Events and Training » Total Newsroom Training

Events and Training

Total Newsroom Training

This is your newsroom’s opportunity to have intense, in-house investigative training -- for free. IRE is launching a new program and is looking for news organizations dedicated to doing watchdog work. If your organization is hungry for customized investigative training and can't afford it, apply today. Spots are limited, and the deadline to apply is Feb. 22, 2013.

 

What TNT from IRE offers

Total Newsroom Training is designed to increase the ability of your news organization to provide watchdog and enterprise coverage for your community and to produce work that can lead to changes and improvements in those communities.

We provide custom training, based on the needs of the organization, including hands-on training using spreadsheets with Microsoft Excel and doing data analysis using Microsoft Access and other database management software. TNT presentations and discussions may include:

  • Finding information online
  • Key government documents
  • Examining businesses and nonprofits
  • How to obtain public records
  • Ethical decisions in investigative reporting
  • Getting what you need out of sources
  • Conducting quick-hit investigations
  • Ensuring accuracy

IRE works with reporters and editors to help them launch stories and projects. This can involve brainstorming, story planning, sourcing, etc. We will also be available to consult with reporters, editors and producers from the news organizations in the months following training.

 

Application Process

To apply, send applications to IRE Training Director Megan Luther at megan@ire.org by the end of the day Feb. 22, 2013. We want to ensure that we work with news organizations that not only desire to do better work, but are committed to the effort.The application process requires the following information:

  • A letter from the executive editor or news director supporting the application and explaining his or her commitment to doing more in-depth work and a commitment to freeing staff to attend the training
  • An explanation of how the newsroom is organized – number of reporters/editors/photographers/etc., beat structure, etc.
  • Three examples of what the applicant believes is the organization’s best work from the past year
  • A short explanation of why your organization wants the training
  • Three possible story/project/subject ideas you'd like to tackle
  • Please include the number of staff who will be attending the training
  • Please include your circulation size or market number


Eligibility

The program is meant to help small to medium-size news organizations improve the depth of their coverage, and is open to organizations meeting the following criteria:

  • For newspapers and magazines, circulation of 100,000 and below.
  • For broadcast, markets below the Top 20
  • For online-only organizations, sites with local or regional audiences.

 

Share your work with us

We want to see the work you've produced after IRE training. You can get it to us via Twitter, Facebook or Email, and we'll feature your watchdog work here and on our investigative blog, Extra Extra.