IRE's transformation, commitment continue

Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. The IRE Journal, Nov/Dec 2006 by Houston, Brant

As we finish 2006 - the year of so-called "transformation" (a term sweeping newsrooms across the country these days) - we thought it would be worth doing a quick inventory of what at IRE is "transforming" and not transforming.

We have kicked off a new initiative to provide Watchdog Workshops and other training and resources for ethnic media newsrooms that will not only bring investigative skills to those journalists but also create bridges between those newsrooms and mainstream newsrooms.

This initiative, we believe, has great potential both to encourage and improve investigative work. At the same time, it improves the overall coverage of communities that are increasingly multicultural.

This effort also will extend the work we began with IRE en Espanol, (www.ire.org/esp) our effort to build Web pages and training programs for Spanish-speaking journalists.

Our Web site and publications are becoming more accessible. Specifically, we are developing a redesigned Web site that will be easier to navigate and search, while making The IRE Journal, Uplink and other publications available online so they will become more timely, lively and valuable. We are focusing on our online tutorials, especially to prepare journalists for our workshops and to give them follow-up assistance.

We also are implementing a new business plan to ensure that we package our resources and training in forms that make them more useful. For example, conference tipsheets are compiled quickly for distribution on CD-ROM, and audio files of panel discussions can be downloaded from the Web or ordered on a CD. We also want to improve the marketing of our services and products and to reach out to editors and producers to encourage deeper involvement in our organizations' efforts.

Further, we are engaging in our biggest membership drive ever to increase the diversity and range of media in IRE. We want to make sure IRE itself is multicultural and international, that its membership reflects every media type and size, that it has young and experienced journalists, and that it is inclusive of all those who are interested in seeing more credible investigative work in the future.

As part of that effort, we are creating Web pages and resources for citizens who want to understand how investigative reporting is done, how to work with investigative reporters and how they can get skills that would allow them to be investigative journalists.

So, what are we not transforming?

IRE continues as an organization that works to maintain and improve the standards of investigative reporting. It continues to be the premier trainer in practical and measurable skills.

We still will do numerous Watchdog Workshops, computer-assisted reporting seminars and sessions on money and politics. Workshops both in the United States and abroad will continue, as will IRE's collaboration with other journalism organizations to help maximize our resources.

In addition, we will continue to provide tools and services journalists can use every day. We will maintain and improve the Resource Center and the Database Library. Tracking the legal challenges and freedom of information issues - and helping journalists deal with whatever the latest hurdles or attacks may bring - will continue to be a top commitment.

We will continue to raise money for our endowment, particularly in the final year in which we can receive $ 1 from the Knight Foundation for every $2 we collect. The endowment has crossed the $3 million threshold and already is providing investment income for our operations - meaning that we are starting to counterbalance the cuts in newsrooms' training budgets.

And the board and the staff will continue to listen and be responsive to the needs of all our members and supporters so that we can offer the best training and resources during these years of "transformation."

Brant Houston is executive director of IRE and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting. He can be reached through e-mail at brant@ire.org or by calling 573-882-2042.