15M investigative initiative
(This is the news release from the Knight Foundation’s announcement at the IRE Awards Luncheon, June 13, at the 2009 IRE Conference in Baltimore.) The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced a $15 million initiative to help develop new economic models for investigating reporting on digital platforms. The grants, some on-going, some…
Read MoreShowcase: Watergate, WMD and the future of news
By Roy Harris With his first words, Bob Woodward signaled the blunt, no-nonsense tone of “Accountability Reporting and Digging Deep,” the 2009 IRE Conference showcase panel with Woodward and Leonard Downie Jr. Downie– the longtime executive editor at The Washington Post, now headed for Arizona State University–had begun the discussion by describing the 37-year reporter-editor…
Read MoreShowcase: Finding positives, despite dark moments
By Steve Weinberg With all the gloom about the future of newspapers and other mainstream media, the speakers at the showcase panel “Doing great work in tough times” at the 2009 IRE Conference provided a mostly upbeat alternate conventional wisdom. Jill Abramson, New York Times managing editor, moderated the panel. She is bullish on the…
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