If you fill out the "Forgot Password" form but don't get an email to reset your password within 5-10 minutes, please email logistics@ire.org for assistance.
Our student sponsorship program is back for 2018! Last year, members sponsored nearly 130 memberships and donated hundreds of dollars to our student fund.
For just $25, you shared the spirit of IRE – encouraging journalists to grow through training and mentorship.
We ask for your support again this year as we aim to introduce more students to IRE. Please consider sponsoring a $25 student membership on behalf of your alma mater, college media or for an intern at your news organization. You don't have to know a student – we can help with that.
You can also make a donation to our student fund, which will send an ethnically or racially diverse student to an IRE training.
Visit our sponsorship site for more details and spread the word using hashtag #SponsorIRE.
**February 12, 2020 update: Starting August 1, 2020, PacerMonitor will no longer offer free subscriptions to IRE members. Instead they will offer a 50% discount which, for IRE members, will be $24.50/mo for their Plus plan and $49.50/mo for their Professional plan. Members who currently have free subscriptions will find those subscriptions ending July 31. They have the option of converting to a discounted plan.Â
IRE is proud to announce its newest partnership: PacerMonitor. The agreement will provide IRE members free access to PacerMonitor’s advanced tools and extensive database of more than 3 million PACER documents.
PacerMonitor is a legal research tool created to help people follow federal court cases. Founded in 2011 by former corporate restructuring professional Joe Rosen, PacerMonitor has expanded from its initial focus on bankruptcy and now includes all federal courts, making it a useful tool for many reporters and editors.
The partnership provides IRE members a free one-year PacerMonitor Enterprise subscription, which includes full database access, advanced searching capabilities and the ability to set up alerts. IRE members just need their own PACER credentials to take advantage of this offer.
"We are truly excited for this partnership after hearing and seeing the success many of our reporter subscribers have found using our service," said PacerMonitor’s Christopher Mayfield.
"With the help of our alerting system, users have been able to break news and deliver excellent, in-depth pieces. We encourage any IRE members to reach out to us with questions to make sure you get the most out of our service."
Questions about PacerMonitor? Contact Christopher Mayfield at christopher@pacermonitor.com.
Want to request your free one-year Enterprise subscription? Current IRE members should email IRE’s membership coordinator Amy Johnston at amy@ire.org. If you have not already established your PACER credentials you will need to do that first by going to https://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/pscof/registration.jsf.
More IRE member benefits
Other IRE member benefits include free or discounted access to these premium reporting tools:
Applications are now open for Total Newsroom Training — IRE’s grant-funded, customized training program that is returning for its sixth year.
IRE’s experienced trainers will visit selected newsrooms for two days of intense, in-house investigative training — at no cost. Spots in the program are limited and awarded on a competitive basis.
Total Newsroom Training is meant to help small to medium-size news organizations, and IRE customizes training based on the needs of the organization. These sessions can include web tools, background techniques and hands-on data training.
The program 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.
The newsroom must be committed to allowing a significant portion of its staff attend the full two days of training and to tracking their progress after the training. The winning newsrooms will attend a webinar later in the year to showcase their work.
The deadline for applications is Sept. 23. The application form must be filled out by the editor, news director or equivalent.
"For five years, IRE has provided valuable watchdog training to dozens of small and medium newsrooms through our TNT program," said Doug Haddix, IRE executive director. "We're thrilled to begin the sixth year of this program so that IRE can continue to help journalists in smaller markets sharpen their watchdog teeth and produce stories with high impact."
IRE also awards fellowships for TNT alumni to attend one of IRE’s annual CAR boot camps. Applications will open soon for TNT alumni to attend boot camp in January. The award covers much of the cost of attending the week-long data training session in Columbia, Missouri.
More than 1.4 million people in the U.S. alone have fallen victim to a mail scam centered around a psychic named Maria Duval. Officials around the world have tried to shutter the multimillion-dollar scheme with little success. It was unclear if the scam’s namesake was even a real person. So, CNN investigative reporters Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken decided to follow the fraud back to its source and uncover its leaders. Their reporting took them through a maze of shell companies, to a Brazilian surfing school and even the South of France.
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.
The Records (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Our Digital Compass (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Slow Line Stomp (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Sunday Lights (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Parisol (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Stately Shadows (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
The Confrontation (Podington Bear) / CC BY-NC 3.0
Julie Christie reported this episode. IRE Editorial Director Sarah Hutchins edits the podcast. Blake Nelson draws our episode art. We are recorded in the studios of KBIA at the University of Missouri.
Thanks to the generosity of many, IRE is fortunate to have funding available to provide fellowships to its training events. These fellowships provide financial assistance to attend IRE boot camps. This month, IRE awarded six fellowships for the August 2018 CAR Boot Camp.
Ana Ley from The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), Sarah Rafique from KXAN-TV (Austin, Texas) and Francesca Fionda from The Discourse received Ottaway Fellowships.
Established by David Ottaway and the Ottaway Family Fund, the Fellowship is aimed at increasing the diversity of IRE's membership.
Valerie Gonzalez from KRGV-TV (Weslaco, Texas), Cathy Tatom from KPRC-TV (Houston, Texas) and Jill Burke from KTUU-TV (Anchorage, Alaska) received Knight TV Data Fellowships.
Funded by the Knight Foundation, the Knight TV Data Fellowships were created to build a network of local television journalists committed to producing watchdog journalism. The funding to IRE includes not only fellowships for IRE training, but also support for IRE TV Watchdog Workshops and creation of a new digital TV Watchdog Network.
**UPDATE (July 18, 2018)**
IRE is grateful for the overwhelming response. We received more than 370 offers to help the Capital Gazette put out its paper. At this point, the Baltimore Sun, which is coordinating the efforts, said that because of your generosity, they now have "more offers than we could possibly use." However, if you’d still like to help, you can go to this page and contribute to a fund for families and/or for memorial scholarships.
Again, on behalf of the IRE board, a heartfelt thank you. You make us proud to be journalists.
— Cheryl W. Thompson
President, IRE Board of Directors
The Capital Gazette staff needs our help. In the wake of the June 28 shooting, they need journalists to help publish the daily paper.
They are looking for reporters and editors who can commit two to five consecutive days in July, August and/or September. While all help is appreciated, journalists will need to be on-site at the Baltimore Sun office. The Sun wishes to clarify that visiting journalists are being paid.
If you wish to help, please complete this form by Tuesday, July 24. The list will be submitted to The Baltimore Sun, which is coordinating the assistance. The Sun will be contacting journalists with additional details.
If you would like to help the families of the shooting victims and/or support memorial scholarships in their honor, please visit this page for more information.
If you have questions, contact IRE’s Director of Partnerships Chris Vachon at chris@ire.org.
We’ve often wondered what happens with the investigations featured on the podcast. So, we decided to check in with three newsrooms featured on previous episodes and find out. Brian Rosenthal will share the impact of his Houston Chronicle investigation into Texas special education. Journalists at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting share an exciting discovery about the identity of Mountain Jane Doe. And the Associated Press reporters behind the 2015 investigation “Seafood from Slaves” take us through their latest investigation.
You can find the podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, 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.
Algea Trio (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Great is the Contessa (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Jog to the Water (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
The Records (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Cloud Line (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Lakeside Path (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Rate Sheet (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0
Abby Ivory-Ganja reported this episode. Tessa Weinberg is our host. IRE Editorial Director Sarah Hutchins edits the podcast. We are recorded in the studios of KBIA at the University of Missouri. Special thanks to KERA in Dallas for use of their studio.
IRE is bringing its acclaimed data and coding boot camps to three cities this fall and offering scholarships to each camp. These boot camps are sponsored in part by the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation.
The camps will include instruction in data analysis and cleaning using Excel, SQL, Python and — for the first time — R.
Demand for in-depth, hands-on data training has continued to grow in the last several years, and the three annual Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR) boot camps that IRE hosts at its headquarters at the University of Missouri School of Journalism have been at or near capacity. After also seeing record attendance at the CAR Conference this year, IRE decided to bring more data training to its members.
"A data or coding boot camp will change a journalist’s life," IRE Executive Director Doug Haddix said. "This immersive hands-on training will equip journalists with skills to wrangle data, find hidden watchdog stories and explore new ways of storytelling online."
Each camp also will have 10 tuition waivers available through a competitive application process, thanks to support from the Park Foundation and donations from IRE members at the annual CAR Conference last March in Chicago. The scholarships will pay the full tuition fee and do not cover travel or lodging.
Here are details on each camp:
IRE will also host its annual fall CAR boot camp on the University of Missouri campus on Aug. 5.
IRE also plans to host some on-the-road boot camps in Spring 2019. If your organization can provide space in a computer lab and would like to host a camp, please contact Senior Training Director Denise Malan at denise@ire.org.
Journalists and the public alike have rallied to support the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, after a gunman killed five employees on June 28.
In a poignant editorial, the newspaper thanked the legions of people who have expressed sympathy and outrage over the deaths of Rob Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman, Wendi Winters, John McNamara and Rebecca Smith. The newspaper also remembered its slain colleagues in profiles of the victims.
More than $185,000 has been raised through a GoFundMe campaign to help families of the victims and the newsroom. In addition, the newspaper's parent company, Tronc, has created the Capital Gazette Families Fund for those who would like to make a tax-deductible donation.
In California, a column by investigative reporter Thomas Peele drew parallels to the 2007 killing of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey and journalists before him, including Don Bolles of the Arizona Republic. The 1976 car bomb killing of Bolles played a pivotal role in the early days of Investigative Reporters and Editors -- chronicled in the online history of IRE.
The common lesson: Killing a journalist doesn't kill a story.
For perspective, the Baltimore Sun detailed how attacks on journalists in the United States have been rare.
In Florida, Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry wrote about the impact of the tragedy, noting his friendship with colleague Carl Hiaasen, whose brother died in the attack. The Washington Post called the shooting an attack on journalism itself. NPR deemed the attack "a complete gut punch to journalists." And Ledyard King, a former Capital Gazette reporter, wrote in USA TODAY that he met his wife at the newspaper -- pointing out how journalists serve "on the front lines facing public anger."
IRE is poised to begin its new fiscal year July 1 in a position of strength in terms of membership, finances and expanded training offerings.
"Through the tireless efforts of our IRE staff and leadership from our board of directors, IRE continues to evolve to meet changing needs of our members across the country and around the world," IRE Executive Director Doug Haddix said.
Haddix and then-board president Matt Goldberg presented "The State of IRE" during the annual membership meeting, held during the national IRE Conference in Orlando. Slides from the report are posted here.
Highlights include:
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