IRE Preview: Hone your campus coverage skills with our lineup of pros

IRE is expanding its vast panel lineup for our national conference in San Francisco to include sessions specially-designed for student journalists and others who cover college campuses and higher education issues.

The track will cover topics such as investigating college athletics; investigating sexual assaults on campus; and covering issues related to student loans, debts and scholarships. In addition, winners of the IRE student journalism awards will give a deep dive into how they did their stories.

Expected speakers include Walt Bogdanich of The New York Times, Paula Lavigne of ESPN, Jill Riepenhoff of The Columbus Dispatch, Brad Wolverton of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Holly Hacker of The Dallas Morning News, Gordon Russell of The New Orleans Advocate, David Donald of The Center for Public Integrity, Samantha Sunne of NPR, and more.

The panels will compliment IRE’s usual offerings. Each year, the best in the business gather for more than 100 panels, hands-on classes and special presentations about covering business, public safety, government, health care, education, the military, the environment and other key beats. Many of these topics are applicable to student journalists covering their campuses and will help them look at their communities through different lenses.

Speakers will share strategies for locating documents and gaining access to public records, finding the best stories and managing investigations. Join the discussion about how to practice investigative journalism in print, broadcast, Web and alternative newsroom models.

You'll leave with the knowledge, tools and tips you need to tackle important stories on your campus and in your community.

More about IRE 2014

• View our lists of expected speakers and sessions.
• Register for IRE's one-on-one conference mentoring program. You can sign up to be a mentor or mentee.
• Preview some of our other special events taking place at the conference.