The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "sources" ...
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The Art of the Interview and Source Development
How to do great interviews, on the fly or going deep.
Tags: Interview; Source Development
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Spycraft: Keeping your sources private.
Get great tips and tools from Doig. He provides extensive information on how to keep your sources private.
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The Hidden Life of Guns
In this tipsheet, Grimaldi shares how The Washington Post reported the story, The Hidden Life of Guns, which won the 2010 IRE FOI Award. He provides a day-by-day account of the series of events the unfolded as the reporting took place. He also includes a source list of important interest groups.
Tags: firearms; weapons; NRA; ATF; gun violence; gun crimes; gun dealers
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OpenBlock: A free and open source platform for hyperlocal news aggregation, mapping, and more
Learn about OpenBlock, a free and open source news platform to create your own hyperlocal news website or hyperlocal news engine.
Tags: open source; OpenBlock
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Broadcast: Off-Camera Secrets for Getting Sources on Camera
"No interview, no problem. From the FBI to a suspected serial killer, here are tips on how to convince the most difficult subjects to talk."
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Covering a corrupt state agency
Trying to expose a corrupt state agency can be tricky, especially if the agency is secretive and exempt from FOIA laws. Bombardieri provides several tips and tricks to getting inside information from a seemingly impossible source.
Tags: campaign finance; lawsuits; state payroll
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Strategies for Covering the Police Beat and Doing Quick Enterprise Stories
Get tips from Thompson, an IRE award winning reporter, that include getting your hands on police documents(blank ones are important too), riding along with officers on duty, and acquiring the best sources.
Tags: police beat; courthouse beat; cops; police department; police documents
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Looking into tax liens
Follow the money with the help of The Center for Public Integrity's, Schulte, and along the way get great sources and contacts. These tips include online tax sales in Baltimore and several big Florida counties.
Tags: taxes; tax liens; online tax sales
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Covering Defense Department Weapons Programs
Capaccio offers tips on how to cover the Defense Department Weapons program. From what you'll run into, to what kind of sources you need to get the inside scoop.
Tags: weapons procurement; defense department; military; pentagon
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Social Media Tools for Journalists
This tipsheet provides a listing of various, lesser-known social media websites. The author offers tips to using the provided sources in real time, as well as finding story ideas, monitoring sources and staying on the "cutting-edge" of the latest technology.
Tags: CAR; social media; Twitter; Facebook; Twellow; HootSuite; TrendsMap; Monitter; OneForty;