2015 AAJA National Convention

Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Watchdog Workshops offer tips, tools and training that you can use immediately to add depth to your work, from breaking news coverage to quick-turn enterprise and long-term projects. IRE’s Watchdog Workshop will help reporters, editors and producers return to their newsrooms with hard-hitting story ideas, websites and online resources, lists of key documents, techniques for more effective reporting, ways to use the web and social media to find information, and insight into the latest technology for newsgathering. For the third year in a row, IRE and AAJA have partnered to host an all-day workshop covering a variety of topics, from finding data stories to investigating inequality. Sponsored by the Gannett Foundation and IRE.

Click here to sign up. Fee to attend is $10. 

FULL SCHEDULE

8:45-10:15am Welcome & Cultivating Sources
Identify who you need to know and how to get them to talk. This session will cover how to get the best information and interviews through source development and interviewing techniques, and how to build and keep key sources while navigating sensitive issues.
Speakers:
Ryan Gabrielson, ProPublica
Bernice Yeung, The Center for Investigative Reporting

Break

10:45-11:45am Investigating Inequality
How do bus routes, traffic lights and barren streets build inequity into society? This session will show how to explore unequal outcomes in schools, health and criminal justice from a more complex and revealing vantage point. Learn new reporting strategies to investigate how public policy and institutions shape unequal outcomes for different groups in society. We also will cover new tools and techniques to help you accurately and fairly report on the factors at play in stories about disparity.
Speakers:
Jennifer LaFleur, The Center for Investigative Reporting
Ling Woo Liu, Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health

11:45-12:45 Lunch Break

12:45-2pm Digging Deeper on Deadline: Investigating Breaking News
When big news breaks, will you respond? Leave the “what is happening” stories to others. The investigator’s role is to dive head-first into the story behind the spot news tsory: How did this happen? Where else might this happen again? How do we keep this from happening again? This session show real world examples of how journalists were able to contribute to a big story and why tragedy demands action, answers and results. You’ll also learn how to be a resource for the rest of the newsroom and uncover quick facts that will add depth to the breaking story (and details your competitors won't have).  
Speaker:
Stephen Stock, NBC Bay Area

Break

2:15-3:30pm The Numbers Game: Finding Stories in the Data
Whether it's batting averages, stock report or meter readings, great stories are staring you in the face. You just have to know what to look for, what it means, and how to translate that to your audience. These pros know how to dominate the digits and craft compelling stories from spreadsheets. 
Speakers:
Frank Bi, Forbes
Eric Sagara, The Center for Investigative Reporting
Joanna Lin, The Center for Investigative Reporting

3:45-5pm Web and Social Media as Investigative Tools 
Find documents and databases on deadline with better search techniques and the invisible Web. Learn how to locate reliable websites for enterprise stories and receive guidance on the best social media tools for your next investigation. We provide you tools to make your life easier.