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NICAR received some great designs for its annual T-shirt contest, and voting is now open!
Voting will stay open for about one week, ending Sunday, Feb. 10 at midnight (PST). The proposal with the most votes will be sold as a T-shirt at the upcoming CAR Conference, March 7-10 in Newport Beach.
The designer of the winning T-shirt gets a free shirt and $50 in the IRE Store.
Visit the contest page to view the designs and vote.
Submissions are now open for Lightning Talks to be featured at #NICAR19 in Newport Beach.
Lightning Talks, which take place on the Friday afternoon of the conference, are five-minute talks about a particular tool, skill or piece of advice learned from working on stories. The goal is to teach some practical tips in a fun and entertaining way.
The talks began in 2010 and quickly grew into one of the most popular sessions at IRE’s annual data journalism conference. We now open a large room so that nearly all conference attendees can hear the talks.
The pitch form is open until Feb. 8. After that, members will be able to vote for their favorite ideas, and the 10 talks with the most votes will earn slots at the conference in Newport Beach.
All conference attendees can pitch ideas, and we especially encourage women, journalists of color, those from smaller newsrooms and other underrepresented groups to submit talks. (If you’ve given a talk recent years, we encourage you to take a year off to allow for new voices.)
For the first time, we’ve decided to make the pitching and voting process anonymous. In years past, a pitch would be displayed alongside the person who submitted it. We also hope anonymity will encourage a more diverse group of people to submit pitches and bring more focus to the content of the talk in the voting process.
What makes a good Lightning Talks pitch? In the spirit of IRE’s conferences, try to focus on teaching your fellow journalists a practical skill. Think of something you wish you had known when you started a project or a particular tool that helped you overcome a challenge.
The talks don’t have to be in-depth or super advanced — remember you’ll only have five minutes, and yes, you will be timed!
If you have questions about Lightning Talks or the submission process, please contact Sandhya Kambhampati at sandhya@propublica.org and Brittany Mayes at brittany.mayes@washpost.com.
The 2019 Lightning Talks are sponsored by Knight Foundation.
Earn bragging rights and help raise money for future NICAR training events by participating in our annual NICAR T-shirt contest.
All ideas celebrating data and data journalism are welcome, from a simple, classic design with NICAR on it to bad SQL puns (SELECT * FROM tshirts WHERE tshirts.thisone = “Awesome”).
There are only a few guidelines:
We will accept entries up through Sunday, Feb. 3. Send official entries as JPG or PNG files to shirts@ire.org. Only submissions sent to that email will be entered in the contest.
Designs will be posted to the contest page as they are received. Starting Tuesday, Feb. 5, you’ll be able to vote for your favorite designs.
The designer of the winning T-shirt gets a free shirt and $50 in the IRE Store.
We look forward to your ideas and another great CAR Conference, March 7-10 in Newport Beach.
The 2019 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference will offer a record number of hands-on computer labs, Master Class workshops to hone your reporting and management skills, and a new track designed to help you understand key data journalism concepts. We’ll also be celebrating a milestone — the 25th CAR Conference — with several special sessions.
The early-bird deadline is approaching fast for the conference, which takes place March 7-10 in Newport Beach, California. Register by Jan. 21 to get the lowest rate.
We’ve released a list of expected sessions plus our pre-registered hands-on and master class workshops. A full schedule is coming soon. In the meantime, we wanted to share more about what we’re working on.
This conference will offer at least 311 hours of sessions, compared with 264 last year in Chicago. We’ll have nine computer labs for hands-on sessions in addition to five rooms for panels and demos and the NICAR Commons room for small-group discussions and meetups.
Some other highlights from this year’s schedule:
These three-hour workshops are designed to give attendees a more in-depth experience than our normal hour-long panels can offer. While our hands-on workshops focus on data skills, the Master Classes offer deep learning on topics related to reporting and managing investigations. We’ll offer Master Classes on:
Master classes require pre-registration and cost $35. Read more here.
The best way to guarantee you’ll get a seat in a hands-on lab is to sign up for a pre-registered workshop. This year we are offering 13 workshops — more than ever before — for any skill level, from data beginner to designer or programmer. Classes include:
Hands-on workshops require pre-registration and cost $35 for a half-day or $70 for a full-day workshop. Most fill up before the conference. Read more here.
We’ll also offer first-come, first-served sessions on each of these tools. There’s no additional cost to attend these open hands-on sessions. However, due to limited space in the computer labs, there is no way to guarantee a spot in these classes.
Hands-on classes are great, but the one-hour sessions go by fast and don’t leave much room for context or explaining concepts. This year, we are introducing a series of sessions geared toward explaining how something works. Many of these will precede corresponding hands-on sessions, so you can go to the lecture on how it works before heading into a computer lab and learning a skill.
How it works sessions include: Git/Github, the internet (for journalists who want to scrape it), APIs, blockchain, artificial intelligence, understanding the basics of programming languages and more.
It’s hard to believe, but NICAR19 will be the 25th CAR Conference hosted by IRE. We’ll have a couple of sessions celebrating the history of data journalism — going back even further than our first gathering in Raleigh, North Carolina.
We’ll honor the pioneers of data journalism and some of the first trainers who helped spread the gospel, and we’ll take a loving look back at technologies of the past. We’ll also look forward to what’s possible in the next 25 years of CAR.
And that’s just the new stuff! NICAR19 will also include many of the traditional events this community has built over the years, including the mentorship program, Lightning Talks and the NICAR T-shirt contest.
Sign up here to receive emails so you can stay in the loop about all things #NICAR19.
We've posted a list of more than 130 expected panels, demos, commons and hands-on classes we're planning for the 2019 CAR Conference in Newport Beach.
This list is designed to help you make decisions about the conference (show it to your boss!), but it doesn't include everything we'll be offering.
A few highlights:
Never miss #NICAR19 news!
Sign up to get detailed updates on the 2019 CAR Conference in Newport Beach, California. We'll let you know any time we make a major announcement, update you on the planning process and remind you of key dates/deadlines surrounding the conference.
We’re planning a record number of repeat hands-on classes at the upcoming CAR Conference in Newport Beach and we need your help!
If you plan to join us in California for the 2019 CAR Conference, please consider taking our survey to help us plan those repeat classes. Your responses will help us provide more of the most popular classes, allowing more attendees to get training in key technical skills such as spreadsheets, programming and data visualization. These classes are first-come, first-served in computer labs.
Click here to take the survey. We’ll keep it open until Friday, Dec. 14.
In addition to the open hands-on classes, we offer a limited number of longer hands-on workshops that require registration and an additional fee to guarantee your seat. Learn more about our pre-registered workshops on the conference website.
Newport Beach will feature nine computer labs and new master classes, for a total of 311 hours of sessions — hands-on labs, panels, demos and small group discussions — compared with 264 last year in Chicago.
IRE is taking applications to participate in the mentorship program at the 2019 CAR Conference in Newport Beach, California.
Click here to apply to be a mentor or to receive mentorship.
Before the conference (March 7-10), IRE will pair mentors with mentees and make sure they connect in Newport Beach. These one-on-one sessions are opportunities to seek advice on challenging reporting projects, get ideas for professional development and forge connections for the road ahead.
Mentors and mentees also will meet for a continental breakfast on Friday, March 8 — beginning a professional relationship that can last a lifetime.
The program is not designed for job seekers; Instead, participants will focus on teaching and sharing information. Mentees should come prepared with questions, examples of work and story ideas. We're also looking for mentors who are willing to share their knowledge.
Click here for guidelines on what a mentoring relationship entails.
IRE will accept applications until Sunday, Feb. 4, 2019. You must be registered for the conference to participate, and space in this popular program is limited.
Questions? Contact IRE training director Cody Winchester: cody@ire.org.
The #NICAR19 conference in Newport Beach, California, will feature a record number of hands-on computer labs, first-ever Master Class workshops and a celebration of the 25th national Computer-Assisted Reporting (CAR) Conference.
Registration is now open for the conference, which runs March 7-10.
In response to record attendance at #NICAR18 in Chicago, IRE will increase the offerings in Newport Beach, which will feature nine hands-on computer classrooms — a record for a CAR Conference. In addition, #NICAR19 will offer more pre-registration hands-on workshops than ever before. Newport Beach will offer at least 311 hours of sessions — hands-on labs, panels, demos and small group discussions — compared with 264 in Chicago.
"Our team is putting together what promises to be an action-packed conference," Executive Director Doug Haddix said. "It will be filled with the largest array of panels and hands-on training that IRE has ever offered during our CAR Conference."
The 2019 gathering also will mark the 25th CAR Conference, with special events on tap to celebrate the milestone. The first CAR conference took place in 1993 in Raleigh, North Carolina. IRE did not hold CAR conferences in 1996 and 2001.
More details about the schedule will be released in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, here are a few highlights and other details to help you plan:
We hope to see you in Newport Beach!
The suggestion box is open for IRE’s annual Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference, which heads to Newport Beach, California, next March. We’re also starting an email list so you can keep up with news about the conference.
Use this form to share ideas, suggestions and other comments to help us plan the best possible NICAR19 conference. No suggestion is too big or too small.
Here are a few ways you can use this form:
Have several ideas? Great! Fill out the form as many times as you’d like. And help us spread the word by sharing this form with friends and colleagues.
Keep in mind that IRE retains editorial control over the content of its conferences. If we use your idea, our team will take care of reaching out to speakers and finalizing details. Here are some other tips we put together to help you make the best pitch and understand our process.
Make sure to get your ideas in by Sept. 30. Please direct questions to conference@ire.org.
You can also sign up here for a special 2019 CAR Conference email list to receive details as we announce them. We'll let you know any time we make a major announcement, update you on the planning process and remind you of key dates/deadlines surrounding the conference.
By Kelsie Schrader
Every beat comes with challenges and constraints, but health care presents a particularly complex set of issues. Between cutting through the industry’s jargon, finding individual sources and more, it takes time and knowledge to be a successful health care reporter.
Three journalists with experience reporting on health care shared tips and strategies for covering this fast-moving industry effectively — namely, through following the data, following the money and following the people.
Follow the data
Elizabeth Lucas, data editor at Kaiser Health News, said although health care is a difficult beat, it’s helpful to remember that no matter what you’re looking for, there’s probably data related to it. Her go-to sources for health care data include the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Healthcare Search and Quality, among others.
Once you’ve got the data, how do you handle it? Lucas offered these tips:
Follow the money
Kristen Schorsch, a reporter at Crain’s Chicago Business, said money can be very telling when covering the health care industry. She offered several tips for where and how to follow the money.
Follow the people
Nina Martin, a reporter for ProPublica, used her on-going project on maternal mortality in the U.S, to offer strategies for finding and including humans in health care stories, which can be especially hard with HIPAA.
Kelsie Schrader is a journalism student at the University of Missouri.
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