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2012 IRE Awards now open for submissions

ENTER YOUR BEST INVESTIGATIVE WORK INTO THE 2012 IRE AWARDS, NOW ONLINE. It’s that time of year again – time to consider entering your best work into the IRE Awards. Among the most prestigious in journalism, the IRE Awards recognize outstanding investigative reporting across all media. Eligible entries must have been published or aired between…

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Behind the Story: An information gap in child abuse cases

There were signs of problems before 15-year-old Jeanette Maples died of starvation and abuse in Oregon in December 2009.  Although child services had been involved in the case, residents were shocked to find that Maples death had not been prevented.  Oregonian reporter Michelle Cole wanted to know what, if anything, could have been done to…

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HMDA data updated in the Database Library

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data have just been updated in the NICAR Database Library — and we’ll help you turn it into a story. WHAT’S IN IT?This Act requires all banks, savings and loans, savings banks and credit unions with assets of more than $33 million and offices in metropolitan areas to report…

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Behind The Story: Comparing databases on bullying

Students head to lunch at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Council Bluffs. The school district reported 58 alleged incidents to the state in five years, arguably a low rate for an urban district of 9,000 students. David Purdy/The Register In reporting, timing is everything.  For Des Moines Register reporter Kyle Munson, the topic of bullying in…

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Previewing election day with data

How has data been used in advance of the election season? We’ve been looking for good data visualizations and data-driven reporting centered on the upcoming elections. Below is what we’ve found. Help add to our list by emailing suggestions to tony@ire.org or tweeting us @IRE_NICAR. The Washington PostThe Post’s 2012 election map shows what’s still in play…

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Document Cloud, Overview help AP investigate vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s record

Jack Gillum of The Associated Press recently published a story showing that vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan has relied on many of the programs he’s criticized and suggested cutting. The report wouldn’t have been possible without tools like DocumentCloud and Overview, Gillum said in a post on the Overview project’s website. DocumentCloud enabled Gillum to analyze, annotate…

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Hurricane Sandy: How data journalists spread information about the storm

Google Crisis Response created this interactive map showing weather, emergency shelters and power authorities.  As the East cost braced for Hurricane Sandy, data journalists across the country were working in realtime to spread the news. We gathered some of the interesting interactive coverage and data visualizations we found from around the web. Have a suggestion…

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CAR through the ages

There’s been talk of a couple books IRE put out back in the early 90’s titled 101 (and later 100) Computer-assisted reporting stories. Sadly, there’s only one copy of each here at the home office, both of which we’d like to keep for our archives. However, all of the story questionnaires that are featured in…

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With one week left before Philip Meyer deadline, a look at past winners

There is only one more week until the Nov. 2 postmark deadline for the Philip Meyer contest, and we want to see your work. The Philip Meyer Journalism Award recognizes stories that incorporate survey research, probabilities and other social science tools in creative ways that lead to journalism vital to the community. Established in 2005,…

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Behind The Story: Analyzing and mapping salary data for small-town mayors

In August, reporter Kate Martin of the Skagit Valley Herald analyzed salary data for mayors across Washington state and ended up with a story about mayors from small towns in her coverage area — Mount Vernon and Anacortes — who had salaries on par with mayors from cities several times larger. In reporting the story,…

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