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Posts Tagged ‘health’
David Dietz Fellowship for 2013 IRE Conference
In 2012 IRE added a new fellowship in remembrance of longtime IRE member and supporter David Dietz. The fellowship honors his memory and legacy by helping a journalist who has demonstrated an interest in financial investigative journalism and who has fewer than 10 years professional experience. This fellowship covers IRE conference registration fees, provides $750 in…
Read MoreBehind the Story: Tackling the unusual, problematic ‘contract for deed’ housing deal
Minneapolis Star Tribune photoRon Folger of Minneapolis lost his rental license last year city and began selling properties to low-income families on a plan known as a contract-for-deed transaction. In January, Jeffrey Meitrodt, Investigations Editor at the Star Tribune, reported on problematic contract-for-deed sales of homes in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. The sales are frequently used…
Read MoreSeveral IRE Members Win 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards
Congratulations to the several IRE members, as well as all the recipients, on their 2013 duPont-Columbia Awards. Their hard work and dedication to good investigative journalism helps keep the public informed and educated on important topics that affect their daily lives and communities. Heather Catallo along with her colleagues at WXYZ-Detroit received a silver baton…
Read MoreA case for why journalists should learn statistics
Last weekend I flew to Phoenix for the IRE boot camp in statistics hosted at Arizona State University. Three days and 52 cups of coffee later, I can spot statistical significance. I can run a linear regression on a dependent and independent variable, and I might even be able to tell you what an R-Square…
Read MoreIn Pennsylvania, culture of secrecy, Right to Know Law remain work in progress
Pennsylvania’s records laws were for many years among the most restrictive in the country, and though the letter of the law has since improved drastically, freedom of information advocates say the spirit of the law has lagged. Pennsylvania overhaul of its Right to Know Law four years ago was a major victory for government transparency,…
Read MoreHurricane 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…
Read MoreTransparency Watch: What journalists need to know about FOIAonline
Federal agencies have launched FOIAonline, a tool that journalists can use to file, track and appeal requests for documents and data under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. Here’s what you need to know about the service, which was announced just last week. Not all federal agencies are participating. Here’s who’s on board: Department of Commerce,…
Read MoreBehind the Story: Using tips from sources, data and documents to uncover inflated hospital prices
On Thursday, The Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer in Raleigh won bronze in the Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism, funded by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, for their series “Prognosis: Profits,” in which the reporters dissected the finances of large healthcare institutions and discovered inflated prices, lawsuits against thousands…
Read MoreNow accepting 2013 CAR Conference T-shirt designs
The journalists who attend the Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference do many things for their newsrooms: They analyze data, build websites, write stories, scrape and acquire records. To honor this work, the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting will sell a T-shirt celebrating the data geek in us all, and you’ll help design it. Proceeds from the shirt will help…
Read MoreNew IRE Award categories better reflect changes in news industry
We have rebuilt our IRE Awards categories to better reflect changes in our industry that have had great impact on the ways in which news is gathered and presented. Over the past few years, technology has continually offered new ways to gather and present investigative work, while economic cutbacks have squeezed resources and helped encourage…
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