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Hone your writing, interviewing and editing skills with our IRE Conference Master Classes. Veteran reporters and editors will share their tips and strategies during these half-day workshops. Space is limited for these small-group classes.
How to register: You can register for these workshops when you complete your conference registration. Already registered for the conference and want to add a Master Class? You can do so through your member profile, for information on how to do this, email logistics@ire.org.
Optional master classes cancellation policy
Cancellations must be sent via email to logistics@ire.org. All cancellations must be in writing. There is a $15 processing fee for each class until September 1. Refunds will not be given for cancellations after September 1 due to the limited seating in these workshops/classes.
Waiting list policy
If a class fills up a waiting list will be created. Available seats will be filled from the waiting list until Friday, September 18.
If you have any questions about registration or waiting lists, please email logistics@ire.org.
Monday, Sept. 21, 1:15 – 4 p.m. (ET)
Price: $30
This workshop will focus on understanding the law of libel and defamation, as well as best practices to limit your personal and organizational risk. We will review the fundamentals of the law and engage in exercises to help illustrate what media attorneys look for when they conduct pre-publication review of your content. Reporters, photographers, documentary filmmakers, producers, editors and other managers are welcome.
This class will cover:
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Tuesday, Sept. 22, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET) **This class is full, add your name to the waiting list here. **See waiting list policy above.
Price: $30
This half-day workshop will cover the essentials for becoming a public records power sleuth – the key elements for mastering the art of access. David Cuillier, associate professor at the University of Arizona and co-author of The Art of Access, and Grace I. Cheng, Director of Practical Law Government Practice at Thomson Reuters, will lead you through the fundamentals, as well as the latest research and tools, including:
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Tuesday, Sept. 22, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET)
Price: $30
In this four-hour workshop, First Draft will show you the tools needed to find and sort problematic content online. They will demonstrate and have you test drive basic verification tools, and discuss the ethics of sourcing from the darker corners of the web. The session will end with a group assignment so that you can test in real time how to add these tools, tactics and techniques into a report.
First Draft is a nonprofit with the mission of helping journalists and others address challenges with disinformation, trust and truth in the digital age. In this class, First Draft trainers will lead you through several tools and strategies needed to navigate and verify online information, including:
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Wednesday, Sept. 23, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET)
Price: $30
Regardless of your beat, platform, region or your own perspective covering inequities and racial issues is an integral part of everyone’s reporting. Instructors for this course will include Venise Wagner, a writer and journalism educator, who wrote “Reporting Inequality: Tools and Methods for Covering Race and Ethnicity” and Fernando Díaz, editor and publisher of The Chicago Reporter, a Chicago publication that investigates the city’s issues of race and poverty.
A more detailed description of this class will be posted soon.
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Wednesday, Sept. 23, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET) **This class is full, add your name to the waiting list here. **See waiting list policy above.
Price: $30
This workshop will teach fundamental skills, tools, and techniques for conducting digital investigations. The workshop will mix demos with exercises for participants using tools that are free or reasonably priced. No computer programming or advanced technical skills are required. You’ll learn digital investigative and OSINT techniques that can be used in just about any story.
Craig Silverman and Jane Lytvynenko from BuzzFeed News will show you how to:
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Wednesday, Sept. 23, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET)
Price: $30
Tried and true drivers of the narrative: focus, surprise, suspense, and character are powerful tools. It’s time to put them to work in your stories. Together, let’s answer the questions, why do we laugh, why do we cry, why do we care – and how can we make it happen for our viewers more often? Boyd Huppert will open wide the toolbox that’s helped him earn an unprecedented 19 National Edward R. Murrow Awards in both hard news and feature reporting.
Topics will include:
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Wednesday, Sept. 23, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET)
Price: $30
Experienced editors will share practical tips on how they’ve run their teams to produce high-impact investigations and blockbuster projects — even when newsroom resources are tight. Mark Rochester, editor-in-chief at Type Investigations, and Jim Schaefer, senior news director at Detroit Free Press will discuss how they became I-team leaders and detail how they helped their reporters excel.
Topics will include:
This class is ideal for reporters who are looking to break into leadership and existing editors who want tips on how to manage effectively.
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Thursday, Sept. 24, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET) **This class is full, add your name to the waiting list here. **See waiting list policy above.
Price: $30
There’s a powerful person or organization in your area and they’re abusing their power. Rumors are swirling about people who’ve been hurt, or money that was stolen. The folks in the know are scared. The flack is spewing hot-smoking nonsense.
You want this story. You want it bad. But you don’t have a clue how to get it.
It may seem hopeless. It is not.
During this half-day session, we’ll demystify the process and break down the concrete steps to take the Big Story. Topics will include:
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Thursday, Sept. 24, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET)
Price: $30
Raw, compelling, emotional. Anyone ever use those words to describe an interview from one of your stories? Well … after this class they will! From preparation and mastering the art of the interview to key mistakes to avoid, two veteran, broadcast journalists will arm you with tools to immediately use in your next investigation. You’ll also learn how to navigate our “new normal” and ask tough questions without being in the same room as your subject!
This session with CBS News National Consumer and Investigative Correspondent Anna Werner and Anchor/Investigative Reporter Zaneta Lowe of WREG-TV will include:
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Thursday, Sept. 24, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET)
Price: $30
This workshop will focus on how to cover voting during this year’s historic pandemic election. ProPublica voting rights reporter Jessica Huseman and Electionland partner manager Rachel Glickhouse will provide a primer on covering election administration, how to report on voting problems responsibly, and key COVID-related issues affecting the election this year. This workshop will cover:
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Friday, Sept. 25, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET) **This class is full, add your name to the waiting list here. **See waiting list policy above.
Price: $30
You’ve gathered data, docs and human sources. Now it’s time to turn your reporting into a story — or a series — that packs a punch. If you’re new to investigative storytelling or want to up your writing game, this workshop is for you.
Alexandra Zayas, senior editor at ProPublica, and Jessica Contrera, enterprise reporter at The Washington Post, will teach you how to:
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
Friday, Sept. 25, Noon – 4 p.m. (ET)
Price: $30
This class will give attendees a jumping-off point to launching an investigative podcast.
A more detailed description of this class will be posted soon.
Pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
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