IRE24

Here's a look at some of the sessions we're planning for #IRE24 in Anaheim.

Please note that this list is preliminary and subject to change. For questions about this list or the conference in general, email conference@ire.org.

Public records

Tools for FOIA and large project organization
Unsung documents
Data and records to requests on the education beat (K12-higher ed)
Go FOIA yourself
50 FOIAs in 50 minutes
Archives in support of investigations
When data is not available
Uncovering secret Canada: How our FOI and transparency project has made public records more accessible

Elections

Covering elections by putting the community first
Legal resources for reporters covering campaigns and elections
Lessons learned from the best election investigations around the world
Best practices on navigating disinformation and online abuse in an election year
Using the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to understand historical issues for journalists reporting on elections
Using public records to investigate political candidates for the 2024 election
Finding the story: Campaign finance data
Finding the story: Tracking gerrymandering

AI

How to report on AI copyright cases
AI and automation for the local beat
Responsible AI use in newsroom: Designing your newsroom's AI strategy
How to deal with AI audio deepfakes in election campaigns

Management

Leadership: Trauma and toxicity in the newsrooms
Vetting investigations to reduce legal risk
Navigating press freedom: A conversation about journalists' safety
Starting an investigative unit at smaller news organizations
Engagement experiments for investigations

Equitable news gathering and reporting, exposing systemic inequities

Ethics of reporting in Indigenous communities
Authenticity in investigations: Covering your own communities
How to earn trust to build audiences from communities we've failed
Why do U.S. newsrooms hire so few investigative reporters of color?
How to make investigative reporting about non-English speaking communities more accessible to them
Examining how we can be less polarizing in how we write
Covering the local gender & reproductive beat
The gender-targeted disinformation machine
Race and reproductive justice reporting
Diving into historical displacement and denial of housing rights within communities of color
Women and people of color navigating white newsrooms
Facts, fallacies and frames: getting trans issues right in the 2024 elections
Enforcement and consequences: Following anti-trans policies through courts, schools, and state departments
Following the money: Investigating the groups organizing anti-trans action
Key takeaways for education reporters: Connecting anti-“Critical Race Theory” and anti-trans policy work in public schools

Business

Digging into corporate behavior: Tracking and reporting on business influence
The art of business investigations

International

How to build inclusive global collaborative investigations
10 international financial crimes journalists should understand
A world of possibilities: Lassoing satellite data for global and local investigations
How journalists are using investigative tools in perilous press environments
The year in international investigations

Broadcast TV

Fighting for time: How to make the most of your best investigations.
The art of the interview
The 10 most important lessons I've learned
Juggling investigations and GA
60 ideas in 60 minutes
Investigating breaking news
Anatomy of an investigation
Collaborations: Teamwork makes the dream work
From boring to blockbuster - Tricks and tools to make your investigative stories sing
Making data and documents come alive on screen
Meeting viewers where they are: Investigations in the age of TikTok
Wrangling the big story
Making the Jump: How to get the investigative title - or do the job without one!
Digging for data where none exists
Sources: How to get ‘em, how to keep ‘em
Make me care! Writing scripts that hook viewers and keep them invested
Working for you and on your side: Consumer investigations

On the beat

Investigating local hospitals
Reporting on the judiciary
Investigating sexual abuse in public schools
Investigating health insurance
Lifting the curtain on the child welfare system
Investigating sheriffs
Investigating hate crimes and bias incidents
Investigating climate change
Covering public stadium boondoggles
Investigating trash
Accessing courts in high-profile cases
Investigating scams
How does your state stack up when it comes to protecting student athletes?
Digging into 990s
What to cover in education (K12 and higher ed)
Don't get played: How to investigate gambling
Reporting on coordinated rightwing extremism
Investigating unemployment
How to report on what goes on in prisons and jails
Investigating toxic chemicals
State government reporting that matters
Investigating academic research
Top 10 stories in religion you should be following
Investigating campus sexual assault
Investigating scientific issues
How to look at the news through a military lens

Reporting and writing strategies

The art of interviewing
Working with whistleblowers
36 chapters and no nut graph: A case study in merging investigative and narrative
Building better sourcing
How to background people in an hour
How to perfect your pitch
How to project manage like a duck: A guide for reporters and editors
Sleeping Well: How investigative journalists can bulletproof even the most sensitive and complicated stories.

Other sessions include:

Unionizing your newsroom
Local investigations with big impact
How to develop, pitch, and write books based on your investigative reporting.
Finding the right solutions angle for your investigation
How to turn your investigation story into beautiful audio narrative
Beginning your investigative career
Redefining investigative photojournalism
How to plan and build impact around your investigation
Learn from the (other) investigators
What to do when you become the story
How to get funding for investigative projects
How to help your audience avoid news fatigue
Using Crosstown to harness big datasets to aid in daily reporting

Data classes

An introduction to teaching data journalism
Finding Stories in IRS Filings
Unlocking data.census.gov for your news stories
Finding the story: Seeing the students beyond the scores
OSINT visual investigations
Cleaning and extracting data: 30 tips in 60 minutes
Finding the story: Investigating our nation's statehouses
Go dox yourself
Tips and tricks for making Census data more accessible
Google Sheets 1: Getting started with spreadsheets
Excel 1: Getting started with spreadsheets
Google Sheets 2: Formulas & sorting
Excel 2: Formulas & sorting
Google Sheets 3: Filtering & pivot tables
Excel 3: Filtering & pivot tables
Web scraping with Python
R 1: Intro to R and RStudio
R 2: Data analysis and plotting
R 3: Gathering and cleaning data
Web scraping with R
Data analysis with Python
SQL 1
SQL 2
SQL 3
Extracting data from PDFs
Should I learn to code?
An introduction to mapping with QGIS
Finding the story: Crime stats
Using OpenRefine, a power tool for cleaning data
Data visualization and storytelling with Datawrapper
Finding the story: Sports data
Finding the story: Climate data
Finding the immigration story beyond the headlines
Finding the story: Housing data
Finding the story: Natural disaster data
Digital security clinic

Networking

Journalists of color
LGBTQIA+ journalists
Students
Educators
Women
Freelancers

IRE24 Expected Sessions