AccessFest 2023 schedule
52 sessions confirmed • Updated September 22 • All times are ET
52 sessions confirmed • Updated September 22 • All times are ET
AccessFest 2023 will run from Thursday, October 12, to Saturday, October 14 online.
Click here to register. More details will be added to this schedule as they are confirmed.
Start typing to filter the results below. You can search by session title or speaker name.
Showing 52 of 52 sessions
10 easy ways to make your newsroom more equitable
Time: Thursday, October 12, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Three years after the killing of George Floyd and nationwide protests led to calls for among other things, diversifying newsrooms, the desire to make a news organization more equitable may seem challenging. This session will counter that impression by detailing 10 relatively easy, low cost ways to create a better work environment, one that attracts and retains a staff reflective of the United States as a whole.
Speakers
Marla Jones Newman is the vice president of people and culture at Mother Jones. Marla has worked in non-profit and for-profit work environments for over 20 years and has been working with leaders and teams within numerous organizations and industries in the DEIB realm. Marla has a wealth of experience in shaping high-performing cultures and employing best human capital practices to attract and retain talent. She is treasurer of the Colorado Association of Black Journalists.
Dataviz accessibility matters — here's what you can do to improve it
Time: Thursday, October 12, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
News organizations have long struggled with publishing online for all audiences, whether that's captionless videos, cluttered websites, or inaccessible graphics. We will touch on the technical and cultural pitfalls newsrooms and the people in them face when publishing graphics and interactives online, and dive into what we all can do to improve the accessibility of our data visualizations.
Speakers
Frank is a PhD student and researcher at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and a contractor doing data interaction research at Apple. Frank is the author of Chartability, a framework for helping practitioners evaluate the accessibility of their data visualizations and previous engineer and designer for Visa Chart Components, an accessible design system library of charts.
Connect on social media: Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastadon
Patrick Garvin spent 15 years working in newsrooms at daily newspapers, including The Boston Globe, where he worked on information graphics and digital presentations. He now works as a front-end developer at Maritz Global Events in St. Louis. He also has taught web design at The Missouri School of Journalism. He works with individuals and organizations to make their digital work more accessible for people with disabilities.
Jasmine Mithani (she/her) is the data visuals reporter at The 19th, an independent newsroom covering the intersection of gender, politics and policy. She also writes the newsletter DATA + FEELINGS, all about being human and being data. She has previously worked at FiveThirtyEight, NPR and South Side Weekly.
Joe Murphy is a data editor at NBC News and has been learning and pushing for accessibility since at least 2013.
Connect on social media: Twitter
Thomas Wilburn is the Senior Data Editor for Civic News, where he manages a small team working on analysis and visualization for Chalkbeat and Votebeat. Previously, he was a news apps developer for NPR, and a founding member of the Seattle Times Interactives Team.
Extracting data from PDFs
Time: Thursday, October 12, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Join this class to learn how to liberate data trapped inside PDFs. This class will cover some basic approaches for getting text out of PDF documents using powerful and freely available tools. Participants will be introduced to basic concepts and some common challenges encountered when working with tricky PDF documents.
This session is good for: People who are unfamiliar with PDF-to-text tools or would like to learn how these tools can be used for extracting difficult text from images embedded in a PDF document.
Instructor
Getting past — or just surviving — gatekeepers of investigative reporting and other premiere beats
Time: Thursday, October 12, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Journalists of color, women and people from underrepresented backgrounds in journalism often have to fight to prove that we deserve to be here, whether that's securing a coveted spot on an investigative team or on another premiere beat historically covered by white men.
The battle to be taken seriously or treated fairly often doesn't stop once you're hired, and having diverse leadership or editors doesn't always protect you. This discussion will feature journalists from different backgrounds and career paths describing how they've navigated this problem in their own careers, what they've learned from their experiences and where to find support.
Speakers
Ko Bragg is an editor at The Markup, a nonprofit investigative outlet challenging technology to serve the public good. You can find her work focused on the U.S. South in The Atlantic, Frontline, Scalawag, Harper’s Bazaar, Columbia Journalism Review, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, and more.
Ximena Bustillo is a multi-platform reporter at NPR covering politics out of the White House and Congress on air and in print based out of New York. She is a co-founder of Voces Internship of Idaho, a nonprofit that places Latino-identifying college students in local newsroom internships.
Nicole Foy reports on inequality for the California Divide team at CalMatters. She was previously an investigative reporter in Texas and Idaho, focusing on Latino communities, agriculture, government accountability and inequity. While in Idaho, she was a 2020 Community Impact Fellow for Stanford University’s John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship program. She is the co-founder of Voces Internship of Idaho, which places Idaho Latino students in paid newsroom internships.
How to apply DEI principles to your data analysis -- even when data doesn't exist
Time: Thursday, October 12, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Three data reporters share their tips and tricks for revealing inequities through data journalism and talk about how to do a story even if a dataset doesn't exist or it doesn't have demographic identifiers. They'll also highlight common errors and suggest strategies for skeptical inquiry beyond the data itself. While data can be a powerful reporting tool, it is a source with the same potential flaws as anything else created by humans.
Speakers
Public records to request right now
Time: Thursday, October 12, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Get your FOI templates ready to roll! In this quick-paced, lightning-round style session, you will hear some of the panelists' favorite, overlooked and under-appreciated records to request from all levels of government. They'll also give examples of how these records were used to produce stories in newsrooms around the country.
Speaker information coming soon.
Keynote: A conversation with Maria Hinojosa
Time: Thursday, October 12, 12:15 – 1 p.m. (45 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Join this keynote conversation with Maria Hinojosa, Pulitzer Prize-winning founder of Futuro Media, and Ana Ley, a reporter at The New York Times, where she covers the New York City transit beat.
Speakers
Building inclusivity in FOI
Time: Thursday, October 12, 2 – 3 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Freedom of information should be freedom for all, but that is just not the case. This discussion will focus on how we can change those dynamics, and brainstorm as a group to find solutions. Fellowships for journalists of color to earn law degree or MA/Ph.D.? Online FOI training certificates for persons of color? One-off records projects with civil society groups (BLM, etc.)? Projects driven by underrepresented communities, including tribes? Translation of FOI help materials into Spanish and other languages? Information is power, and that power should be distributed equitably.
Speakers
Loi Ameera Almeron is an investigative documentary producer focusing on civil rights, healthcare and immigration. Documentaries she produced and edited have been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, NAACP Image Awards, Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and many international film festivals; they are available on PBS, AppleTV+, Amazon Prime, HBO, KQED and Good Docs. She is an alumna of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
Conducting inclusive and equitable investigative interviews
Time: Thursday, October 12, 2 – 3 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Description coming soon.
Speakers
Gilbert Garcia is a native of Brownsville, Texas, with more than 25 years of experience writing for daily and weekly newspapers. A graduate of Harvard University, he has won awards for his reporting on music, sports, religion and politics. He is the author of the 2012 book, "Reagan's Comeback: Four Weeks in Texas That Changed American Politics Forever," and one of his stories appeared in the national anthology, "Da Capo Best Music Writing 2001."
Connect on social media: Twitter
Melissa is a reporter at ProPublica focused on issues affecting immigrants and low-wage workers. This year she is examining conditions for immigrant dairy workers in the Midwest. She has written about how Chicago’s ticketing and debt collection system has sent tens of thousands of mostly Black residents into bankruptcy, reporting that led to changes in state law and millions of dollars in debt forgiveness. She is the daughter of immigrants and the mother of two.
Connect on social media: Twitter
Elevating Indigenous voices and perspectives in the media
Time: Thursday, October 12, 2 – 3 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
This session was planned in collabration with Indigenous Journalist Association. IRE retains control of content, including the topic and speaker selection, for all conference sessions.
Speakers
Francine Compton is the associate director of the Indigenous Journalists Association where she previously served as president of the board for two and a half years. She spent 21 years working as a reporter, director, video journalist, host, and executive producer for APTN News and two years as assignment producer for the CBC’s Indigenous Unit.
Finding your voice: Speaking up for yourself and others
Time: Thursday, October 12, 2 – 3 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
You witness or experience something you know is unjust, unfair, unkind or even unsafe. What’s the best way to respond?
You have a good idea or see a need for change. You want to get others on board. How do you start the conversation?
Whether it’s reacting in the moment or preparing to raise an issue, how can you be most effective?
What choices do you have and how do you select the best option - while being your authentic self?
This session offers practical tips that can help you at work - and in life. The session will be interactive, so participants can suggest scenarios and then see how to handle them effectively.
Speaker
Rethinking how journalists cover gender-based violence and sexual assault
Time: Thursday, October 12, 2 – 3 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Description coming soon.
Speakers
Alexia Fernández Campbell is an award-winning investigative reporter at the Center for Public Integrity, where she covers labor and inequality. Her recent investigation of widespread rape against female truck drivers, co-reported with Scripps News, prompted police to reopen a rape case and won a Gracie Award. Alexia previously worked as a reporter at Vox, The Atlantic, National Journal and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Mc Nelly Torres is an award-winning investigative journalist and editor at the Center for Public Integrity where she leads a team investigating inequality. Before, Torres worked as an investigative producer for NBC6 in Miami and co-founded FCIR.org. Torres is a product of newspapers including the Sun-Sentinel and the San Antonio Express-News. Torres was the first Latina to be elected to the IRE board of directors. She was a recipient of the Gwen Ifill Award in 2022.
Connect on social media: Twitter
Neha is an independent multimedia journalist reporting across the globe. She reports at the intersections of climate, gender, conflict and crisis and human rights. Neha’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, PBS NewsHour and others. She has received fellowships from the Pulitzer Center and the Overseas Press Club, among others.
Beyond "the medical debate": Envisioning high-impact/autonomy-centered coverage of anti-trans legislation
Time: Thursday, October 12, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Recent coverage of anti-trans sentiments and legislative proposals focus on reporting questions like, "Does the medicine work?" or "Is trans healthcare irreversible or dangerous?" Often, the reporting stops there, missing stories and coverage questions that look at important civic, social, and personal consequences of this session's onslaught of anti-trans legislation. Taking notes from investigative coverage on other beats, such as abortion care restrictions, a facilitated discussion of how to identify and pursue stories that instead center on high-impact, investigative reporting questions that center issues of human autonomy and civil rights.
This session was planned in collabration with Trans Journalist Association. IRE retains control of content, including the topic and speaker selection, for all conference sessions.
Speakers
Data for redistricting and election coverage
Time: Thursday, October 12, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
The nonpartisan Redistricting Data Hub was founded to support civil rights and good government groups organizing around redistricting. But the data has been used more broadly, including for in-depth coverage and analysis of redistricting, as well as related work on elections and democracy. In this session, you'll see how news organizations are already using our data to cover important stories, and learn how you can use our free data and resources in your own work.
Speaker
Kate Donovan is the Director of the Redistricting Data Hub. She joined in September 2020 as a support specialist, before taking over management of the support team and eventually becoming co-director. In her position she coordinates data collection efforts, leads trainings and provides support through the help desk. She was previously an associate professor of political science and statistics at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York.
Connect on social media: Twitter
How climate change disproportionately impacts marginalized communities
Time: Thursday, October 12, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Description coming soon.
Speakers
Alex Harris is the lead reporter for the Miami Herald’s climate team, which covers how South Florida communities are adapting to the warming world. Her beat also includes environmental issues and hurricanes. She attended the University of Florida.
Investigating judges and the courts
Time: Thursday, October 12, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Judges wield enormous power and often can only be removed for crimes and extreme wrongdoing, and therefore they are accountable to few. Most are not required to respond to public records requests. Federal jurists in particular operate in a world shrouded in secrecy -- and many are appointed for life.
Panelists reveal how to pierce the veil of judicial secrecy by uncovering corruption, abuse, harassment and hidden financial interests with data, documents, sources, strategies and little-known archives for both state and federal courts. These tips and story ideas will be useful for both beat and investigative reporters.
Speakers
Leading with emotional intelligence
Time: Thursday, October 12, 3:30 – 5 p.m. (90 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Jill Geisler says its time to retire the term “soft skills” when it comes to leadership. From her work with thousands of media leaders, she knows that the ability to read people and situations, to adapt one’s communication and conflict style in the moment, to manage one’s own strengths and weaknesses — those are actually “power tools.” Emotionally intelligent leaders have a full kit of those power tools - and Jill will share them in this session. Participants will leave with a greater understanding of how the best leaders combine empathy and accountability - using a self-assessment that helps them build their skills.
Speaker
When "Check One" doesn’t apply: Covering (and being) mixed race in journalism
Time: Thursday, October 12, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Story framing is an important aspect of journalism, but when you’re framing a piece about a community that is underrepresented in all aspects of life it can be challenging getting it right. Join us for a facilitated discussion on how best to approach covering the 10.2% of the U.S. population who can’t just “Check one” race box. We will cover best practices for working with common data sets like the Census, how to talk to sources about their identity without sounding like a jerk, and share which storytelling tropes to avoid when talking about mixed populations.
We will also devote part of our session to sharing the experience of mixed people in the newsroom. Facilitators (and participants!) will share how workplace diversity initiatives can be inclusive of multiracial individuals, explain strategies for best supporting mixed race journalists, and share stories of the lived experience of being mixed race.
Speakers
Caitlin Gilbert is a data reporter at The Washington Post where she’s embedded on the Well+Being desk. Before joining The Post, she worked as a U.S.-based data journalist at the Financial Times, where she covered many topics, including the economy, politics and abortion access across the country. She earlier worked as a visual journalist at Reuters. She received her PhD in neuroscience and genomics from Rockefeller University.
Kaitlyn Jakola is a Chicago-based editor and newsroom leader. Currently, she is editorial director for strategy and operations at the Chicago Sun-Times. She was previously managing editor at The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom investigating American gun violence. Her work has been recognized by the Online Journalism Awards and the GLAAD Media Awards. She is passionate about building equitable news ecosystems where people are supported and can do their best journalism.
Jasmine Mithani (she/her) is the data visuals reporter at The 19th, an independent newsroom covering the intersection of gender, politics and policy. She also writes the newsletter DATA + FEELINGS, all about being human and being data. She has previously worked at FiveThirtyEight, NPR and South Side Weekly.
Kaitlyn Wells is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter covering the intersection of productivity and technology. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, among others. Her picture book, A Family Looks Like Love, explores multiracial belonging through the eyes of her dog. It received the Outstanding Book Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, and made the Children's Book Council best books list.
Connect on social media: Bluesky, Thread, Mastadon, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn
Watchdog story ideas in 30 minutes
Time: Friday, October 13, 10:30 – 11 a.m. (30 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Learn new and old tricks from the stories and reporters featured in the Local Matters newsletter, which spotlights a selection of great local watchdog journalism every Sunday. By showcasing great work by radio, TV and newspaper reporters, we'll share tactics and tips for digging deep into stories at your local media outlet.
Speakers
Lulu is an investigative reporter at The Seattle Times and a distinguished fellow at ProPublica. She is one of four reporters who curate Local Matters, a free weekly newsletter that showcases investigative reporting by local media outlets across the country. You can reach her a lramadan@seattletimes.com.
Google Sheets 1: Getting started with spreadsheets
Time: Friday, October 13, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
In this introduction to spreadsheets, you'll begin analyzing data with Google Sheets, a simple but powerful tool. You'll learn how to enter data, navigate spreadsheets and conduct simple calculations like sum, average and median.
This session is good for: Data beginners.
You will need a free Google account to participate.
Instructor
Hindsight's 20/20 - The biggest lessons we’ve learned
Time: Friday, October 13, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Honest talk from journalists about the mistakes they've made, the questions they've missed, and the trust they’ve misplaced in their reporting. Come join the conversation as they open up about the important lessons they've learned the hard way.
Speaker
How to get your reporting project funded
Time: Friday, October 13, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Tips and tricks from some of the leading journalism foundations on applying to grants. Do's and don'ts of writing an application, creating a budget, and more
Speakers
Steve Sapienza, an award-winning news and documentary producer for 20+ years, has covered diverse human security stories in dozens of countries, including the HIV crisis in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, child soldiers in Sierra Leone, climate refugees in Bangladesh, and landmine survivors in Cambodia. As senior strategist, he works closely with the Pulitzer Center's grantees and partner newsrooms.
How to operationalize mental health and wellbeing in the newsroom
Time: Friday, October 13, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Description coming soon.
Speaker
Mar is co-founder of The Self-Investigation, a global nonprofit catalysing a healthy work culture in the media ecosystem. She is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, digital wellness educator and Acumen fellow. She’s committed to promoting mental health and wellbeing in journalism to prevent others from burning out like she did after leading the technology and data work for the Panama Papers investigation.
Connect on social media: Twitter, Twitter (2)
Investigating sexual health without stigmatization
Time: Friday, October 13, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Description coming soon.
Speakers
Jen Deerinwater is a bisexual, Two-Spirit, multiply-disabled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and an award-winning journalist and organizer who covers the myriad of issues hir communities face with an intersectional lens. Jen is the founding executive director of Crushing Colonialism, a contributor at Truthout, a 2019 New Economies Reporting Project and 2020 Disability Futures fellow.
Connect on social media: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok
Madison Pauly is a reporter at Mother Jones, where she has covered gender and justice for the last eight years. She's fascinated by stories that involve the politics of bodily autonomy, including abortion rights, transgender health care, sexual violence and mass incarceration. Her story about systemic failures in policing and the courts that led a suspected serial rapist to remain at large in Minnesota for 30 years was a DART award finalist.
Nonprofit secrets hidden in plain sight: Decoding forms 990
Time: Friday, October 13, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Public charities, family foundations and other nonprofits are required to submit financial filings to the IRS and state governments. Panelists will review a sampling of real 990 forms to help new and veteran reporters alike learn what to zero in on, how to spot potential red flags and how to avoid common reporting mistakes.
Speakers
Laurie Styron is the CEO of CharityWatch, the only independent charity watchdog in the U.S. She has dedicated more than 23 years to the nonprofit sector, logging more than 10,000 hours as a nonprofit financial analyst and advising journalists on their investigations into charities. She has been quoted by major media outlets throughout the country, has vetted charities for Good Morning America and has advised 60 Minutes, The Fifth Estate and many other news outlets.
Connect on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, LinkedIn (2)
Google Sheets 2: Formulas & sorting
Time: Friday, October 13, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Much of Google Sheets' power comes in the form of formulas. In this class, you'll learn how to use them to analyze data with the eye of a journalist. Yes, math will be involved, but it's totally worth it! This class will show you how calculations like change, percent change, rates and ratios can beef up your reporting.
This session is good for: Anyone who has taken Google Sheets 1 or has been introduced to spreadsheets.
You will need a free Google account to participate.
Instructor
How we did it: Creating a chat for the newsroom to discuss issues of authenticity and inclusion in our reporting
Time: Friday, October 13, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
The Diversity Committee at USA Today, like many across the country, often was asked by individual reporters to give their stories a sensitivity read before publication. But frequently there was little time before publication to make substantial changes and the work fell disproportionately to the same few volunteers. A working group set out to encourage discussions sooner in the story development process and to spread the work among more people, which also would add more richness to the conversations. Is it working? We'll go through the pros and cons of the "Inclusion and Authenticity Review" chat so far.
Speakers
La lucha contra la desinformación necesita colaboración para tener éxito: así es como podemos trabajar juntos
Time: Friday, October 13, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Este panel explorará los retos de los medios que trabajan en silos para combatir la rápida "viralización" de la desinformación en español, que afecta particularmente a las comunidades latinas en Estados Unidos. Conversaremos sobre cómo unimos esfuerzos para detectar y monitorear la desinformación, así como distribuir contenidos para combatirla. Los panelistas y participantes en esta sesión analizarán cómo nosotros, como periodistas y fact-checkers, debemos unirnos para que nuestras verificaciones de hechos y explainers se vuelvan virales.
Speaker information coming soon.
Reporting on homelessness, from daily stories to investigations
Time: Friday, October 13, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Join this class to learn from journalists reporting on the homelessness crisis, one of the nation’s most misunderstood problems. You’ll also hear how they collaborated on an award-winning investigation that found flaws in a federal law designed to support homeless youth.
Speakers
Greg Kim is a reporter for Project Homeless, a Seattle Times initiative that seeks to spotlight what is working, and what is not working, in responding to homelessness.
Anna Patrick is a reporter at The Seattle Times covering homelessness. Before joining the Project Homeless team in Seattle, she was a reporter in her home state of West Virginia.
Connect on social media: Twitter
Kaela is an award-winning freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. Previously, she was the deputy editor at Street Sense Media, a street paper covering poverty and homelessness in the District. She holds a B.A. in journalism and anthropology from American University and was a Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellow. She's written for publications including the Washington Blade, DCist and Washington City Paper.
Transgender and gender non-conforming data sources
Time: Friday, October 13, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
There is so little data out there about transgender and gender non-conforming Americans (and LGBTQ+ individuals more broadly), but these communities are the subject of so much discourse. How can we use data to fairly report on these communities? How can we tell data-driven stories about families that are leaving their home states due to the passage of anti-trans legislation and moving to safer states?
This session was planned in collabration with Trans Journalist Association. IRE retains control of content, including the topic and speaker selection, for all conference sessions.
Speakers
Jasmine Mithani (she/her) is the data visuals reporter at The 19th, an independent newsroom covering the intersection of gender, politics and policy. She also writes the newsletter DATA + FEELINGS, all about being human and being data. She has previously worked at FiveThirtyEight, NPR and South Side Weekly.
Working with sources who are reluctant to share their stories
Time: Friday, October 13, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Description coming soon.
Speakers
Covering the radical right and other hostile online communities
Time: Friday, October 13, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Description coming soon.
Speakers
Eva Constantaras is a data journalist who specializes in building collaborative investigative teams. These teams have reported from across Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa on accountability issues ranging from algorithmic bias and food insecurity to extractive industries and sanctions evasion. As a Google Data Journalism Scholar and a Fulbright Fellow, she developed a course for investigative data journalism in high-risk environments.
Google Sheets 3: Filtering & pivot tables
Time: Friday, October 13, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
A look at the awesome power of pivot — and how to use it to analyze your dataset in minutes rather than hours. We'll work up to using a pivot table by first sorting and filtering a dataset, learning how to find story ideas along the way.
This session is good for: Anyone familiar with formulas, sorting and filtering in a spreadsheet program.
You will need a free Google account to participate.
This session is good for: Anyone familiar with formulas, sorting and filtering in a spreadsheet program.
Instructor
Investigating breaking news
Time: Friday, October 13, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
How to cover breaking news with an I-Team eye - and then take it further. Crashes, deaths, natural disasters, breaking news in education, state and local government and more. We’ll give you tools and guidance to create your own database of info to quickly pull from and tips to collaborate with your whole team when minutes matter. How to own a big story and advance it from an investigative perspective.
Speakers
Ashley Graham is an investigative reporter with NBC2 in Fort Myers, Florida. Ashley's work includes extensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, race and inequality, environmental impacts on low-income communities, affordable housing and politics. Her work with the Medill Justice Project helped lead to the exoneration of a Michigan man accused of murder and arson in 2005.
Connect on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram\https://instagram.com/ashleygrahamtv
Kylie McGivern is a seven-time Emmy award-winning investigative reporter at ABC Action News in Tampa, Florida. Since joining the I-Team in 2018, her investigations have received regional and national recognition. Kylie previously worked for KXAN in Austin, Texas, as a city government beat reporter on the I-Team, and she was an anchor/investigative reporter for WJHL in Johnson City, Tennessee. She graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Successful project management for partnerships & collaborations
Time: Friday, October 13, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Collaboration is required to do ambitious work, but what does it really take to work well with others? What are the ideal ground rules for successful partnerships in and outside of your organization? Hear from leaders in nonprofit and international news organizations who have made partnerships work for them on projects big and small.
Speakers
Darla Cameron is the managing editor for visual journalism for The Texas Tribune. She oversees the work of the photo, multimedia and data visuals teams and works closely with the product, engineering and design teams to elevate the Tribune’s visual journalism.
Joy Resmovits is the senior editor for local impact at The Trace. Previously, she served as Education Lab editor at The Seattle Times. She came to Seattle from The Los Angeles Times, where she covered all aspects of schooling. Before that, she spent four years covering national education issues for The Huffington Post as a senior reporter. She was a Spencer Fellow at Columbia University, and focused on researching education for students with disabilities.
Alana Rocha leads INN’s Rural News Network, its most ambitious collaboration to date. As editor, Alana works with more than 75 member newsrooms in 47 states to guide and amplify coverage of remote areas. Alana joined INN after 20 years as a news and politics reporter in Florida, Kansas and Texas. Most recently, she worked for The Texas Tribune directing news partnerships and producing award-winning multimedia journalism in English and in Spanish.
The Big Picture: Moving your investigations beyond the immediate to uncover systemic problems
Time: Friday, October 13, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
This session will focus on strategies and tips for determining whether your investigative findings are part of a bigger problem. Panelists will discuss techniques on finding new angles, getting the most out of public records and digging into databases, and offer examples from award-winning investigations that have uncovered systemic problems and prompted reforms.
Speakers
Charles Minshew is the digital storytelling editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, helping journalists tell stories with data and digital tools. Charles is the former director of data services for IRE. Charles has previously worked at the Orlando Sentinel and The Denver Post. In 2012, Charles was on the staff of The Denver Post that won a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News. He is a graduate of Georgia Southern University and the Missouri School of Journalism.
Kat Stafford is Reuters' global race and justice editor. An award winning journalist, Stafford has received several honors for work, including the National Press Club Journalism Institute’s 2023 Neil and Susan Sheehan Award for Investigative Journalism. She is a former vice president of IRE's Board of Directors and has held several leadership roles at other journalism organizations. Stafford is a leading voice on newsroom representation and equitable storytelling.
Connect on social media: Twitter
What does it mean to diversify our audience and how do we track our progress?
Time: Friday, October 13, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
News organizations across the country know it’s essential to diversify their audience to stay relevant and stay in business, whether in terms of race and ethnicity, gender identity, age, wealth, disability, cultural background, or other lines. In part, we can do that by reassessing and expanding our coverage, and thinking about where we invest our resources. But what are our options for doing that? How do we measure our progress (or lack thereof)? We'll hear how different outlets have approached these questions, and what they'd like to do differently in the future.
Speakers
Are non-English speaking communities in the U.S. more vulnerable to mis- and disinformation than English speakers?
Time: Friday, October 13, 4 – 5 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Description coming soon.
Speaker information coming soon.
Backgrounding like a boss: Perfecting your 15-minute background check and why you should do it every time
Time: Friday, October 13, 4 – 5 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
How are you sure that great source with the perfect quote isn't too good to be true? Even great reporters can get tricked by fake names or sketchy backgrounds. We'll walk through some websites and strategies you can use to create a routine and spot potential red flags before you get burned. This session is great for new reporters or anyone who wants to background people more thoroughly.
Speakers
Google Sheets: Importing and data prep
Time: Friday, October 13, 4 – 5 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Don't give up if your data isn't presented in a neat spreadsheet. This session will teach you how to get data into a spreadsheet and prepare it for analysis. We will look at how to import text files, deal with data in a PDF, and get a table on a web page into a spreadsheet.
This session is good for: Anyone comfortable working in Google Sheets.
You will need a free Google account to participate.
Instructor
How to diversify newsrooms in your community
Time: Friday, October 13, 4 – 5 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
In just one year, a brand new internship program helped double the number of Latino journalists in Idaho -- a state with a large Latino population long undercovered and underrepresented in local media. You can do the same in your community. Using Voces Internship of Idaho as a case study, panelists will discuss how to work with partners to get buy-in from newsrooms and the community, how the recruitment process works and the surprising results. Voces is also working with the Scripps Howard Fund to replicate this work in other areas of the country — and they are looking for more internships to fund. If you want to address similar inequities in your newsroom or community, come and hear about their work and ask questions about how you can get started.
Speakers
Ximena Bustillo is a multi-platform reporter at NPR covering politics out of the White House and Congress on air and in print based out of New York. She is a co-founder of Voces Internship of Idaho, a nonprofit that places Latino-identifying college students in local newsroom internships.
Mike Canan became the Director of Journalism Strategies for the Scripps Howard Fund in 2021. Before that, Mike led digital, print and broadcast newsrooms for 15 years, working as a newspaper managing editor, TV station news director, corporate consultant and editor-in-chief of WCPO.com, an innovative digital operation that was the first local TV news station to offer a paid membership program and paywall. He lives in Cincinnati.
Connect on social media: Twitter
Nicole Foy reports on inequality for the California Divide team at CalMatters. She was previously an investigative reporter in Texas and Idaho, focusing on Latino communities, agriculture, government accountability and inequity. While in Idaho, she was a 2020 Community Impact Fellow for Stanford University’s John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship program. She is the co-founder of Voces Internship of Idaho, which places Idaho Latino students in paid newsroom internships.
Christina Lords is the editor-in-chief of the Idaho Capital Sun and has been a professional journalist covering local and state government since graduating from the University of Idaho in 2009. Lords is a fifth-generation Idahoan who worked for Idaho newspapers in every corner of the state before launching a nonprofit news outlet focused on state politics and policy.
Born and raised in Idaho, Mia was the first full-time intern for the Voces Internship of Idaho, a program that helped her land her first job out of college. Now she is a state politics reporter at the Idaho Capital Sun, where some of her favorite topics to cover include energy issues and Latino affairs.
Connect on social media: Twitter
Separate and unequal: 5 must-have stories from the K-12 education beat
Time: Friday, October 13, 4 – 5 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Disparities in resources, staffing, discipline, expectations and other issues continue to prevail in schools around the country. Our panelists give you advice on how to dig deeper into these stories and how to ensure you include everyone’s voices in your coverage.
This session was planned in collabration with Education Writers Association. IRE retains control of content, including the topic and speaker selection, for all conference sessions.
Speakers
Melissa Barragán Taboada is the editor of the Globe’s Great Divide education team, which examines inequities in education. Prior to coming to the Globe in 2021, Taboada was a reporter and editor for 20 years at the Austin American-Statesman, where she led the paper’s education coverage. Taboada taught a "Reporting on Education" course in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, her alma mater.
Tips on how newsrooms can support journalists with disabilities
Time: Friday, October 13, 4 – 5 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
This session was planned in collabration with National Center on Disability and Journalism. IRE retains control of content, including the topic and speaker selection, for all conference sessions.
Speakers
Jen Deerinwater is a bisexual, Two-Spirit, multiply-disabled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and an award-winning journalist and organizer who covers the myriad of issues hir communities face with an intersectional lens. Jen is the founding executive director of Crushing Colonialism, a contributor at Truthout, a 2019 New Economies Reporting Project and 2020 Disability Futures fellow.
Connect on social media: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok
Samantha Hernandez is the Des Moines Register’s education reporter whose work covering rural schools was recognized with a 2019 Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship at Columbia University. Hernandez covers Iowa schools, including Des Moines, the state’s largest district. She was the lead reporter on a seven-member team which surveyed all 327 public schools for the Iowa’s Book Ban Battle project. Hernandez also runs an online Traumatic Brain Injury support group.
Connect on social media: Twitter, Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/svhernandezreporter
Madeleine Maccar works as an editor for a suite of regionally focused magazines. She has spent the past 17 years writing and editing for a variety of print-media publications, blogging for free and reviewing books for more books. She graduated magna cum laude from Rider University in 2006 with a B.A. in writing, and she lives in the Northeast with her husband and their lovingly spoiled rescue dog.
Connect on social media: LinkedIn, Instagram, The Mighty
Examine staff diversity and bias as a tool for more nuanced coverage
Time: Saturday, October 14, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Who would feel seen and understood by your coverage, and who would feel misrepresented or ignored? The answers are likely connected to who is on your newsroom’s staff. What are the experiences and values of the people guiding your coverage? And how do they compare to the people in your community? We’ll explore how the makeup of your staff shows up in your journalism, and why you should care.
Speakers
Letrell Deshan Crittenden, Ph.D., is the Director of Inclusion and Audience Growth for the American Press Institute. In his role, Crittenden leads efforts to improve how newsrooms engage and connect with traditionally marginalized communities. His recent scholarship has appeared in Columbia Journalism Review, Neiman Reports and Journalism Practice. He co-founded the Germantown Info Hub, a hyperlocal engaged newsroom, and serves on the board of Resolve Philly.
Joy Mayer founded Trusting News in 2016 after a 20-year career in newsrooms and teaching. The Trusting News team examines perceptions of news and trains journalists in transparency and engagement strategies. She is based in Sarasota, Florida.
Google Sheets: Using string functions to manipulate data
Time: Saturday, October 14, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Maybe you converted a PDF or imported a table into a spreadsheet -- or maybe an agency gave you a poorly formatted file. You can use string functions to reformat your data and get your spreadsheets working for you.
This session is good for: Anyone comfortable with using formulas and functions in Google Sheets.
You will need a free Google account to participate.
Instructor
Police accountability: From data to narrative
Time: Saturday, October 14, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
In order to report on police accountability with authority, you often need data. But where do you get data? And what do you do if it doesn't exist? Once you have it, how do you identify sources and then build a narrative? This panel will explore the challenges and solutions. Attendees will also be given tips and ideas to take back to their own newsrooms.
Speakers
Sarah Rafique is an investigative producer at ABC13 in Houston, where she specializes in open records, government accountability, data analysis and solutions for viewers. She has spent 10 years as a journalist across Texas.
Thinking about building data skills? Tips for getting started
Time: Saturday, October 14, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Perhaps you've been wanting to add data skills to your toolbox or to improve whatever you have right now, but something is getting in your way or you just don't know how to proceed. There are lots of things you can do to ensure that you not only gain skills, but keep them and put them to use. This panel offers tips for how to get training, how to build a support network, how to start incorporating your new skills into daily work in small ways, etc.
Speakers
Alvin Chang is a data journalist and an assistant professor at the New School. Most recently, he was head of data and visuals with the Guardian US, and he's also been a data and interactive journalist at the Wall Street Journal, Vox, the Boston Globe, ESPN, and the Connecticut Mirror.
Yoohyun Jung is the deputy data editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. She was previously a data reporter there. Prior to the Chronicle, Yoohyun worked as a data reporter and criminal justice reporter at Honolulu Civil Beat. She is also an alumna of the Reveal Investigative Fellowship and The New York Times Student Journalism Institute.
Stephanie Lamm is a data reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
MaryJo Webster is the data editor at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. She has been a data journalist for more than 20 years, with prior stints at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Digital First Media, USA Today and The Center for Public Integrity. She started her career as a reporter at small daily newspapers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. She is also a senior fellow with the Center for Health Journalism's Data Fellowship.
Covering disparities in higher education with data
Time: Saturday, October 14, 12:15 – 1:15 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Description coming soon.
Speakers
Fazil Khan is a New York-based Indian data journalist who covers education for The Hechinger Report. His most recent work examined how prices at colleges have risen more for the lowest-income students than their wealthier peers. Earlier this year, he reported on New York City kids who lost their parents to COVID-19 and how they may not have gotten the support they needed in the city's schools.
Finding the story: Campaign finance data
Time: Saturday, October 14, 12:15 – 1:15 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
A hands-on introduction to searching for, finding and using federal campaign finance data for beginners. This class will cover using the Federal Election Commission website to find and download different types of campaign finance data. We'll also review things to know about the data, including common pitfalls.
This session is good for: people who want an introduction to finding and working with federal campaign finance data. Knowing some spreadsheets will be helpful.
Instructor information coming soon.
Telling the longform investigations
Time: Saturday, October 14, 12:15 – 1:15 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
You've got the interviews, the data, the documents, now time to put together your big story. But where do you start? This panel will focus on how to produce and publish longform work, including structure, keeping an audience engaged, and how to tie up everything in the end.
Speakers
Brian M. Rosenthal is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter at The New York Times and the President of IRE. He won the 2020 Pulitzer in Investigative Reporting for a series on predatory lending in the taxi industry, and he was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer in Public Service for a series about special education. He was part of a team that won the 2015 Pulitzer in Breaking News. He has also won three George Polk Awards and a national Emmy.
Connect on social media: Twitter
Google Sheets 4: Advanced pivot tables
Time: Saturday, October 14, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
You've done a few pivot tables and are getting curious about what more you could do with them. What happens if you aggregate by more than one column? What are those "column" and "filter" boxes for? Come unlock the full potential of pivot tables in this intermediate spreadsheet class.
This session is good for: People familiar with spreadsheets and aggregating data with pivot tables, or anyone who has taken Sheets 1-3.
You will need a free Google account to participate.
Instructor
Storyboarding your investigation
Time: Saturday, October 14, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. (60 minutes)
Location: Zoom
Whether you use Post-Its, a white board, a spreadsheet or an old-fashioned yellow pad, keeping your head above a flood of information is crucial to your investigation’s success. This session will tap examples for techniques to navigate the key phases of organization in any medium: managing material; pruning and pivoting; and visualizing the story.
Speakers
Steve Padilla is editor of Column One, a showcase for storytelling at the Los Angeles Times. An editor for more than 30 years at the Times, he also serves as a writing coach and lectures frequently on storytelling technique. Before the Times, he was a reporter for the San Diego Union and editor of Hispanic Link Weekly Report, a national newsletter on Latino affairs.
Connect on social media: Twitter