[IRE Journal Issue Irej0308web; Fri Apr 4 10:06:33 2008]
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
JUNE 5-8 REGISTRATION You can register for this conference online at www.ire.org/training/miami08. To attend this conference, you HOST: must be an IRE member through The Miami Herald July 1, 2008. Memberships are nonrefundable. From April 1 to May and El Nuevo Herald 19, the early registration fee is $175. After May 19, the on-site registration fee of $200 applies. e best in the busine will gather for panels REGISTRATION FEE: (main conference days) workshops and special presentations about $175 (Registrations made from April 1 to May 19) Professional/Academic/Associate/Retiree covering public safety, courts, national $100 Student Optional computer-assisted security, the military, busine, education, reporting training Thursday, June 5 (requires additional fee) local government and much more. $50 Professional/Academic/ Associate/Retiree $35 Student Visit www.ire.org/training/miami08 BLUES BASH for more information and updates. Thursday, June 5 at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are $20. IRE offers several programs to help women, members of minority Ticket prices on site, groups, college students and journalists from small news organiza- if available, will be higher. Limit of 2 tickets per registrant. tions attend the conference. Fellowships typically provide a one-year membership, registration fees, and reimbursement for hotel and travel costs. See details at www.ire.org/training/fellowships.html. Conference Hotel contact Apply by April 7 for the Miami conference. InterContinental Miami If you have hotel or general conference questions, please www.ichmiami.com conference coordinator Stephanie Sinn, [email protected], or 100 Chopin Plaza If you have registration questions, please contact John 573-882-8969. Miami, FL 33131 Green, membership coordinator, [email protected] or 573-882-2772. 2008 IRE CONFERENCE CONTENTSFEATURES ALTERNATIVE INVESTIGATIONS HE OURNAL 16 - 33 T IRE J 17 CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVE 29 THE PEARL PROJECT TABLE OF Contents Independence and innovation Wikis and social drive nonprofits’ work ARCH PRIL network software M /A 2008 By Brant Houston used to track University Of Illinois Daniel Pearl’s killers 4 Alternative investigative forms can empower reporting and By Asra Q. Nomani REAL-TIME WATCHDOGS with Margo Humphries make new stories accessible 20 Sunlight Foundation bloggers Georgetown University Mark Horvit chip away at IRE Executive Director government secrets 32 ALT-I RESOURCES By Bill Allison Read more stories and 6 Calendar set for The Sunlight Foundation tips from the featured board elections journalists and and absentee voting 24 CRITICAL MASS organizations. by The IRE Journal Staff Crowdsourcing projects evolve By Tori Moss at NewsAssignment.net IRE and NICAR 7 Knight Foundation extends matching grant for IRE By John McQuaid Endowment Fund 27 WEB VISION by IRE Staff The best online projects do more than repackage print 8 FOSTER CARE Rx Medicaid data, court records By Aron Pilhofer and Brian show growth of off-label Hamman psych meds The New York Times By Gary Craig Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle 10 LIFE OR DEATH AJC reviewed 1,315 cases to show impact of race, geography on death penalty By Heather Vogell and Bill Rankin The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 34 Journalists should study this 12 FAIR PLAY anthropologist’s sources Elite colleges lag in policing Reviewed by Steve Weinberg performance-enhancing drugs The IRE Journal By Nate Carlisle, Michael C. Lewis and Tony Semerad The Salt Lake Tribune ABOUT THE COVER 15 FOI Files As technology drives conversations about GOOD NEWS FOR FOIA the future of media, investigative journalism Recent update covers private appears online in new forms, often created contractors, attorney fees, and more outside the boundaries of a traditional By Charles N. Davis newsroom. “Alternative investigations” Executive Director, National describes the search for new forms for Freedom of Information Coalition investigative traditions, as well as many new and evolving outlets producing the work. Cover photo illustration: Cover stories: By Wendy Gray Pages 16-33 The IRE Journal MARCH /APRIL 2008 3 FEATURES THE IRE JOU R NAL FROM THE IRE OFFICES VOLUME 31 NUMBER 2 MA N AGI N G EDITOR & Alternative investigative forms PUBLICATIONS COORDI N ATOR Megan Means can empower reporting and ART DIRECTOR Wendy Gray make new stories accessible SE N IOR CO N TRIBUTI N G EDITOR Steve Weinberg MARK HORVIT CO N TRIBUTI N G LEGAL EDITOR IRE EX E CUTIV E DIR E CTOR David Smallman STORY EDITOR any journalists are skeptical about their newsrooms’ scramble to embrace new technolo- Joanna Imm Mgies. They see such efforts draining resources—and attention—from traditional investigative EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE reporting, at the same time that budget cuts leave some staffs dangerously thin. Tori Moss But it doesn’t have to be that way. As the articles in this month’s edition of the Journal attest, much of the new technology can be IRE used to add depth to enterprise stories and can provide new ways to present data gathered through IRE EXECUTI V E DIRECTOR old-fashioned reporting techniques, from open records requests to following money trails. Mark Horvit Many journalists are doing what the best reporters have always done: taking the resources available to them and making use of them as tools for investigation and analysis. Some are BOARD OF DIRECTORS taking greater advantage of the interactivity offered by the Web; others are finding new venues through which to get their work to the public. PRESIDE N T A healthy debate is ongoing in newsrooms (and on blogs) about the value of putting searchable James V. Grimaldi, The Washington Post databases online for the public, particularly when the data is seen as an end in itself. There are pros and cons to that approach. At IRE and NICAR we stress the value in bringing meaning to the VICE PRESIDE N T data, and some news outlets are finding creative ways to do just that. They are layering additional Cheryl Phillips, The Seattle Times reporting, history and context into the numbers to create something new. (See p. 27.) TREASURER These sites also create a rich resource for the investigative reporter, something of a jumping Dianna Hunt, Fort Worth Star-Telegram off point from which deeper research can follow. New technology has created new ways to forge direct connections with the public, in effect SECRETARY creating whole new armies of journalists who are starting to provide tangible contributions to Stephen C. Miller, The New York Times the enterprise work occurring in newsrooms. (See p. 24.) And thanks to this new world order, new avenues have opened up for getting investigative Wendell Cochran, American University work to the public. Renee Ferguson, WMAQ-Chicago A number of organizations, many of them nonprofit (see articles on pp. 17 and 20), are producing in-depth journalism and making it available through the Web. Such stories are often Manny Garcia, The Miami Herald accompanied by interactive databases and other elements that weren’t possible only a few Mark Katches, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel years ago. Lise Olsen, Houston Chronicle IRE continues to expand our training to help journalists keep up with new tools and resources Lea Thompson, ThomThom Media, LLC and is developing new programs that will help us take the lead when it comes to dealing with Marilyn Thompson, The Washington Post databases and investigations on the Web. Duff Wilson, The New York Times At our recently completed Computer-Assisted Reporting conference in Houston, we offered a series of panels that focused on interactive databases, wikis, mash-ups and other new Alison Young, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution technologies, all with a mind toward how they can be applied to build in-depth stories. Panels exploring new ways to present investigative journalism will be featured at our annual confer- ence in Miami, June 5-8. The IRE Journal (ISSN0164-7016) is published And even as newsrooms focus on the Web, many continue to invest money in training their six times a year by Investigative Reporters and reporters in the fundamentals of investigative reporting. IRE has trained several hundred jour- Editors, Inc. 138 Neff Annex, Missouri School of Journalism, Columbia, MO 65211, 573-882-2042. nalists in the first three months of this year at our workshops and conferences. E-mail: [email protected]. U.S. subscriptions are So yes, the landscape for journalists is changing. And certainly not every development is $70 for individuals, $85 for libraries and $125 a step forward. for institutions/businesses. International sub- But if you’re uncomfortable with the current trends, wait a few months for the next wave scriptions are $90 for individuals and $150 for all others. Periodical postage paid at Jeffer- of technology to change things all over again. What’s important is that the investigative spirit son City, Mo. Postmaster: Please send address continues to thrive. changes to IRE. USPS #451-670 Mark Horvit is executive director of IRE and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Report- © 2008 Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. ing. He can be reached through e-mail at [email protected] or by calling 573-882-2042. 4 THE IRE JOURNAL IFEATURES R E N E W S Hot plans for Miami MEMBER NEWS Our 2008 IRE conference will offer more than 100 in-depth training sessions. Top investigative reporters will share tips and the insights you ate Carlisle of The Salt Lake Tribune was need to produce groundbreaking stories that make a difference on any N among eight journalists accepted to beat. You’ll learn about how to reach audiences using the Web and how the latest technology can increase the impact of your work. the Arizona State University fellowship titled In our showcase panels, meet journalists who are inventing new “Immigration: The Southwest Border.” Charles models for investigative reporting and hear from reporters who will- A.