Apply now to bring free watchdog training to your newsroom

Applications are now open for IRE’s Total Newsroom Training, a grant-funded program that brings customized investigative training to small- and medium-sized newsrooms. This year, the program will reach a milestone of 100 newsrooms trained over 11 years.

IRE’s experienced trainers will visit selected U.S.-based newsrooms either virtually or in person for two days of intense, in-house investigative training – at no cost.

Spots in the program are limited and awarded on a competitive basis. Preference will be given to newsrooms in rural areas and smaller cities, smaller newsrooms in large markets, and newsrooms founded and run by those coming from and serving historically marginalized communities.

Total Newsroom Training is designed to increase the ability of news organizations to provide watchdog and enterprise coverage for their communities and to produce work that can lead to change and improvements. IRE customizes training based on the needs of the organization, which may include web tools, background techniques and hands-on data analysis training.

The newsroom must be committed to allowing a significant portion of its staff to attend the full two days of training and to tracking their progress after the training. Training must be completed by December 2024. The winning newsrooms will attend a webinar later in the year to showcase their work.

The deadline to apply is February 17, 2024. Learn more about the program and how to apply. For questions, email IRE trainer Adam Rhodes, adam@ire.org.