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The IRE Phoenix Workshop will be held October 20-21, 2023, at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Click here for more information and to buy tickets.
9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Introduction to Google Sheets ($30)
Andrew Ford, Arizona Republic
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9 - 9:15 a.m. | Welcome and overview
Dr. Battinto L. Batts Jr., Dean and Professor at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University; Diana Fuentes, IRE & NICAR; Mark Greenblatt, Howard Center at ASU
9:15 - 10:15 a.m. | Getting into a watchdog state of mind
Pauline Arrillaga, Carnegie-Knight News 21 at ASU; Arlyssa D. Becenti, Arizona Republic; Maud Beelman, Howard Center at ASU
10:15 - 10:30 a.m. | Break
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. | Public records and data to request for (almost) any beat
Andrew Ford, Arizona Republic; Matthew E. Kelley, Ballard Spahr; Simone Weichselbaum, NBC News
12 - 1:30 p.m. | Lunch on your own
1:30 - 2:45 p.m. | From pitch to craft: 10 things I wish I knew starting out
Len Downie, ASU; Diana Fuentes, IRE & NICAR; Mark Greenblatt, Howard Center at ASU; Dianna M. Náñez, Arizona Luminaria; Rick Rodriguez, ASU Cronkite School
2:45 - 3 p.m. | Break
3 - 4 p.m. | Watchdog story ideas for anyone
Caitlin McGlade, Arizona Republic; Jeffrey Timmermans, Arizona State University
4 - 4:15 p.m. | Break
4:15 - 5:15 p.m. | Telling the multiplatform investigation
Josh Hinkle, KXAN; Lauren Mucciolo, Howard Center at ASU; Katie Wilcox, 12News
5:15 - 5:30 p.m. | Wrap-up, what can IRE do for you?
Diana Fuentes, IRE & NICAR; Hyuntaek "Tag" Lee, The Chosunilbo
Pauline Arrillaga, Carnegie-Knight News 21 at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Pauline is the executive editor of the Carnegie-Knight News21 program, which brings together top journalism students from across the country to produce in-depth, multimedia projects. Arrillaga also serves as executive director of the National Center on Disability and Journalism, housed at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Arrillaga joined the Cronkite School in 2019 to launch a program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to increase reporting of health disparities in underserved communities and communities of color. Prior to that, she spent 27 years at The Associated Press – most recently as the head of U.S. enterprise journalism.
Battinto Batts, ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Battinto L. Batts Jr. is the dean, a professor and an award-winning journalist and educator with deep experience in philanthropy and nonprofit administration. He recently served as director of journalism strategies for the Scripps Howard Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio. Batts holds a doctorate in higher education management from Hampton University, a master’s degree in media management from Norfolk State University and a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Arlyssa D. Becenti, Arizona Republic
Arlyssa Becenti is a multi-award winning Diné journalist from Fort Defiance, Arizona, with over ten years of experience reporting on the Navajo Nation. In 2020, she placed first for Arizona Press Club’s community investigative reporting for her series on the illegal hemp and marijuana farms in Shiprock, New Mexico. She was also awarded Arizona Press Club’s 2020 Nina Mason Pulliam Environmental Journalism Award for community reporting. She currently is the Indigenous Affairs reporter and an editor for the Daily Focus team for The Arizona Republic. She has reported for the daily Gallup Independent and weekly Navajo Times. She was a Roy W. Howard fellow at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, where she recently obtained her master's in investigative journalism.
Maud Beelman, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Maud is the Collaborations Editor for the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University, as well as a professor of practice at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She was the Howard Center’s founding director in 2019 and served as its executive editor for four years. Beelman has been a journalist for four decades, working first as a domestic, foreign and war correspondent, and for the last 25 years as an investigative editor. She has worked across the media spectrum, from large international news organizations to online, nonprofit news outlets. She was the founding director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the world’s first cross-border investigative reporting collaborative. Before joining the ASU faculty, she was the U.S. Investigations Editor for The Associated Press and, prior to that, the investigations editor for The Dallas Morning News. As a correspondent, Beelman reported from across the U.S., Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East. She has helped train journalists in the United States, Central America, Europe and Australia, and serves on the board of directors of the Alicia Patterson Foundation. Her work has been honored with numerous journalism awards, including the George Polk, Investigative Reporters & Editors, Society of Professional Journalists, Online News Association and the Overseas Press Club, among others.
Leonard Downie, Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Downie, the Weil Family Professor of Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School, was executive editor of The Washington Post from 1991 to 2008. During his 44 years in the Post newsroom, he was also an investigative reporter, editor on the local and national news staffs, London correspondent, and, from 1984 to 1991, managing editor under then-executive editor Ben Bradlee. As deputy metro editor from 1972 to 1974, Downie helped supervise the Post’s Watergate coverage. He also oversaw the newspaper’s coverage of every national election from 1984 through 2008. During his 17 years as executive editor, The Washington Post won 25 Pulitzer prizes. Downie is a founder and former board member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, and the chairman of the board of advisers of Kaiser Health News.
Andrew Ford, Arizona Republic
As an investigative reporter for the Arizona Republic, Andrew Ford exposed a medical company’s pursuit of profit and harm to patients. His reporting was quoted in a DOJ complaint against the company, which was shut off from Medicare and declared bankruptcy. As part of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network at the Asbury Park Press, he published projects on police unions, one recognized as a Livingston Award finalist and another chosen as an IRE/NICAR Philip Meyer Award winner. His Twitter is @AndrewFordNews and he’s happy to take questions and partner on stories: aford@arizonarepublic.com.
Diana Fuentes, IRE & NICAR
Diana was named IRE's executive director in April 2021. She oversees training, conferences and services for 5,000+ members worldwide, and for programs including the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR). She most recently was deputy metro editor of the San Antonio Express-News, overseeing a team of reporters who cover government, courts, diversity issues, the environment and history, among other duties. She has over 30 years of journalism experience, from police reporter and statehouse bureau chief to editor and publisher. A second-generation Texan who is fluent in Spanish, Fuentes has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's from Texas State University.
Mark Greenblatt, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Mark is the executive editor of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Previously, Greenblatt was the senior national investigative correspondent at Scripps News in Washington, D.C., where he worked and mentored other investigative journalists for more than a decade. Greenblatt, a nationally award-winning journalist with nearly 25 years of experience, has worked for local TV stations, networks, newspapers and multi-episode deep-dive podcasts. He regularly collaborates with national and global partners such as Reveal, ProPublica, USA Today and The Toronto Star, among others. Greenblatt is a past president and former treasurer of the Fund for Investigative Journalism. He is a longtime IRE member dating back to his early days as a student volunteer at IRE’s headquarters at the University of Missouri, where Greenblatt was student president of the journalism school. Greenblatt currently serves on IRE's board of directors as treasurer.
Josh Hinkle, KXAN-Austin
Josh is KXAN’s director of investigations and innovation, leading the station’s 12-person duPont and IRE Award-winning investigative team on multiple platforms. He also leads the Austin-based NBC affiliate’s political coverage as the executive producer and host of “State of Texas,” a weekly program – and companion podcast – focused on the Texas Legislature and elections, seen in 14 markets statewide. His work on the show has been honored three times with the national Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism. Josh earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and Spanish from Oklahoma State University, then his master’s degree in journalism and public policy from the University of Missouri. Josh teaches broadcast and documentary journalism at St. Edward’s University in Austin. Josh currently serves on IRE's board of directors as vice president. Twitter: @hinklej
Matthew E. Kelley, Ballard Spahr
Matthew advises and represents media companies, journalists, filmmakers, bloggers, and other content creators in a wide range of legal issues. His experience in state and federal courts across the country includes defending clients against defamation, privacy, and copyright claims; litigating Freedom of Information Act and other access matters; challenging subpoenas for privileged information; and other issues implicating First Amendment rights. Matt also counsels clients on legal issues involving newsgathering and intellectual property. Before beginning his legal career, Matt was an award-winning investigative reporter for the Associated Press and USA Today. As a journalist, he covered a variety of issues and institutions, including Congress, the Pentagon, and national politics. Matt previously was with the highly regarded First Amendment boutique law firm Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, which merged with Ballard Spahr in October 2017.
Hyuntaek "Tag" Lee, The Chosunilbo
Tag is a journalist with 15 years experience. He is currently an assistant editor for the Business & Technology desk at The Chosunilbo, a major newspaper in Seoul, South Korea. Previously, he held several positions at the newspaper, including staff writer for the Breaking News desk, job news "jobsN" team leader, staff writer for the World News desk and assistant editor for the World News desk. In addition, Lee has been teaching at the Yoonseyoung Journalism School at Ewha Womans University since 2018, and 40 of his students have gone on to become journalists. It's a 100 percent tuition-free university. A strong advocate for local journalism, Lee has led efforts to get the work of 12 local media outlets displayed on the main pages of major web portals. This may sound weird to people outside of Korea, Lee notes, but it is a meaningful accomplishment in the world of journalism in his country. Lee also teaches at Chosun Journalism Academy, an internal pro-bono institution for journalism students at Chosunilbo. And he is active in the Journalists Association of Korea, where is sub-chairman of the Special Committee on Web Portal Strategy. He previously worked as a staff reporter for JoongAng Ilbo, a newspaper in Seoul, and worked to help establish JTBC TV. He also was a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, among other accomplishments. Lee participated in the IRE Data Bootcamp for Educators in 2022.
Caitlin McGlade, Arizona Republic
Caitlin is a data reporter on the Arizona Republic's investigative team, where she has primarily covered senior care failures, environmental problems and elections. She also teaches data journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Lauren Mucciolo, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Lauren is the executive producer of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and teaches multimedia storytelling and investigative reporting at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She has made more than a dozen broadcast and digital films for PBS Frontline, many of which are co-productions with British broadcasters. Mucciolo is a five-time Emmy nominee who has won two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, an ONA award for storytelling innovation, a SXSW Jury Prize and a Best Director prize from the Royal Television Society, among other honors.
Dianna M. Náñez, Arizona Luminaria
Dianna is an investigative journalist and narrative editor and writer whose story of Indigenous and borderlands communities was part of the USA TODAY Network's 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning team coverage for explanatory reporting examining the ramifications of building a border wall. She’s now a co-founder and executive editor at Arizona Luminaria, a nonprofit bilingual news organization for people who want local journalism that’s a resource for action, equality and democracy. Before launching a civic newsroom that puts people before profit, Náñez worked 15 years at The Arizona Republic. In addition to reporting and editing, she served as a live-storytelling coach, led diversity committees and helped found Gannett's Latino/a/x employee resource group. Náñez served on the team that won a 2020 Goldsmith Investigative Reporting Prize. Her work has been featured in the child-welfare documentary “They Have Names” on Amazon Prime and earned press club awards for government, social issues and public safety reporting. She’s a mentor who served on the NAHJ board, graduated from ASNE’s Emerging Leaders Institute and taught journalism ethics/diversity at ASU's Walter Cronkite School for Journalism and Mass Communication. Náñez believes in journalism that amplifies truth to hold power to account and serve vulnerable communities. @DiannaNanez
Jeffrey Timmermans, Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
bio coming soon
Simone Weichselbaum, NBC News
Simone is a national investigative reporter with NBC News Investigations where she digs into issues pertaining to local policing and federal law enforcement. Her work is featured across numerous NBC News platforms ranging from NBC Nightly News to print stories on NBCNews.com. Before joining the network, Weichselbaum was a longtime national law enforcement reporter for The Marshall Project where she launched and led the organization’s diversity and inclusion committee. She also was a police beat reporter for the New York Daily News and the Philadelphia Daily News. Weichselbaum holds a graduate degree in criminology from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a native New Yorker, currently residing in Manhattan alongside her husband and their puppy Ezra the Cockapoo. Weichselbaum currently serves on IRE's board of directors.
Katie Wilcox, 12News
Katie is the executive producer of investigations at 12News in Phoenix. She leads a team of investigative and general assignment reporters to produce in-depth and data-driven coverage of breaking news and investigative series. She leads her team in investigating the intersection of the criminal justice and mental health care systems, along with tackling local issues of unaffordable housing, homelessness and healthcare. Her work has prompted legislation and policy change in Colorado and Arizona. She received the 2018 Investigative Reporter & Editor’s Award and the 2018 National Edward R. Murrow Award, among other national and local journalism honors. Katie earned her bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and Mass Communications and Economics from the University of Iowa. Go Hawks!
