What's new at IRE24?

(May 21, 2024) — The IRE Conference has some key moments each year: classes taught by the best and brightest in journalism, the Thursday night Welcome Reception, and of course, the inspirational IRE Awards Luncheon.

It’s a decades-old tradition, but we’re always looking for ways to improve our programming and keep up with trends in the industry.

Here are some new things we’re looking forward to at IRE24!

Back in California

The IRE Conference hasn’t been to California since 2014. A decade later, we’re excited to bring the world’s largest gathering of investigative journalists to the west coast!

FYI Forum

The new “FYI Forum” will feature conversations centered on journalists’ advice and lessons learned. Whether you’re looking for project funding, ways to fight news fatigue or hoping to start an investigative team in your newsroom, stop by an FYI Forum and get practical tips to navigate the industry and your career.

Gender and reproductive rights track

This year’s conference will have a track focused on “gender and reproductive rights” for the first time. With growing news coverage of changing abortion laws, trans rights and gender identity, journalists can get guidance on these topics at IRE24.

Sessions on this track include:

• Politicization of children and families: Enforcement and consequences of anti-trans policies*
• Facts, fallacies and frames: Getting trans issues right in the 2024 election* 
• Investigating the groups organizing anti-trans action and legislation*
• The gender-targeted disinformation machine
• Race and reproductive justice reporting
• Lightning talks: Trans stories edition*

*planned in partnership with Trans Journalists Association

AI track

Join the ongoing debate on AI at IRE24. We’ll have sessions on the broader concerns on AI — from copyright issues to audio deepfakes — and how to report on them. Plus, helpful ways these emerging technologies can make your job easier.

Sessions on this track include:

• How to deal with AI audio deepfakes in election campaigns
• How to report on AI copyright cases
• AI and automation for the local beat
• Turning documents into data using AI
• How AI can elevate your newsroom
• 15 ChatGPT prompts in 15 minutes to help with your reporting 

New Master Classes

Master Classes are a conference staple. IRE24 will have the usual favorites, as well as new classes focused on FOI denials and storytelling.

“FOI Frenzy: Psychological Strategies For Getting Records Out Of Their Grubbies” will give you tactics for eliminating copy fees, effective wording for request letters, principled negotiation strategies and more. Dave Cuillier, of the Brechner Center, will teach this class.

Ken Armstrong, of Propublica, is back at IRE24 to teach “Reporting and writing for scene.” This class will look at ways to gather dialogue and detail — while being emotionally and factually correct. 

These classes have limited seating and require pre-registration. See the full list of Master Classes here.

Deep Dive

In six different "Deep Dive" sessions, the country’s top journalists will have in-depth, candid conversations on the biggest topics in investigative journalism today. No PowerPoints. No frills. Just talking. The sessions are:

• Two reporters talking writing, with Ava Kofman of ProPublica and Sarah Stillman of The New Yorker
• Cultivating sources on the inside, with Justin Elliott of ProPublica and Anna Werner of CBS News
• How to dig on deadline, with Mike Baker and Ryan Mac of The New York Times
• Vetting story ideas, with Dean Baquet of The New York Times, Mark Katches of the Tampa Bay Times and Ron Nixon of The Associated Press
• Working with people who have been harmed, with Meribah Knight of Nashville Public Radio and Shoshana Walter of The Marshall Project
• The reporter and editor relationship, with Matt Apuzzo and Megha Rajagopalan of The New York Times

Partnerships with airlines 

IRE partnered with Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines this year, thanks to the IRE Board’s Affordability Task Force. Conference attendees can now get discounts on air travel, as well as ground transportation discounts. 

IRE members can also find a roommate to save money on hotel costs.

Other new classes

We received hundreds of brilliant pitches from IRE members on panel ideas. Here are (just a few) new sessions that are being taught in person for the first time.

• “What to do when you become the subject”
• “What the Real Housewives can teach you about investigative reporting”
• “Finding the data on marginalized communities, uncovering the story and getting it on air”
• “Covering public stadium boondoggles”
• “How journalists are using investigative tools in perilous press environments”
• “Reporting on coordinated rightwing extremism”
• “36 chapters and no nut graph: A case study in merging investigative and narrative”

Check out the full conference schedule here.

Game night

If you want to hang out after conference sessions, away from happy hours, we’ll have a room dedicated to board games on Thursday! Similar to NICAR24, we’ll have some games on site, but feel free to bring your own, too. All are welcome.

IRE24 will take place June 20-23 in Anaheim, California. Learn more about the conference here.