IRE20 Expected Sessions

Here’s a look at some of the sessions we’re planning for #IRE20. Please note that this list is preliminary and subject to change. 

COVID-19

• Covering the stimulus package
• Investigating hate crimes against Asian-Americans in the age of COVID
• Reporting on racial and ethnic disparities
• Overcoming pandemic excuses to get records requests
• Investigating nursing homes and elderly care
• Investigating hospitals
• Story idea blitz: COVID-19

INVESTIGATING LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Challenging the police narrative
• Using data & public records to police the police
• Investigating law enforcement and white supremacy

EXPOSING SYSTEMIC INEQUITIES

• Investigating inequality
• Words matter: Beware harmful language in your writing
• Access and obstacles to higher education
• Localizing affordable housing stories and data
• Investigative reporting on the border and immigration crisis
• Covering immigration away from the border
• Involving marginalized communities in your reporting
• Finding data on LGBTQ communities
• Recognizing your implicit biases
• Master class: Covering inequality on any beat
• Covering epidemics caused by natural disasters

ELECTION 2020

• Master class: Election administration coverage
• Tracking 2020 digital ads: Learn the secrets of new political ad databases
• Tracking money to candidates up and down the ballot in 2020
• How to unearth the secrets of candidates & public officials
• Uncovering dark money in 2020 elections and beyond
• Access to voting

OPEN RECORDS/FOIA

• 50 records to request right now
• Navigating federal FOIA
• Using state open records laws
• Master Class: Becoming a public records sleuth
• FOIA appeal strategies to actually get records
• Overcoming pandemic excuses to get records requests

RESEARCH SKILLS & TOOLS

• Web research
• Advanced Google searching
• Tools a reporter can’t live without
• Backgrounding like a boss
• Verifying hacked and leaked information
• Social media deep dive
• Using CrowdTangle to access public Facebook and Instagram data
• Combating misinformation, disinformation and deepfakes

SECURITY

• Counter and anti-surveillance for journalism safety
• How to secure yourself online: Doxxing for good
• Encryption tools demo
• Security of your everyday newsroom tools

STORY IDEAS

• Court records are filled with untold stories: A PACER deep dive
• Story idea blitz: COVID-19
• Story idea blitz: Campus coverage
• Story idea blitz: Local government accountability
• Story idea blitz: Business and labor
• Story idea blitz: International
• Story idea blitz: Data
• Story ideas blitz: Education

CAREER & MANAGEMENT SKILLS

• Freelance lessons I’ve learned the hard way
• Career paths in investigative journalism
• Career advice
• Master class: Management
• Directing high-stakes investigative projects

TAKING CARE

• How to manage the stress and trauma of being a journalist
• Do you qualify as an ally?
• Self care & resilience

BROADCAST

More details coming soon!

• At least 15 sessions focused on sourcing, interviewing, reporting and visualizing broadcast investigations
• Networking sessions
• Show & Tell

MASTER CLASSES

• Interviewing for print
• Interviewing for broadcast
• Narrative writing
• Becoming a public records sleuth
• Election administration coverage
• Management
• It’s just video… Until a storyteller creates an experience
• Verification and disinformation
• OSINT
• Launching an investigative podcast
• Libel
• Covering inequality on any beat

DATA

• Spreadsheets
• SQL and databases
• R
• Python
• Tableau data viz

SESSIONS ALSO WILL COVER THESE TOPICS:

• Mining data to bolster health care investigations
• Data.census.gov demo
• Press freedom and investigative journalism
• Holding companies accountable
• Source-building: What reporters can learn from spies
• Building trust with your audience
• Reporting about arbitration and private justice
• How to make climate change interesting and local
• The art of confrontation
• Perfecting your story idea and pitch
• How to frame your investigation and tell a captivating narrative that gets noticed
• Owning the local government beat
• The first hours of breaking news
• The art of long-form audio narrative
• Corruption across borders
• Infiltrating government agencies
• Lessons learned from building trust in the gun rights community

NETWORKING AND CONVERSATIONS:

• Media attorney Q&As
• Meet the author sessions
• Data office hours
• Conversation: How to include watchdog training in your curriculum
• Conversation: Pitching an investigative freelance story
• Conversation: Bringing investigative to your student newsroom
• Networking for students, educators, freelancers, journalists of color, international attendees, reporters on various beats and platforms, and many more