IRE and NICAR Services

Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting within the field of journalism. IRE was formed in 1975 with the intent of creating a networking tool and a forum in which journalists from across the country could raise questions and exchange ideas. IRE provides educational services to reporters, editors and others interested in investigative reporting and works to maintain high professional standards.

The National Institute for Computer- Assisted Reporting, NICAR, is a joint program of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. and the Missouri School of Journalism. NICAR services include supplying journalists with government databases, training programs, tipsheets and data analysis.

Programs and Services

IRE Resource Center: A rich reserve of print and broadcast stories, tipsheets and guides to help you start and complete the best work of your career. This unique library is the starting point of any piece you’re working on. You can search through abstracts of more than 20,000 investigative reporting stories through our Web site.
Contact: Beth Kopine, beth@ire.org, 573-882-3364
http://www.ire.org/resourcecenter/

Database Library: Administered by IRE and NICAR. The library has copies of many government databases, and makes them available to news organizations at or below actual cost. Analysis services are available on these databases, as is help in deciphering records you obtain yourself.
Contact: Jeff Porter, jeff@ire.org, 573-882-1982
http://www.ire.org/datalibrary/

Campaign Finance Information Center: Administered by IRE and NICAR. It's dedicated to helping journalists uncover the campaign money trail. State campaign finance data is collected from across the nation, cleaned and made available to journalists. A search engine allows reporters to track political cash flow across several states in federal and state races.
Contact: Brant Houston, brant@ire.org, 573-882-2042
http://www.campaignfinance.org/

On-the-Road Training: As a top promoter of journalism education, IRE offers loads of training opportunities throughout the year. Possibilities range from national conferences and regional workshops to weeklong boot camps and on-site newsroom training. Costs are on a sliding scale and fellowships are available to many of the events.
Contact: David Donald, ddonald@ire.org, 573-882-2042
http://www.ire.org/training/otr.php

Publications

The IRE Journal: Published six times a year. Contains journalist profiles, howto stories, reviews, investigative ideas and backgrounding tips. The Journal also provides members with the latest news on upcoming events and training opportunities from IRE and NICAR.
Contact: Brant Houston, brant@ire.org, 573-882-2042
https://www.ire.org/store/periodicals/periodicals.html

Uplink: Bimonthly newsletter by IRE and NICAR on computer-assisted reporting. Often, Uplink stories are written after reporters have had particular success using data to investigate stories. The columns include valuable information on advanced database techniques as well as success stories written by newly trained CAR reporters.
Contact: David Herzog, dherzog@nicar.org, 573-882-2127
http://nicar.org/uplink

Reporter.org: A collection of Web-based resources for journalists, journalism educators and others. Discounted Web hosting and services such as mailing list management and site development are provided to other nonprofit journalism organizations.
Contact: Brant Houston, brant@ire.org, 573-882-2042
http://reporter.org/

For information on:

Advertising: Megan Means, meganm@ire.org, 573-884-2360

Listservs: Ted Peterson, tlp@ire.org, 573-884-7321