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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has won the Investigative Reporters and Editors 2021 Golden Padlock Award honoring the most secretive public agency or official in the U.S.
Drawn from nominations from journalists across the country, Landry won for suing newspaper reporter Andrea Gallo over a public records request. Gallo, an investigative reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune, filed a request in December for copies of sexual harassment complaints made against the head of the attorney general’s criminal division. The agency said it would not release the complaint because it contained private information. Landry then took the extraordinary step of suing Gallo, asking the judge to seal the record and prohibit Gallo from disclosing any information pertaining to the complaint. In response, Gallo’s attorney called it “simply unfathomable” that Landry would sue before even attempting to redact portions of the sexual harassment complaint, as the newspaper had suggested. A judge rejected Landry’s argument in March and ordered the release of the record.
“In a fiercely competitive field of finalists this year, Landry impressed the judges with a bold strategy designed to ensure important truths remain hidden from the public,” said Golden Padlock committee chair Robert Cribb. “Suing reporters for posing questions is a high watermark for public officials committed to secret-keeping and a worthy winning strategy for this honor.”
IRE named three finalists for the award for their extraordinary efforts to undermine the public’s right to know.
The finalists for the 2021 Golden Padlock Award were:
IRE's Don Bolles Medal for 2021 has been awarded to four investigative journalists who have courageously worked to expose human rights abuses in China, as well as that country's handling of the coronavirus crisis, and faced retaliation from the government of China for their reporting.
This year's recipients are Chao Deng, Josh Chin and Philip Wen of The Wall Street Journal and Chris Buckley of The New York Times.
The Don Bolles Medal recognizes investigative journalists who have exhibited extraordinary courage in standing up against intimidation or efforts to suppress the truth about matters of public importance.
"China makes it incredibly difficult for journalists to uncover truths that the government would rather keep hidden from the rest of the world," said IRE Board President Cheryl W. Thompson. "These journalists have all shown extraordinary courage in digging up those important stories, and as a result, they faced the wrath of the Chinese government."
Deng, Chin and Wen were expelled from China in February 2020 in the first mass expulsion of journalists in the post-Mao era. While the government of China claimed that it was retaliating for the headline of an opinion column (knowing that the Journal's news and editorial operations are completely separate), the expulsions enabled Chinese officials to suppress critical reporting about the government's failures.
Deng was reporting from Wuhan about the ongoing coronavirus crisis when the Foreign Ministry ordered her to cease all journalistic activity and to prepare for expulsion from the country. Her reporting had revealed questions about the accuracy of the government's COVID tests and about how the outbreak had overwhelmed the city's health care system. Previously, Deng exposed how Western companies had become "entangled in China's campaign to forcibly assimilate its Muslim population."
Wen's reporting raised questions about the potential involvement of Chinese President Xi Jinping's cousin in organized crime, money laundering and influence-peddling schemes. He also revealed how China had shifted its strategy for dealing with ethnic Muslims from forced re-education centers to more subtle forms of control.
Chin had reported on how China, in an effort to snuff out a Muslim separatist group, had turned the autonomous region of Xinjiang "into a laboratory for high-tech social controls." He revealed how the government, after rounding up Muslim Uighur residents, had demolished neighborhoods in an attempt to purge their culture. Chin also reported on how employees of Huawei Technologies had helped African governments to spy on their political opponents.
"Chao, Phil and Josh are the kind of foreign correspondents that are increasingly unwelcome in China -- reporters who are native-level fluent in Mandarin, who have spent years in the country and who dare to report on sensitive subjects that otherwise will not be told to the outside world," said the Journal's China bureau chief, Jonathan Cheng.
In July 2020, in a signal of the Chinese government's determination to extend its repressive reach, New York Times reporter Chris Buckley was forced to leave Hong Kong after authorities refused to renew his visa.
Two months earlier, Buckley had been reporting from Wuhan when his press card expired, and he was forced to pack his bags and leave mainland China. In the early days of the outbreak, Buckley had described conditions "with the sick being herded into makeshift quarantine camps, with minimal medical care, a growing sense of abandonment and fear."
His reporting had previously revealed how China was detaining Muslims in vast numbers, "where they are forced to listen to lectures, sing hymns praising the Chinese Communist Party and write 'self-criticism' essays." He was part of the duo that published the leaked Xinjiang Papers, more than 400 pages of internal Chinese documents that exposed details of the Chinese government's mass detention of Muslims.
Former IRE Board member Phil Williams, who has spearheaded the nomination process for the Don Bolles Medal, said the four journalists exemplify the increasing difficulty that investigative journalists face throughout China.
"In honoring these four courageous journalists, we also recognize the work of countless other journalists who struggle every day to shine light into the dark corners of China," Williams said. "As China plays an increasingly important role on the world stage, the Don Bolles Medal should be seen as a call for more transparency and for the freedom to report throughout the country."
The Don Bolles Medal was created in 2017 in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the Arizona Project, an effort led by IRE to finish the work of Don Bolles. The Arizona Republic investigative reporter was killed in 1976 by a car bomb in retaliation for his reporting.
Bolles’ death came a few days before the first national IRE conference in Indianapolis, where the veteran reporter had been scheduled to speak on a panel. At the time, Bolles had been investigating allegations of land fraud involving prominent politicians and individuals with ties to organized crime.
After his murder, nearly 40 journalists from across the country descended on Arizona to complete his investigation. News organizations across the country published their findings.
Their message: Efforts to suppress the truth will be met by even greater efforts from the rest of the journalism community to tell it.
Investigative Reporters and Editors has named a competitive field of finalists for its 2021 Golden Padlock Award honoring the most secretive public agency or official in the U.S.
Drawn from nominations from journalists across the country, four finalists were chosen for their extraordinary commitment to secrecy, ranging from suing a reporter over a request for public information, denying public access to a report detailing institutional failures that allowed ongoing abuse of children, filing subpoenas to access reporters’ research and deleting personal communications sought through official journalistic requests in the public interest.
“It’s an inspiration to highlight the work of public officials that embody the highest principles of bureaucratic intransigence, self-interest and disregard for the public’s right to know,” said Robert Cribb, chair of IRE’s Golden Padlock Committee. “These are civil servants of deep conviction whose personal pledge to uphold obfuscation make them worthy of public acknowledgement.”
The winner will be announced during the awards ceremony at the IRE21 virtual conference on Wednesday, June 16. If you are registered for the conference, you can add it to your agenda here.
The finalists for the 2021 Golden Padlock Award are:
IRE is partnering with the Media Mentors program at JournalismMentors.com to provide mentorship and guidance to journalists looking to build skills in data and watchdog reporting.
Media Mentors is a mentoring program from journalism-internships.com, a website dedicated to fostering the next generation of media leaders. Mentors listed on the website have volunteered to offer half-hour, one-on-one sessions for advice, guidance or general questions about navigating the media industry. The website is run by Adriana Lacy, who works at Axios, and Caitlin Ostroff, who works at The Wall Street Journal.
Mentors on the Investigative page of the JournalismMentors.com website will be IRE members who have volunteered to help others with skills such as data journalism, requesting public records, approaching an accountability interview and other watchdog reporting skills. Those seeking mentorship are not required to be IRE members, and mentorship sessions are free to all.
“The ease of navigating the journalism industry and getting into investigative reporting shouldn’t be determined by where someone lives or where that person studied,” said Caitlin Ostroff, a co-founder of Media Mentors. “Adriana and I benefited immensely from the advice of veteran journalists as we started our careers and are thrilled to work with IRE to reach more mentees and mentors.”
IRE encourages members who have previously mentored others to volunteer through JournalismMentors.com.
Previously, mentorship was available only at IRE’s two annual conferences. This program makes mentorship more widely available throughout the year and to those who cannot travel to conferences.
"We’re thrilled to offer a more robust investigative mentoring program for IRE members and the broader journalism community," said Kat Stafford, an IRE board member and Membership Services Committee chair. "Mentorship is at the heart of IRE's mission, and we’re grateful this new partnership will help us build the next generation of diverse investigative journalists and representative newsrooms.”
Through the website, mentors set up office hours when they are available, and mentees can choose a time to set up a chat through an automated system. In addition to the IRE partnership, Media Mentors also offers mentorship in other topics such as editing, marketing, design/photo and audience engagement. See the frequently asked questions page on JournalismMentors.com for more information.
The IRE Board is thrilled to announce that Diana R. Fuentes will serve as the next executive director of the 6,000-member organization. She is the first person of color to serve in that role.
Fuentes, a Texas native, has served as the Deputy Metro Editor of the San Antonio Express-News since 2015. She has extensive senior management and masthead-level experience running newsrooms throughout Texas, and has served on numerous boards, including the American Society of Newspaper Editors (now the News Leaders Association). She is past president, treasurer and secretary of the Texas APME and the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. She is a lifetime member, and former secretary and financial officer of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
“Diana’s management skills—and her management style—combined with her three decades as a journalist and her deep appreciation and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, make her a good fit for IRE,” said IRE Board President Cheryl W. Thompson. “I have no doubt that she will do an amazing job.”
Fuentes brings a solid vision to IRE, which includes initiatives to support investigative journalists at smaller newspapers, broadcast outlets and online news sites. She also hopes to expand the organization’s program that provides investigative training at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic-serving institutions; and build on the partnerships with culturally diverse journalism organizations. And she’d like to launch a high-school program that would strengthen the pipeline for future investigative journalists.
“These are challenging times, but also a time of opportunity,” Fuentes said. “IRE is the acknowledged leader in training journalists to produce high-quality content, putting us in a prime position to expand the pool of diverse candidates and help newsrooms large and small reflect the communities they serve.”
Fuentes was chosen after a six-person search committee screened dozens of candidates. She impressed them with her practical experience in every critical element the committee cited as being important for the position. The board and staff also found her to be no-nonsense but affable.
“I’m enthusiastic about working with a passionate, open-minded board and a hard-working staff, dedicated members and visionary supporters who fund our work,” Fuentes said. “There’s much to be done, and we are going to do it together."
Former IRE board member Ziva Branstetter and IRE Vice President Mark J. Rochester co-chaired the committee. They were joined by Austin American-Statesman Editor Manny Garcia; University of Missouri Associate Professor Mark Horvit; Cindy Galli, director of investigative projects for ABC News and a current IRE board member; and Thompson, senior editor of station investigations for NPR.
Fuentes succeeds Doug Haddix, who left in January after nearly five years in the position. Fuentes will start the position on April 26.
Do you know an investigative journalist who has exhibited extraordinary courage in standing up against intimidation or efforts to suppress the truth about matters of public importance?
Perhaps someone who has faced extreme threats for his/her investigative reporting? Someone who has been targeted by authorities for harassment for doing his/her job? Someone who has faced other kinds of intimidation?
Please take a moment to nominate that person for this year’s Don Bolles Medal by April 19.
The IRE Board created the honor in 2017 as a way to draw public attention to the difficult circumstances under which some of our colleagues are forced to operate.
In 2017, the first Don Bolles Medal was bestowed posthumously to Mexican journalist Miroslava Breach Velducea, who was assassinated in retaliation for her efforts to expose organized crime and corruption.
Last year, it was awarded to four journalists: Chris Ingalls, Jeremy Jojola, A.C. Thompson and Leonard Pitts Jr., who were targeted by extremist groups in retaliation for their reporting.
The medal was created in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the Arizona Project, an effort led by IRE to finish the work of Don Bolles, an Arizona Republic investigative reporter who was killed in 1976 by a car bomb.
Bolles’ death came a few days before the first national IRE conference in Indianapolis, where the veteran reporter had been scheduled to speak on a panel. At the time, Bolles had been investigating allegations of land fraud involving prominent politicians and individuals with ties to organized crime.
After his murder, nearly 40 journalists from across the country descended on Arizona to complete his investigation. News organizations across the country published their findings. Their message: Even if you kill a reporter, you can’t kill the story.
The 2021 IRE Conference will again be a virtual event, bringing together members for five days of training, conversations and networking online June 14-18.
The #IRE21 conference had been scheduled for mid-June in Indianapolis.
“We decided to move this year’s conference online again because the safety of our members matters most,” said Cheryl W. Thompson, IRE’s board president. “We will miss seeing everyone in person.”
Most sessions will take place from noon to 4 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time, to allow for participation across the United States and around the world. Training sessions will be recorded and available for attendees on demand for up to one year on the conference platform. The event will also include fun social events, such as happy hours, networking and a celebration of the 2020 IRE Award winners.
IRE is seeking ideas for conference sessions through March 22. Please fill out this form to suggest ideas for speakers, topics, and fun social sessions.
Nearly 3,000 journalists, educators and students attended the first-ever virtual IRE Conference in September 2020, taking part in more than 200 sessions. Members joined from more than 30 countries.
“The IRE20 Conference was such an energizing event during a very trying year for journalists,” said Denise Malan, IRE interim executive director. “We’re excited to bring our community together online again this year, and we can’t wait to see everyone in person and celebrate together when it’s safe to do so.”
The online format also allowed IRE to lower the cost of registration. Registration rates are about half of the usual in-person rates for IRE conferences, and IRE will be offering about 200 fellowships that include free registration and membership.
“IRE board and staff members recognize that journalists have limited resources now more than ever,” Malan said. “We want to help ensure our training remains accessible through lower costs and more fellowship opportunities.”
What will registration cost for the virtual IRE21 conference?
Registration rates are:
Attendees must be members of current members of IRE through June ($70/professional, $25/students).
When will registration open?
We expect to open registration in mid-April.
Will you have fellowships available?
Yes! We will offer about 200 fellowships, a record number for an IRE conference. Fellowships cover the cost of registration and a one-year IRE membership. Sign up to receive fellowship notices or watch IRE’s social media channels for application information.
How do I give input on conference sessions?
We want to hear all of your ideas for the conference, including speakers you’d like to learn from, topics you want to delve into, and any fun ideas for social and networking in the virtual space. We’d also like to hear your ideas on the virtual format, and things that you liked (or didn’t like) from our last online conference to help us build an even better event.
Please fill out this form with your input by March 22. No idea is too big or too small!
I’ve never been to a virtual conference. How will it work?
You’ll receive a secure link that will allow you (and only you!) to sign into the online conference. Once inside the virtual conference, you may browse the schedule, build your own personalized schedule, request one-on-one meetings with other attendees and much more. We will offer several options during any given time slot. The majority of sessions will feature video presentations with several speakers — typically using slides and tipsheets, similar to in-person events. You’ll be able to ask questions and interact with panelists in real time. We’ll also feature interactive social gatherings online.
Will I need special equipment or software to participate?
No. All you’ll need is Internet access and a computer, laptop or tablet — much as you need to participate in an online video meeting. To attend a virtual meeting on the Pathable platform, we strongly recommend using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers and downloading the Zoom app.
What if I’m working, attending class or dealing with other obligations that cause me to miss some sessions?
That’s the beauty of a virtual conference. Most sessions will be recorded and available to attendees for up to one year. You can view them at your convenience. Most sessions will include video plus any related tipsheets, slide decks and chat transcripts.
Will #IRE21 be useful to international journalists?
Absolutely. We encourage international journalists, educators and students to join us online for #IRE21. An affordable registration rate — plus no need to spend money on travel, lodging and meals — opens up opportunities for far more journalists around the world to join IRE for learning, inspiration and collaboration. We’ll also provide ways for international journalists to connect with one another during the conference and have some fellowships for international journalists.
Will there be swag?
Yes, T-shirts, mugs, stickers and other items will be available for purchase in the IRE Store and will be shipped to you.
How can I become a sponsor of the virtual #IRE21 conference?
The virtual platform offers many exciting opportunities for sponsors, including virtual trade show booths. If you’d like information on the benefits of sponsoring #IRE21, please contact Chris Vachon, IRE director of partnerships, by email: chris@ire.org.
How can I keep up with new developments connected to #IRE21?
Please sign up here to receive e-mail updates about #IRE21. It’s the best way to stay up-to-date on the latest virtual conference news.
What if I have other questions?
Please contact info@ire.org.
Welcome to the virtual #NICAR21 conference! If you’ve already registered, here’s what you need to know to access the conference.
(If you still need to register, you can do that online and then follow these instructions. You will receive an email to access the conference platform within one business day of registration. During conference week, we will work to give access as soon as possible after registration.)
The NICAR21 virtual conference is online at nicar21.org. We highly recommend you bookmark this URL for easy access, especially since you can access it for a full year!
If you’ve already registered, you should have received an email link with access to Pathable, our virtual conference platform. Using the link from that email, you’ll be asked to set a password. You will need this email and password to access Pathable during and after the conference.
Can’t find the email? Search your inbox and Spam folder for “Pathable.” If you still can’t find it, email logistics@ire.org.
The Pathable agenda will automatically reflect your time zone.
To add live sessions to your agenda, start on the main Agenda page (go to Schedule > Agenda). When you find a session you want to add to your schedule, click on the green plus sign located in the upper right-hand corner of each session.
Anything you add will show up on your My Agenda page (go to Schedule > My Agenda). You can also export your schedule to your personal calendar by using the Export Calendar feature located in My Agenda.
The conference features seven virtual data labs where you can learn spreadsheets, SQL, data wrangling, data viz, Python, R and web scraping -- with no sign-ups or extra fee required. The classes are all on demand and will be available for a year after the conference so you can work at your own pace and come back for refreshers.
Access the labs under Schedule > Virtual hands-on labs.
To compliment the virtual labs, we are offering live office hours where you can meet with an experience data journalist to help with a particular skill or project. Sign up here to be matched with an expert.
Note: You must sign up by Monday, Feb. 22 for one-on-one office hours. If you don’t sign up, you can come to open office hours found on the Agenda.
Most of the live sessions are being recorded and will be available in Pathable for one year after the conference. Every session description notes whether the session will be recorded.
As a general rule: panels and conversations will be recorded; networking and happy hour sessions will not.
Recorded sessions will be available for viewing a few hours after the session concludes. In addition, any tipsheets from the session will be available in the Files tab for each session.
Most panels (webinar-style meetings) will have the Zoom room embedded inside the Pathable page. This allows you to view the session even if your device or organization limits Zoom access. When you’re in the Pathable room, you’ll see the video on the left and the chat box on the right.
When you “Join a live meeting,” you may experience a brief delay and see a gray/black box as the embedded video loads.
If the embedded format shown above isn’t working, you also have the option to “use the Zoom app instead.” This will open a new Zoom window. (Find it directly under the video window in Pathable.)
It depends! There are two types of Zoom rooms, each noted at the bottom of that session’s description.
Finally, a note: If your organization or device limits Zoom access, you may not be able to unmute or go on video. But you should still be able to view the content and use the chat in Pathable.
Yes, you can enter and leave any live session (as long as it is not at capacity).
If you are having technical difficulties, make sure you are using Google Chrome. This will take care of some common problems, like a slow-loading browser or audio issues. But if you still need help, reach out one of the following ways:
IRE is bringing our popular Master Classes online this year, making them available to all IRE members.
Master Classes are half-day, deep-dive workshops into investigative reporting skills and are usually offered at our two annual conferences. In response to huge demand at the virtual IRE Conference last September, IRE is making some of its most popular Master Classes more widely available.
The first Online Master Class will be Feb. 19 focusing on digital investigations and taught by Jane Lytvynenko and Craig Silverman of BuzzFeed News. The second, on March 17, will help you become a public records sleuth, led by David Cuillier of University of Arizona and Grace Cheng of Thomson Reuters.
Cost
The Online Master Classes cost $35 each, and an IRE membership is required to register. Nonmembers may check requirements and apply for membership here.
Registration
View more information and register for the classes here.
Denise Malan will manage IRE staff and operations as interim executive director until the IRE Board of Directors hires a new executive director.
During the past year, Malan has served as IRE deputy executive director. She was a newspaper journalist for more than a decade, covering government, education, politics, the environment and more. After several years at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Texas, she joined IRE in 2013 in a joint position with the Institute for Nonprofit News, helping newsrooms around the country use data in their reporting. She became an IRE training director in 2016 and earned a master’s degree in data science from the University of Missouri in 2019.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity to lead IRE during this time of transition, and I look forward to working with our dedicated staff, board and members," Malan said.
The deadline to apply for the executive director position is January 15. Full details are available online. IRE is seeking a new leader to succeed Doug Haddix, who served in the role for more than four years. In October, he announced his resignation, which took effect January 8.
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