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For the first time, IRE will offer its members the option of buying digital contest questionnaire packs to explore the best investigative work published in 2019.
Anyone who enters the IRE Awards completes a thorough questionnaire, which provides a blueprint to unpack the investigation. The form includes detailed information about how the story idea originated, key documents and data, and tips for overcoming obstacles.
“Our contest questionnaires are a gold mine,” IRE Executive Director Doug Haddix said. “When I worked in newsrooms, I used them all the time for story ideas, inspiration and guidance. They saved valuable time and helped improve our investigations.”
The contest entry packs for 2019 are available in the IRE Shop. You can purchase the full set of all 470 entries in all categories for $250. Or you may select specific category packs, which cost $20 apiece for those with 15 or fewer entries or $50 apiece for categories with more entries.
“A longtime IRE member suggested this new product as a way to save time and collect detailed dossiers on the best watchdog work across all news platforms,” Haddix said.
IRE members are still able to obtain individual contest questionnaires at no cost through the IRE Resource Center.
For the first time, IRE will offer its members the option of buying digital contest questionnaire packs to explore the best investigative work published in 2019.
Anyone who enters the IRE Awards completes a thorough questionnaire, which provides a blueprint to unpack the investigation. The form includes detailed information about how the story idea originated, key documents and data, and tips for overcoming obstacles.
“Our contest questionnaires are a gold mine,” IRE Executive Director Doug Haddix said. “When I worked in newsrooms, I used them all the time for story ideas, inspiration and guidance. They saved valuable time and helped improve our investigations.”
The contest entry packs for 2019 are available in the IRE Shop. You can purchase the full set of all 470 entries in all categories for $250. Or you may select specific category packs, which cost $20 apiece for those with 15 or fewer entries or $50 apiece for categories with more entries.
“A longtime IRE member suggested this new product as a way to save time and collect detailed dossiers on the best watchdog work across all news platforms,” Haddix said.
IRE members are still able to obtain individual contest questionnaires at no cost through the IRE Resource Center.
Thanks to everyone who submitted a Lighting Talk idea for the 2020 NICAR Conference. Now it’s time to narrow the more than 45 ideas down to the 10 talks we’ll hear in New Orleans. Go online and vote for your favorite proposals. The polls close on Friday, Feb. 21.
What are Lightning Talks? Lightning Talks are 5-minute presentations on particular skills, tools or techniques. Pitches are submitted and voted on by NICAR20 attendees.
When are they? Friday, March 6, at 5 p.m. in New Orleans.
How does voting work? You'll be able to vote for as many talks as you'd like, and the 10 talks with the most votes will be a part of the Lightning Talks session at NICAR20. The official schedule will be posted on the Lightning Talks site a couple of days after voting closes.
Why can’t I see who pitched a talk? Last year, we decided to make the pitching and voting process anonymous. In years past, the person’s name would be displayed alongside the pitch. Our hope was to use anonymity to encourage a more diverse group of people to submit pitches and bring more focus to the content of the talk in the voting process.
Police rely on alcohol breath tests to convict drunken drivers. But what happens when the machines they use aren’t reliable? Stacy Cowley of The New York Times looked into the problem of faulty breath test machines and found thousands of cases where the tests were thrown out. On this episode, Stacy breaks down how she discovered unreliable breath tests and the consequences they pose for real people.
You can find the podcast on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play. If you have a story you think we should feature on the show, drop us a note at web@ire.org. We’d love to hear from you.
Looking for links to the stories and resources we discussed on this week's podcast? We've collected them for you.
Calisson (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Grey Grey Joe (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Fifteen Street (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Arizona Moon (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Two in the Back (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Kelly Kenoyer reported this episode. IRE Editorial Director Sarah Hutchins edits the podcast. We are recorded in the studios of KBIA at the University of Missouri.
Thanks to the generosity of financial supporters, IRE is fortunate to have funding available to provide fellowships for financial assistance to its Data Journalism Bootcamps and annual NICAR Conference. This month, IRE awarded 25 fellowships for the March 2020 Data Journalism Bootcamp and the 2020 NICAR conference.
Lei “Tommy” Xie, an associate professor at Fairfield University, received the David Donald Fellowship for Data Journalism.
The fellowship was established in 2017 for the late David Donald, a former IRE training director, who spread the gospel of CAR to thousands of journalists, educators and students.The fellowship supports journalism educators to be better equipped to teach students to be effective watchdogs through the use of data.
Chiara Eisner, an independent journalist from Houston, Layla Quran from PBS Newshour (Washington, D.C.) and Blaise Aboh from Orodata Science (Nigeria), received Ottaway Fellowships.
Established by David Ottaway and the Ottaway Family Fund, the Ottoway Fellowship is aimed at increasing the diversity of IRE's membership.
Yoojin Cho from KXAN (Austin, Texas), Sonja Hutson from KUER (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Hurubie Meko from Lancaster Newspaper | LancasterOnline (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) received Total Newsroom Training Fellowships.
Total Newsroom Training (TNT) Fellowships are open to those who have completed two days of IRE’s TNT Program.
Mohamed Al Elew from the University of California, San Diego, and Yves De Jesus from the University of Minnesota received Diversity Fellowships for Students.
The Diversity Fellowships for Students is funded by generous IRE donors.
Monica Cordero Sancho, an independent journalist, Rio Lacanlale from the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Las Vegas, Nevada) and Amanda Zhou from the Charlotte Observer received Diversity Fellowships.
Some of the diversity fellowships were established by the Philip L. Graham Fund in memory of the late publisher of The Washington Post and president of The Washington Post Company (now Graham Holdings Company). Other fellowships were established by the IRE Diversity Development Fund. Both funds are intended to increase the diversity of the IRE membership and of the investigative journalism community.
Yurirua Guzman from the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley received the Jennifer Leonard Scholarship.
Established by IRE member David Cay Johnston, formerly of The New York Times, to honor his wife, Jennifer, who is a national leader in promoting ethical standards for CHARITABLE endowments. The scholarship supports women studying journalism or in their first three years of their professional journalism career.
Faith Abubey from NBC Atlanta and Kevin Wisniewski from WTVF (Nashville, Tennessee) received Knight TV Data Fellowships.
Funded by the Knight Foundation to strengthen data watchdog skills at local TV stations across the United States.
Megan DeLaire from Torstar (Toronto, Canada), Maayan Silver and Lauren Sigfusson from WUWM (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Jeff Outhit from Waterloo Region Record (Ontario, Canada), Christian Marquez from Searchlight New Mexico (Santa Fe, New Mexico), Sara Simon from Spotlight PA (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), Sarah Gibson and Sara Plourde from New Hampshire Public Radio (Concord, New Hampshire) and Olivia Sanchez and Naomi Harris from the Capital Gazette (Annapolis, Maryland) received Data in Local Newsroom Training Program Fellowships.
Data in Local Newsroom Training Program is funded by Google News Initiative.
If you are interested in applying for a fellowship for financial assistance for future IRE bootcamps or conferences, go here for more information. The next due dates:
The board of Investigative Reporters and Editors joins other journalism organizations in support of the immediate release of Ignace Sossou, who is serving an 18-month prison sentence for doing his job as a journalist.
Sossou is the head of production at Benin Web TV, and a member of the 3i investigative journalists' network. He was convicted of harassment for accurately reporting comments made by a public prosecutor. Sossou had previously received a one-month suspended prison sentence for exposing a tax evasion case.
IRE supports the rights of journalists the world over to do their jobs without fear of persecution. IRE calls on the Benin Republic to respect freedoms of expression and of the press guaranteed by the country's own laws.
IRE is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting in the U.S. and throughout the world. Today, IRE has grown into one of the largest journalism organizations in the United States and one of the largest investigative journalism groups in the world, with members from the U.S. and more than 50 other countries.
Acclaimed journalist Ronan Farrow will deliver the 2020 keynote address at the IRE national investigative journalism conference in June.
The conference, featuring nearly 400 speakers and 200 sessions, will take place June 18-21 in the Washington, D.C., area. More details, including links to registration and lodging, are available on the #IRE20 conference page.
“We are thrilled that Ronan has accepted our invitation," said IRE board president Cheryl W. Thompson, an investigative correspondent for NPR. "His dogged investigative reporting helped spark a global movement, and we look forward to his inspiring and motivating message."
Farrow will speak June 20 during the annual IRE Awards Luncheon, which celebrates the best investigative journalism produced across all news platforms.
Farrow is author of the best-selling “Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators.” His 2019 book details his efforts to investigate allegations of rape, sexual assault and abuse of women by powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and allegations of intimidation and cover-up by powerful institutions including the news media.
Farrow is a contributing writer to The New Yorker, where his investigative work has won the Pulitzer Prize for public service, the National Magazine Award and the George Polk Award, among other honors. He previously worked as an anchor and investigative reporter at MSNBC and NBC News, with his print commentary and reporting appearing in publications including the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
Before his career in journalism, he served as a State Department official in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller “War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence.” Farrow has been named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People and one of GQ's Men of the Year. He is a graduate of Yale Law School and a member of the New York Bar. He recently completed a Ph.D. in political science at Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He lives in New York.
Submissions are now open for Lightning Talks to be featured at #NICAR20 in New Orleans!
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. 7. 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 New Orleans.
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 in recent years, we encourage you to take a year off to allow for new voices.)
Pitching and voting will be anonymous again this year. In years past, a pitch would be displayed alongside the person who submitted it. Last year we saw that anonymity encouraged 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 Brittany Mayes at brittany.mayes@washpost.com or Christine Zhang, ychristinezhang@gmail.com.
The 2020 Lightning Talks are sponsored by Knight Foundation.
Multimedia journalist Madison Fleck has been named IRE’s new Editorial Director.
Since May 2017, Fleck has worked at ABC 17 in Columbia, Missouri, as a producer and content editor. She assigns stories and guides reporters; writes and edits stories for digital platforms and social media; and writes scripts. In addition, she is teaching a journalism class this semester at the Missouri School of Journalism.
Fleck earned a master’s degree in convergence journalism from the University of Missouri, where she worked for two years as managing editor and then as editor in chief of Vox Magazine, a weekly city magazine. She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from West Virginia University, where she worked in several roles at The Daily Athenaeum newspaper, including editor in chief.
As Editorial Director, Fleck will serve as managing editor of the quarterly IRE Journal magazine. She also will oversee content on IRE’s website, social media channels, e-newsletters and IRE Radio podcast. She will supervise one part-time staff member and several part-time student workers.
“Madison is fluent across all platforms, which will help her hit the ground running for IRE,” said IRE Executive Director Doug Haddix. “Her mix of skills and experience involving a weekly print magazine, WordPress, social media, digital storytelling, newspapers and TV impressed us.”
Fleck, who begins her IRE job on March 2, will report to Haddix. She succeeds current Editorial Director Sarah Hutchins, who is transitioning to a new full-time role as an IRE trainer.
“Investigative journalism continues to be an imperative part of institutional oversight across the world,” Fleck said. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the talented journalists at IRE and be part of highlighting investigative journalism on an international scale.”
Denise Malan has been named IRE’s deputy executive director. In her expanded role, Malan will oversee all of IRE’s training programs, event logistics and the IRE Resource Center.
“As IRE has grown in recent years, it’s become clear that we need to consolidate all facets of training under one strong leader,” said Doug Haddix, IRE executive director. “Denise is an exceptionally talented leader. She understands the value of a holistic approach that blends an engaging curriculum, smooth logistics and ongoing resources.”
Malan has served for more than two years as IRE’s senior training director. Previously, she worked as an IRE trainer; as director of data services in a joint position with IRE and the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN); and as interim CEO of INN. Her newsroom positions included data/investigations editor and reporter at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and reporter at The Morning News in northwestern Arkansas.
Malan earned a master’s degree in data science and analytics at the University of Missouri and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and physics at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
“I'm excited to take on this new role as the IRE team and programs continue to grow,” Malan said. “Our focus will continue to be serving our members and delivering top-notch training to help them in their jobs.”
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