NICAR 2025 conference schedule The NICAR 2025 conference will run from Thursday, March 6, to Sunday, March 9 in Minneapolis, at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center, 30 South 7th Street Minneapolis, MN 55402. More details will be added to this schedule as they are confirmed. To register for the conference, please navigate to this page: https://www.ire.org/training/conferences/nicar-2025/nicar25-registration/ 193 sessions confirmed - Updated February 5 - All times are CT View schedule in another format: HTML: https://schedules.ire.org/nicar-2025/index.html PDF: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11eE8R2h9bwIvjvlCL9z4YMlr1HquPCC0728Gxc7qKuk/export?format=pdf CSV: https://schedules.ire.org/nicar-2025/nicar-2025-schedule.csv JSON: https://schedules.ire.org/nicar-2025/nicar-2025-schedule.json   *** THURSDAY, MARCH 6 *** ------ Welcome first-timers & networking Time: Thursday, March 6, 8 – 8:45 a.m. (45m) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Networking,   - Beginner track Speakers:   - Diana Fuentes, IRE & NICAR,   - Laura Kurtzberg, IRE & NICAR: Laura Jael Kurtzberg is a data visualization specialist, cartographer and news applications developer with a particular interest in environmental stories. Laura has worked at the intersection of data journalism and design with organizations like InfoAmazonia, Ambiental Media, WLRN Public Media and Mongabay.,   - Laura Moscoso, IRE & NICAR,   - Adam Rhodes, IRE & NICAR,   - Cody Winchester, IRE & NICAR: Cody Winchester was a newspaper reporter, data specialist and web developer before joining IRE as a training director in 2017. He became tech lead in 2022. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/cjwinchester ------ Beginner track: New to data journalism? Start here Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Over the next few days, you'll see there is a seemingly endless number of things you can learn in the data journalism world. It can be daunting! But everyone at this conference started at the same place as you. We'll help you get started! This session will cover the basics of data journalism, starting with what it is, tips for building up your skills and advice for how you can — realistically — integrate these skills into your daily reporting. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Beginner track Speakers:   - Emmanuel Martinez, The Washington Post,   - Janelle O'Dea, Illinois Answers Project: Janelle O'Dea is an investigative reporter who enjoys marrying data and shoe-leather reporting. After five years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, she went to nonprofit news, first at the Center for Public Integrity and now at the Illinois Answers Project (Better Government Association). Along with two other reporters, she is on the state investigative team. She's based in St. Louis, and her beat takes her all over the Metro East and Southern Illinois. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/jayohday | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jayohday.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jayohday,   - MaryJo Webster, Minnesota Star Tribune: MaryJo Webster is the data editor at the Minnesota Star Tribune. Previously she worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, USA Today, Center for Public Integrity, Investigative Reporters & Editors and small newspapers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/maryjowebster.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryjo-webster-2733706/ ------ Big Local News tools, wares and resources Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Demo,   - Skill level: Beginner Speaker information coming soon. ------ Coaching ChatGPT to help with coding and data tasks Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - AI track,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ Critical datasets to know when covering K-12 Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Becky Dernbach, Sahan Journal ------ Everything everywhere all at once: Data from around the world to report on global issues Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth In an interconnected world, data is more accessible than ever—but finding and using global data comes with unique challenges. In this panel, reporters will explore strategies for locating reliable international datasets and navigating the obstacles that come with using them. From language barriers to currency conversions, inconsistent formats, and varying levels of data transparency, journalists must adapt to diverse contexts to uncover the story within the data. Panelists will share practical solutions for addressing these challenges, including best practices for working with multilingual datasets, standardizing metrics across borders, and verifying sources in regions with limited transparency. Additionally, the session will tackle the complex issue of obtaining documents and records in countries where public records laws are weak, inefficient, or nonexistent. Panelists will highlight creative approaches to accessing critical information, from building local partnerships to leveraging non-traditional sources. Key questions for discussion during the panel: - What are the most effective methods for identifying and accessing reliable global data sources? - What unique challenges do international datasets present—such as language barriers, currency discrepancies, or incompatible formats—and what strategies can help overcome them? - How can journalists access critical documents in countries where public records laws are weak, inefficient, or nonexistent? Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Helena Bengtsson, Gota Media: Helena Bengtsson is data journalism editor at Gota Media, a regional publishing company in the south of Sweden with 14 local titles. She previously worked as editor for data journalism at Sveriges Television, Sweden’s national television broadcaster for 27 years, and she also served as editor, data projects, for the Guardian UK between 2014-2017. In 2006 and 2007, she was database editor at the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C. Connect: X: https://x.com/HelenaBengtsson | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/helenabengtsson.bsky.social,   - Irene Casado Sanchez, Big Local News,   - Eva Constantaras, Lighthouse Reports ------ Finding the story: Digging into IRS data on nonprofits Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on Instructor information coming soon. ------ Finding the story: Using DNS search for investigative journalism Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Every online interaction begins with a lookup in the Domain Name System (DNS), the backbone of the Internet. As a result, there are digital footprints left behind in the DNS. With the demise of Whois, investigative reporters are looking for new tools to uncover these footprints. Learn how to use DNSDB Scout, a tool to query DNSDB, a historical passive DNS database, to discover previously unknown online connections and gain new information to advance your ongoing and breaking news investigations. Basic knowledge of the Domain Name System (DNS) is helpful, but not required. Attendees will need to bring their own laptop (no tablets) to participate in this class. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Kelly Molloy, Domain Tools ------ First SvelteKit data app Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: St. Croix I, sixth (Mac) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor information coming soon. ------ Google Sheets 1: Getting started with spreadsheets Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ Python for data analysis Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) In this session, you'll learn how to analyze data using the popular Python data analysis library pandas. You'll learn about the benefits of scripting your data projects and enough syntax to load, sort, filter and group a data set. This class is good for: People who are comfortable working with data in spreadsheets or SQL and want to make the leap to programming -- no coding experience required. Laptops will be provided. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Sandra Fish, Independent journalist ------ Reporting in underserved communities with hard-to-get data Time: Thursday, March 6, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Chelsea Curtis, Arizona Luminaria,   - Pam Dempsey, Data-Driven Reporting Project: Pam Dempsey is the program director of the Data-Driven Reporting Project and the past executive director of Investigate Midwest. Since 2003, she has worked as an online, print and radio journalist, and developed community engagement programs, investigative reporting workshops and helped coordinate the start-up of two online newsrooms that heavily emphasize data journalism. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelagdempsey/,   - Ayuka Kawakami, Independent journalist: Ayuka Kawakami is an investigative data journalist based in New York City. Ayuka is one of the eleven award recipients for the Data-Driven Reporting Project 2024. She is currently working on a data-driven investigative story of how the thriving shipping industry impacts the remote Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic. She is also a polar adventurer who frequently spends time in the Arctic regions and has a passion for addressing climate change in the polar regions. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayukaak/,   - Mauricio Peña, Borderless Magazine: Mauricio is an award-winning journalist. He began his career as a crime and breaking news reporter at DNAinfo Chicago. He was a founding member and Southwest Side reporter for Block Club Chicago. Mauricio also worked as an investigative reporter covering immigration at the Desert Sun for the USA Today Network, an education reporter at Chalkbeat Chicago, and an associate digital editor at Chicago magazine. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mauriciopena.bsky.social ------ Analyze large datasets in Google Sheets via Google Cloud Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on Instructor:   - Tiff Fehr, The New York Times ------ Beginner track: How to find data Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth How to find and vet credible data sources that you can use right away. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Beginner track Speakers:   - Greta Kaul, Minnesota Star Tribune: Greta Kaul covers the built environment, including development and livability issues, at the Star Tribune. Prior to joining the Star Tribune, she was the data reporter at the Star Tribune.,   - Stephanie Lamm, Atlanta Journal-Constitution,   - Greg Morton, The Baltimore Banner: Greg Morton is a data reporter at the Baltimore Banner, where he works on data-driven accountability stories about Maryland and its institutions. At the Banner he co-authored an investigation into the arduous commutes that are a feature of Baltimore's popular school choice system. His work has appeared in ProPublica, The Washington Post and The Texas Tribune. Connect: X: https://x.com/invisibae | GitHub: https://github.com/invisibae/ | LInkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmorton301/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/invisibae.bsky.social ------ Georeferencing static maps Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) This session is for reporters who often have to wait to hear back from others about the availability of GIS files, when it's sometimes much faster to georeference them on our own. Using QGIS, we can georeference maps and create our own layers. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Harsha Devulapalli, San Francisco Chronicle: Harsha Devulapalli is a graphics reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, with a diverse background as a researcher, geographer, urban designer, developer and product manager. He is passionate about cities, maps, transit, languages, typography and history. Connect: X: https://x.com/HarshaReports | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harshadevulapalli/ ------ Google Sheets 2: Formulas & sorting Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ How to be your own archivist Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Piotr Adamczyk, Internet Archive,   - Cam Rodriguez, The New York Times ------ Introduction to the command line (Macs) Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: St. Croix I, sixth (Mac) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on Instructor information coming soon. ------ Networking for LGBTQ+ journalists Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Networking Speaker information coming soon. ------ Networking: Students Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Networking,   - Networking track Speaker information coming soon. ------ Practical, ethical use of AI in the newsroom: Translation, audio processing and chatbots Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - AI track Speaker:   - Eric Nicholas Barrett, OCCRP ------ Technical tech regulators: The data we use to regulate the most powerful companies in the world Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Get familiar with open data we use to regulate powerful companies, and discuss structures for accountability. Notes:   - Session type: Demo,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Erie Meyer, CFPB ------ The wonders of CDC WONDER: Analyzing birth and death data Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on Instructor:   - Paul Overberg, The Wall Street Journal ------ Using Python to scrape websites Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) This session will show you how to use the Python programming language to scrape data from simple websites. This session is good for: People with some experience working with data. Experience with Python and/or HTML is a plus but not necessary. Laptops will be provided. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Allan James Vestal, Independent journalist: Allan James Vestal is a data journalist and editor who has served in roles at Politico and Bloomberg News, among other outlets. He has worked on teams to expose serious flaws in the nation’s newborn screening system, track residential natural gas accidents and show serious accountability gaps in state-run nursing homes for military veterans. Vestal has directed teams of journalists and developers in building interactive election-night experiences in 2020, 2022 and 2024. ------ Watching the weather with Github Actions Time: Thursday, March 6, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) When severe weather is on its way, you'll want to know about it. Find out how to set up Slack alerts based on live U.S. National Weather Service data using Github Actions. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - John Keefe, The New York Times ------ Bill Tracker: How to collect and analyze legislative data for any beat Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) This session explains how any reporter can search for pending legislation in any state – or across the country – collect the data and analyze it through a new tool developed with journalists in mind. This bill tracker, through BillTrack50, allows journalists to search for bills by topic and analyze the data going back 14 years. The tool integrates machine learning, which allows searches with greater precision, reducing misses resulting from simple keyword searches. Come to this session to learn how to use it. See the application of the tool by the University of Florida Brechner Freedom of Information Project to track secrecy legislation, and hear from the data experts at Stanford University’s Big Local News on possible applications of this data, along with other civic information search tools they provide for journalists. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Public records track,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - David Cuillier, Brechner FOI Project: Dr. David Cuillier is director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. He has taught data journalism and access to information for more than 20 years, and before that was a newspaper reporter and editor in the Pacific Northwest. He is a member of the FOIA Advisory Committee and is co-author of “The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records." Connect: X: https://twitter.com/BrechnerFOI | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/brechnerfoi.bsky.social | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brechnercenter/ ------ Bringing data journalism to the sports section Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Derek Willis, University of Maryland: Derek Willis teaches and does data journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. He's been coming to NICAR since the late 1990s. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dwillis.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/dwillis ------ Datawrapper hacks Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructors:   - Taylor Johnston, CBS News: Taylor Johnston is an award-winning visual data journalist working with the CBS News data team. Previously, Taylor was a graphics reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media Group. She has also worked for The New York Times, The Center for Public Integrity, The Dallas Morning News and Newsday. Taylor is from Cleveland, Ohio. A first-generation college student, she graduated from Ohio University with bachelor's degrees in journalism and interactive information design. Connect: X: https://x.com/TF_Johnston | GitHub: https://github.com/johnstont05 | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-fay-johnston/,   - Grace Manthey, CBS News & Stations: Grace Manthey is a visual data journalist at CBS News & Stations. Previously, she was the founding member of the data journalist team at the ABC Owned Television Stations. She holds a master's in journalism from the University of Southern California and a bachelor's in journalism from Quinnipiac University. She currently lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with her husband and puppy/data sidekick, Dunkin. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmmanthey/ ------ Extracting data from PDFs using off-the-shelf tools Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Join this class to learn how to “liberate” trapped data locked inside of PDF’s. This class will cover basic approaches for getting text out of PDF documents using powerful and freely available tools. Participants will be introduced to basic concepts and walked through tackling common challenges encountered 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. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Maggie Mulvihill, Boston University: Maggie Mulvihill is a veteran reporter, data journalism trainer, news entrepreneur, First Amendment advocate and attorney. Mulvihill is an associate professor of the practice in computational journalism at Boston University and a member of IRE’s Academic Task Force. Connect: X: https://x.com/@maggiemulvihill ------ Get AI to read all that stuff with semantic search Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Semantic search is a novel way to search large sets of short-ish text, like datasets of complaints, incident reports or social media posts. Instead of keyword search – which misses misspellings, paraphrase and use of terms that the user hasn't thought of – semantic search finds results whose meaning is similar to that of the query. It's a guaranteed-safe way to use AI in a newsroom context, because the only downside of a "false positive" match is wasting the reporter's time in reading the irrelevant search results. Let's talk about the use-cases where we've used it, the fiddly choices we have to make when using semantic search, and the bright new future that awaits us. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - AI track Speakers:   - Dana Chieuh, Minnesota Star Tribune,   - Dylan Freedman, The New York Times: Dylan Freedman is a machine-learning engineer and journalist on the A.I. Initiatives team at The New York Times. He started his career on a machine-learning team at Google before pivoting to study journalism at Stanford. He served as lead developer at journalism nonprofit DocumentCloud and most recently worked on elections at The Washington Post. He is passionate about building open-source tools to empower investigative reporting and analyze documents, media and data. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dylanfreedman.nytimes.com | GitHub: https://github.com/freedmand | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanfreedman/ | X: https://x.com/dylfreed,   - Jeremy Merrill, The Washington Post: Jeremy B. Merrill is a data reporter at The Washington Post. He likes natural language processing and bad jokes. He lives in Atlanta.,   - Steven Rich, The Washington Post ------ Google Sheets 3: Filtering & pivot tables Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ How to start investigating your college or university with data and records Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Are you a student journalist who wishes they had a clearer road map to how to get started doing accountability journalism on your college campus? Let's talk about how to get started. A session for total beginners. Let's talk about open records laws, federally required disclosure like IRS Form 990 and the Clery Act, and what's available to you even if you're at a private institution. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Public records track Speaker:   - Jennifer Peebles, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Jennifer Peebles is a newsroom data specialist at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, helping reporters find and tell stories with government data (and sometimes documents, too). She also helps colleagues obtain records (on paper and electronically) through the state's open government laws. She is the former government editor of The (Nashville) Tennessean newspaper. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and was once editor of its student newspaper. Connect: X: https://x.com/jpeebles | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferpeebles | GitHub: https://github.com/jenniferpeebles ------ Turning police disciplinary files into data and stories Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Demo,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Skill level: Beginner Speaker:   - Dillon Bergin, Muckrock ------ Updating data practices for inclusion Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth With data collection, algorithms and artificial intelligence affecting larger and larger parts of our lives, journalists should become more and more comfortable with using data for reporting. But how can they do this while keeping diversity and inclusion in mind, and not leaving some groups behind, or emphasizing a status quo that disadvantages minorities? Let's talk - What have your experiences been? What resources do you know of? How can we improve our own practices and encourage sources to update theirs? Notes:   - Session type: Commons Speaker:   - Samantha Sunne, Independent journalist: Samantha Sunne is a freelance journalist based in New Orleans. She is the recipient of several national grants and awards for investigative reporting, most recently the ProPublica Local Reporting Network fellowship. Her first book, coauthored with trainer Mike Reilley, “Data + Journalism: A Story-Driven Approach to Learning Data Reporting,” was an Amazon bestseller in 2023. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/samanthasunne.bsky.social ------ Using CAPTCHA-solving services to automate difficult web-scraping projects Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: St. Croix I, sixth (Mac) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Advanced Instructor:   - Ryan Little, Baltimore Banner ------ Using Python to analyze map data Time: Thursday, March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) Python has a lot of useful tools for scripting your GIS analysis. In this introductory workshop, we'll use a couple of popular mapping libraries to work through some common newsroom mapping tasks. (We'll focus on analysis more than visualization.) This session is good for: People with a little bit of Python experience (we won't cover basic syntax). Knowledge of GIS concepts is helpful but not required. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Cody Winchester, IRE & NICAR: Cody Winchester was a newspaper reporter, data specialist and web developer before joining IRE as a training director in 2017. He became tech lead in 2022. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/cjwinchester ------ Advanced Python mapping techniques Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) Roughly a quarter of Americans live more than 30 minutes away from a high-level trauma center. Peer-reviewed research suggests that this distance can literally make the difference between a patient living or dying of a traumatic injury. In this session I would explain how we used cutting-edge GIS tools in Python to map trauma care deserts in the United States for the IRE Award-winning series "Bleeding Out." The methods we use for this project can be generalized for lots of journalistic applications, from reproductive healthcare to food deserts. This session is good for those with experience using Python and Pandas. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Advanced Instructor:   - Ari Sen, CBS News: Arijit (Ari) D. Sen is an investigative data journalist at CBS News. Prior to joining CBS, he worked at The Dallas Morning News, NBC News and the Asheville Citizen-Times. He was a finalist for the Livingston Award and winner of the IRE Award in 2024 for his work on "Bleeding Out." Connect: X: https://x.com/ArijitDSen | GitHub: https://github.com/as9934 | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arijit-sen-517922134/ ------ Getting the most out of Datawrapper *pre-registered attendees only Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 5:45 p.m. (3h 30m) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Datawrapper is a powerful data visualization tool with capability that goes far beyond bar and line charts. Whether you’re freelancing, covering a beat for your local newspaper or working for a national news organization, Datawrapper’s free and paid versions make the tool accessible for any budget. In this workshop, we’ll cover: - Making mobile-friendly (and mobile-first!) graphics - Basic visualizations like bar and line charts as well as more advanced visualizations like maps, tables and timelines - How to use Datawrapper Academy to independently learn new tools and tricks - Improving accessibility for Datawrapper graphics - How to incorporate Datawrapper into your newsroom’s regular workflow - Implementing a workflow for editing and fact-checking Datawrapper graphics This class is good for people who have basic familiarity with Datawrapper or other point-and-click data viz tools. Attendees will need to bring their own laptop (no tablets) to participate in this class. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate,   - This session requires pre-registration and an additional fee of $40 to participate: https://www.ire.org/product/nicar25-getting-the-most-out-of-datawrapper/ Instructors:   - Madi Alexander, Politico: Madi Alexander is the senior graphics editor on POLITICO’s data and graphics team, where she covers health care, education and other public policy issues. She previously worked as a data journalist for Bloomberg Government and The Dallas Morning News. Madi has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. Outside of work, she enjoys birding and volunteers for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Connect: X: https://x.com/madilalexander | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madialexander/,   - Catherine Allen, Politico,   - Taylor Thomas, Politico ------ Go big with GitHub Actions: Scale up your newsroom’s data pipelines *pre-registered attendees only Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 5:45 p.m. (3h 30m) Location: St. Croix I, sixth (Mac) Take this three-hour class to learn how journalists deploy massive data pipelines at zero cost using GitHub’s powerful Actions framework. You will get hands-on experience creating an automated system that can collect, process and publish a gigantic dataset with ease. Ben Welsh, Iris Lee and Dana Chiueh will teach you how to: - Schedule an automated task - Scrape and store data from a newsworthy source - Scale up to run hundreds of tasks in parallel - Publish a data dashboard to share your work - Extend GitHub’s free system to access gigantic amounts of computing power Preregistration is required and seating is limited. Students do not need to be programming experts, but they should have at least some experience editing code and working with GitHub. Don’t talk yourself out of attending. If you’re interested and have a good attitude, you are qualified to join. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - Skill level: Advanced,   - This session requires pre-registration and an additional fee of $40 to participate: https://www.ire.org/product/nicar25-go-big-with-github-actions-scale-up-your-newsrooms-data-pipelines/ Instructors:   - Dana Chieuh, Minnesota Star Tribune,   - Iris Lee, Reuters,   - Ben Welsh, Reuters ------ Google Sheets: Advanced pivot tables Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ How to run visual investigations Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Maureen Linke, The Wall Street Journal,   - Ryan McNeill, Reuters,   - John West, Wall Street Journal ------ Learning a new beat in data Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Lots of early-career data and graphics journalists may find themselves working on a niche beat new to them, with complicated data, hard-to-find data sources, and a need for in-depth knowledge to truly excel in their reporting. This session will provide a primer on how to build data-specific sources and contacts (including a tipsheet with some of this information for a range of beats), how to get your footing in a topic that's brand new, and how to emerge as an expert in your beat. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Paroma Soni, Politico ------ Master the power of mapping with QGIS Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 5:45 p.m. (3h 30m) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) Mapping is a powerful tool to find patterns in data that can only be explored on a map. This session will give you the basics for doing mapping with the open-source tool QGIS. You'll learn how to build thematic maps, how to bring outside data into QGIS and connect it to your map and how to combine data in a map to look at geographic relationships in your data. This class is good for those with solid spreadsheet skills ready to move into mapping. Pre-registration is required and seating is limited. Laptops will be provided. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - Data viz track,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructors:   - Jennifer LaFleur, UC Berkeley,   - Charles Minshew, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Charles Minshew is the data 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. In 2012, Charles was on the staff of The Denver Post that won a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News for coverage of a shooting at a theater in Aurora, Colorado. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/charlesminshew | GitHub: https://github.com/charlesminshew | LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/CharlesMinshew | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/charlesminshew.bsky.social ------ Passive scraping for social media Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Demo,   - Skill level: Advanced Speaker:   - Jonathan Soma, Columbia University: Jonathan Soma is Knight Chair in Data Journalism at Columbia Journalism School, where he directs both the Data Journalism MS and the summer intensive Lede program. He regularly publishes tutorials on everything from basic Python and analysis to ai2html and machine learning. At the moment he unfortunately cannot stop talking about AI. When Soma isn't boring his students to tears he's probably rescuing cats. Connect: X: https://x.com/dangerscarf | GitHub: https://github.com/jsoma/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dangerscarf.bsky.social ------ Spatial analysis in R: 101 Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Shreya Vuttaluru, Tampa Bay Times: Shreya Vuttaluru is the investigative data reporter at the Tampa Bay Times. Her work has appeared in the Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Banner and the Dallas Morning News. She likes accountability stories, and also maps. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/shreyavut | GitHub: https://github.com/shreyavut | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyavuttaluru/ ------ Spreading data wisdom through mentoring Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth We’ve all have mentors, maybe just for that one breakfast, maybe for that one job transition, maybe for a lifetime. We’ll talk about how to find a mentor, how to set goals, how often to reach out, how to be a good mentor and how to be a good mentee. And why it’s sometimes important to look for help outside your workplace. Bring your questions, we'll leave plenty of time for Q&A. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Sandra Fish, Independent journalist ------ What to do when the data doesn't exist Time: Thursday, March 6, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker information coming soon. ------ Data stories that don't look or sound like data stories Time: Thursday, March 6, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group,   - A.J. Lagoe, KARE ------ Elevate your graphics with Illustrator Time: Thursday, March 6, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) Vector graphics programs like Illustrator are great tools for creating beautiful, unique data visualizations and graphics – but it doesn’t need to all be done from scratch. In this session, we will go over ways to begin making your chart using tools that most newsrooms already use (like Datawrapper, RawGraphs, Flourish and ggplot) and elevate its design with the magic of SVGs and vector graphics programs. This session is good for journalists with some data and data visualization knowledge. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Adam Marton, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland: Adam Marton is a data journalist specializing in visual storytelling, code and design. He is on the faculty at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at The University of Maryland, where he oversees the data and graphics bureau of Capital News Service and teaches data journalism and visual design courses. He previously worked at The Baltimore Sun, where he led the data and graphics desk in the newsroom. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/amarton/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/adammm.bsky.social ------ Follow the money: How to use campaign finance data in your reporting Time: Thursday, March 6, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Kelly Waldron, Mission Local: Kelly Waldron is a data reporter at Mission Local, an independent, nonprofit newsroom based in San Francisco. Lately, her work has focused on using data to uncover the vast amount of money pouring into local elections. Previously, she graduated from Columbia Journalism School’s data program and worked in remote sensing for a satellite company. Connect: X: https://x.com/kellywaldro | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kellywaldron.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-anne-waldron/ | GitHub: https://github.com/kellywaldro ------ Google Sheets: Importing & data prep Time: Thursday, March 6, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) 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. Attendees will need to bring their own laptop (no tablets) for the training and will need a free Google account to participate. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Mike Stucka, Independent Journalist ------ Media lawyer Q&A Time: Thursday, March 6, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel Speaker:   - Matt Topic, Loevy & Loevy ------ PDF next steps: Extracting data using command-line and other tools Time: Thursday, March 6, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) This class seeks to help you free data stored in PDFs. Attendees will extract text from a computer-generated PDF using command-line tools, process image files with optical character recognition and set themselves up for working with PDFs in Python. The session will also cover how to assess a PDF to select the right tools to use to free its data. This session is good for: People with experience using a command-line interface and who deal with frustrating PDFs. Knowledge of Python or R is a plus but not required. Laptops will be provided. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Chad Day, The Associated Press: Chad Day is the chief elections analyst for The Associated Press and a member of AP’s Decision Desk. He writes about politics and elections and also teaches data journalism at Georgetown University. He previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, where he was part of a team awarded the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting. ------ Spatial analysis in R: 201 Time: Thursday, March 6, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Take your spatial skills up a notch by learning to use image-based data derived from satellite observations. In this session, you’ll discover how to navigate tricky filetypes like netCDF and TIF, all within the comfort of RStudio. Learn how to extract decades of real-time measurements from variables like ocean heat, temperature, land use, air pollution and more. By the end, you’ll have the tools to join satellite measurements with traditional shapefiles. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Shreya Vuttaluru, Tampa Bay Times: Shreya Vuttaluru is the investigative data reporter at the Tampa Bay Times. Her work has appeared in the Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Banner and the Dallas Morning News. She likes accountability stories, and also maps. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/shreyavut | GitHub: https://github.com/shreyavut | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyavuttaluru/ ------ Using microdata from the Minnesota Population Center Time: Thursday, March 6, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Sandhya Kambhampati, Los Angeles Times: Sandhya Kambhampati is a data reporter on the Los Angeles Times data desk, where she specializes in demographic and statistical analyses. She previously worked at the Chronicle of Higher Education, Correctiv and ProPublica Illinois. She is an adjunct at the Annenberg School at University of Southern California. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sandhyak.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandhyakambhampati/,   - Paul Overberg, The Wall Street Journal,   - David Van Riper, IPUMS: David Van Riper is director of spatial analysis at IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series). He is co-principal investigator of IPUMS National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS), which provides historical and contemporary small-area census data, and work on the geographic identifiers available in IPUMS microdata products (IPUMS USA and CPS). Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-van-riper-895a8a1,   - MaryJo Webster, Minnesota Star Tribune: MaryJo Webster is the data editor at the Minnesota Star Tribune. Previously she worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, USA Today, Center for Public Integrity, Investigative Reporters & Editors and small newspapers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/maryjowebster.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryjo-webster-2733706/ ------ Using open-source intelligence (OSINT) in investigations Time: Thursday, March 6, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Tristan Lee, Bellingcat ------ Which coding language to use and why Time: Thursday, March 6, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Journalists may use a variety of coding languages for data investigations or for news application development. Each project and each newsroom has a unique tech stack. You might be wondering: which ones should I try? Our panelists will discuss projects they’ve pursued with code, which languages they used, and why. Notes:   - Session type: Commons,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Skill level: Beginner Speakers:   - Carla Astudillo, The Texas Tribune: Carla Astudillo is a senior data visuals developer and journalist with a focus on elections and political data. Before joining the Tribune in 2019, she was a data and interactive visuals journalist at NJ.com and The Star-Ledger in New Jersey. She earned a master’s degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/carla-astudi.bsky.social | X: https://x.com/carla_astudi,   - Tazbia Fatima, Hearst,   - Nael Shiab, CBC News: Nael Shiab is the senior data producer at CBC News, where he uses programming languages to explore and answer public interest questions through data. He specializes in crafting engaging digital experiences, including immersive 3D data visualizations. Nael also maintains the open-source JavaScript library simple-data-analysis (github.com/nshiab/simple-data-analysis). Connect: Website: https://naelshiab.com | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/naelshiab.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/nshiab | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naelshiab/ | Mastodon: https://vis.social/home | X: https://x.com/NaelShiab,   - Kai Teoh, The Dallas Morning News: Kai Teoh leads a team of journalists responsible for The Dallas Morning News' data reporting, interactive projects, illustrations and graphics. He's passionate about advocating for immigrant journalists and enjoys mentoring data journalism students. With a career spanning different roles in the newsroom, he's committed to empowering his colleagues and elevating their work through collaboration. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaiteoh/ ------ Beginner track: How to request data and documents: FOI Time: Thursday, March 6, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Beginner track Speaker information coming soon. ------ CAR (data journalism) through the decades Time: Thursday, March 6, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Brant Houston, University of Illinois ------ Developing an ethical AI policy for your newsroom Time: Thursday, March 6, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Join news leaders to discuss the why, when, and how to develop an AI policy for your newsroom. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - AI track Speakers:   - Darla Cameron, Texas Tribune,   - Silvia Dal Ben Furtado, University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism and Media: Silvia DalBen Furtado is a PhD candidate at the University of Texas at Austin, where she investigates the use of artificial intelligence in journalism. Her current research is focused on computational journalism, AI ethics, global media, streaming television, platform studies and computational methods. She has a MA in communication (2018) from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil. Connect: LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/silviadalben | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silvia.dalben | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/silviadalben.bsky.social,   - Andrew Ford, USA Today / Gannett,   - Josh Hinkle, KXAN: Josh Hinkle is KXAN’s director of investigations and innovation, leading the station’s duPont and IRE Award-winning investigative team on multiple platforms. He also leads KXAN’s political coverage as executive producer and host of “State of Texas,” a weekly statewide program focused on the Texas Legislature and elections. In 2021, he was elected to the IRE Board of Directors and currently serves as its vice president. Connect: X: https://x.com/hinklej | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hinklej/ | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hinklej002/ | BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hinklej.bsky.social,   - Cynthia Tu, Sahan Journal ------ Extracting data from complex PDFs using pdfplumber Time: Thursday, March 6, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) Wonderful tools such as Tabula have made it easier to extract tabular data from PDFs. But what if your pile of PDFs is more complex than that? Maybe there are a few bits of info that you need to grab outside the tables, or maybe the information isn't tabular at all? In this session, we'll use pdfplumber, an open-source Python library, to demonstrate some techniques. We'll also demystify some aspects of the PDF file format, which will come in handy no matter what tools you use. This session would be good for: People with some prior experience using Python. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Jeremy Singer-Vine, The New York Times: Jeremy Singer-Vine is a data editor, reporter, and computer programmer based in New York City. He currently serves as data editor for The New York Times. Previously, he founded the Data Liberation Project, served as the data editor for BuzzFeed News and worked at The Wall Street Journal. Since 2015, he has also published Data Is Plural, a newsletter highlighting useful and curious datasets. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/jsvine | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsvine ------ Finding the story: Using DNS search for investigative journalism (repeat) Time: Thursday, March 6, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) Every online interaction begins with a lookup in the Domain Name System (DNS), the backbone of the Internet. As a result, there are digital footprints left behind in the DNS. With the demise of Whois, investigative reporters are looking for new tools to uncover these footprints. Learn how to use DNSDB Scout, a tool to query DNSDB, a historical passive DNS database, to discover previously unknown online connections and gain new information to advance your ongoing and breaking news investigations. Basic knowledge of the Domain Name System (DNS) is helpful, but not required. Attendees will need to bring their own laptop (no tablets) to participate in this class. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Kelly Molloy, Domain Tools ------ Google Sheets: Using string functions to manipulate data Time: Thursday, March 6, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ Making publishable graphics in R Studio Time: Thursday, March 6, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) Explore different graphics types and styling you can do in R Studio and then export into Adobe Illustrator for publication Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Maureen Linke, The Wall Street Journal ------ Navigating your mental health in journalism Time: Thursday, March 6, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Commons,   - Networking track Speakers:   - Jasmine Han, Informa TechTarget (Industry Dive): Jasmine Ye Han is a news graphics developer at Informa TechTarget (Industry Dive), where she tells business news stories with data analysis and visualizations. Previously she was a data journalism reporter at Bloomberg Industry Group. Jasmine is an alumnus of the Missouri School of Journalism and NICAR data library. She moved to the U.S. from China in 2014. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/JasmineHanYe | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-ye-han-08122380/,   - Khushboo Rathaore, Wisconsin Watch ------ Spatial analysis in R: 301 Time: Thursday, March 6, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Data that lacks a shared column for direct joins can often still be connected through maps. But common geographies like census tracts and precincts rarely align perfectly. Despite these challenges, it’s still possible to estimate how votes shifted across neighborhoods or calculate statistical relationships using Census data. This process is called interpolation — learn how to translate data from one map to another and bridge geographic gaps in their data analysis. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Shreya Vuttaluru, Tampa Bay Times: Shreya Vuttaluru is the investigative data reporter at the Tampa Bay Times. Her work has appeared in the Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Banner and the Dallas Morning News. She likes accountability stories, and also maps. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/shreyavut | GitHub: https://github.com/shreyavut | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyavuttaluru/   *** FRIDAY, MARCH 7 *** ------ Beginner track: Feed the beast: Integrating data nuggets on deadline Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Beginner track Speaker:   - Stephen Stock, WVUE ------ Extracting data and artifacts from documents with AI Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Demo,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - AI track Speaker:   - Sean McMinn, Politico: Sean McMinn is the data/graphics editor at Politico, where he manages a team of data and visual journalists who cover political news. He has worked in data, visual and investigative newsroom roles for over a decade, mostly covering federal politics and policy. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/shmcminn ------ How economic development incentives impact public budgets Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) Companies receive upwards of $95 billion in economic development subsidies per year. While those deals are often reported upon, what's less analyzed are the impacts of those tax breaks and other subsidies on budgets, and what, if anything, communities get in return. Using Subsidy Tracker and Tax Break Tracker help answer those questions. Learn how to use the databases and how reporters have used them in their reporting to show the impact of corporate giveaways. Subsidy Tracker lets users explore what companies are receiving incentives and where, and Tax Break Tracker shows users how much revenue governments give up in the name of economic development. This session would be especially useful for local and state government reporters, as well as those covering education (the public service that loses the most funding when incentives are given due to its dependence on property taxes). Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructors:   - Arlene Martinez, Good Jobs First: Arlene Martínez is with Good Jobs First, which promotes corporate and government accountability in economic development, especially around taxpayer incentives. Her work focuses on who benefits from tax and economic policies and regulatory changes. Before joining the nonprofit GJF, (which maintains the Subsidy, Violation, and Tax Break Tracker databases), she was a reporter with the USA TODAY Network, The Morning Call, the LA Times and Hispanic Link News Service. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodjobsfirst.org | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-jobs-first/ | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodJobsFirst | X: https://x.com/GoodJobsFirst,   - Jeremy Thompson, Good Jobs First ------ How to use CensusDis, the friendliest Python API for U.S. Census data Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) CensusDis is a simple Python package for accessing the US Census API. Unlike competing packages, it gives access to almost everything the Census Bureau produces, including American Community Survey, the Current Population Survey, the Supplemental Poverty Measure and so on. It even has methods for downloading geographic resources like Tiger Shapefiles. My favorite part is that it has methods for quickly exploring which datasets and tables are available, so that you know what exists before you configure a whole script to try and download it. The greatest feature, however, is that it can download your census data and output a choropleth of any geography in a single function call. It's made my work with the Census faster, more reliable and more enjoyable. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Census track,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Scott Pham, CBS News: Scott Pham is an investigative reporter and a managing editor of the CBS News data team. ------ QGIS 1: Spatial analysis for beginners Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) Learn to how to make your own maps using free, open-source software called QGIS. This class will teach you how to get started importing and displaying geographic data. Not all datasets need to be mapped, but some do! We'll go over how to find publicly available data, prepare it for mapping, and join together different datasets. This session is good for: Beginners looking to learn the basics of visualizing geographic data. Laptops will be provided. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructors:   - Daniel Wainwright, BBC News: Daniel Wainwright is a senior data journalist with BBC News. He's covered UK elections both general and local and worked on the results of the 2024 U.S. election. He's previously been political editor of a regional newspaper in England and produced content from the 2021 Census for the UK's Office for National Statistics. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/danwainwright.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wainwright-aa266b22,   - John Walton, BBC News ------ R 1: Intro to R and RStudio Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor information coming soon. ------ Reporting on America's prison and jail death crisis Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Ethan Corey, The Appeal: Ethan Corey is The Appeal’s research and projects editor. Ethan’s investigative research and reporting has been featured in many outlets beyond The Appeal, including In These Times, The Nation, New York Focus, Retro Report and BuzzFeed News. Before joining The Appeal in July 2018, Ethan worked as the head of fact-checking at Retro Report. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ethanscorey.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-corey-a1701269 | X: https://twitter.com/EthanSCorey | GitHub: https://github.com/ethanscorey ------ Scraping without programming Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Yes, you can scrape data without using code -- in fact, all you need is Google Sheets! We'll be using Excel-type formulas (don't worry if you don't know what those are, either) to make simple scrapers that automatically pull data into Google Sheets. It’s the best way to get around clunky websites and unhelpful PIOs! This session is good for: Beginners who want to start using data for their stories. Attendees will need to bring their own laptop (no tablets) for the training and must have a Google account. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Samantha Sunne, Independent journalist: Samantha Sunne is a freelance journalist based in New Orleans. She is the recipient of several national grants and awards for investigative reporting, most recently the ProPublica Local Reporting Network fellowship. Her first book, coauthored with trainer Mike Reilley, “Data + Journalism: A Story-Driven Approach to Learning Data Reporting,” was an Amazon bestseller in 2023. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/samanthasunne.bsky.social ------ Tidycensus will convince you to learn R Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Tired of dealing with tabs, weird variable names, and disappearing leading zeros with Census data? Learn how to use Tidycensus, a well-designed R package that pulls data from the Census API and structures it in a logical, tidy way, which makes it easier for you to join with other data and analyze. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Census track,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Andrew Ba Tran, Washington Post ------ Using AI tools in the newsroom *pre-registered attendees only Time: Friday, March 7, 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (3h 30m) Location: St. Croix I, sixth (Mac) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - AI track,   - Skill level: Intermediate,   - This session requires pre-registration and an additional fee of $40 to participate: https://www.ire.org/product/nicar25-using-ai-tools-in-the-newsroom/ Instructor:   - Jonathan Soma, Columbia University: Jonathan Soma is Knight Chair in Data Journalism at Columbia Journalism School, where he directs both the Data Journalism MS and the summer intensive Lede program. He regularly publishes tutorials on everything from basic Python and analysis to ai2html and machine learning. At the moment he unfortunately cannot stop talking about AI. When Soma isn't boring his students to tears he's probably rescuing cats. Connect: X: https://x.com/dangerscarf | GitHub: https://github.com/jsoma/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dangerscarf.bsky.social ------ What's involved in data editing? Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Yoohyun Jung, Boston Globe: Yoohyun Jung is the data editor at the Boston Globe, leading a team of computational journalists. She was previously the deputy data editor and data reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle. Jung began her career in Arizona as a cops reporter, then developed as a data journalist with the help of IRE and NICAR. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoohyun-jung-67175a66/,   - Allie Kanik, Houston Chronicle / San Antonio Express-News: Alexandra Kanik is the data editor for Hearst Texas, which includes the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. She leads a team of reporters that produces unique analysis, interactive charts, custom graphics and reader-focused storytelling. She joined Hearst in May '21 after a decade in nonprofit news at organizations including Louisville Public Media and PublicSource. She holds a bachelor's degree in graphic design from MICA. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/akanik | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-kanik-918a891b/,   - Dan Kopf, San Francisco Chronicle: Dan Kopf is the data editor for The Chronicle. Previously, Kopf was the data editor at Quartz, where he also covered economics and demographics. Connect: X: https://x.com/dkopf/,   - MaryJo Webster, Minnesota Star Tribune: MaryJo Webster is the data editor at the Minnesota Star Tribune. Previously she worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, USA Today, Center for Public Integrity, Investigative Reporters & Editors and small newspapers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/maryjowebster.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryjo-webster-2733706/ ------ What's new in the world of LLMs Time: Friday, March 7, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Special,   - AI track Speaker:   - Simon Willison, Datasette ------ Custom dataviz with JavaScript 101 Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) Interested in building data visualizations for the web? This session will introduce you to charts made with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, helping you understand how various components combine to create a complete visualization displayed in your browser by coding. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Jovi Dai, The Mercury News & East Bay Times ------ Digging deep: Scraping government websites Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Join us as we scrape a government website live and dig pages deep to extract specific data. Whether your data is a search bar and five clicks into the database, or located in a document, we’ll show you how to use a tool that will save your team hours of work and make what seems impossible, possible. Notes:   - Session type: Demo,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Skill level: Beginner Speakers:   - Jennifer Burns, Bright Data,   - Michael Newton, Bright Data ------ Extracting data from the worst PDFs on the planet Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) Some PDFs defy conventional attempts at parsing (and logic). We’ll walk through a few ways to tackle layout issues, image PDFs and more. Bring your worst and we’ll try them, too. This session would be good for those who aren’t super technical but are willing to experiment with new tools. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - AI track,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Derek Willis, University of Maryland: Derek Willis teaches and does data journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. He's been coming to NICAR since the late 1990s. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dwillis.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/dwillis ------ Finding the story: Inflation Reduction Act data Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Public records track,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Jessie Blaeser, Politico: Jessie is a senior data enterprise reporter for Politico, where she spends much of her time digging through federal spending records. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia and has a masters in data journalism from Columbia University. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/Jtblaeser | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessieblaeser/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jtblaeser.bsky.social ------ Google Sheets black belt: Apps script for data journalists Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Transform your reporting workflow by harnessing the power of Google Apps Script to automate your communications directly from Google Sheets. This session will show you how to effortlessly send personalized emails to hundreds of contacts at a time, schedule follow-ups and set up automatic alerts when your data changes—all from your spreadsheet. We'll also touch on other practical applications like collecting data from APIs and monitoring websites for real-time updates. Use ChatGPT to write your scripts, and learn some JavaScript along the way. Elevate your journalism by automating routine tasks, so you can focus on crafting compelling stories. This session is good for people who have a firm grasp of spreadsheets and are ready to take those skills to the next level. Some experience programming in any language will be helpful, but is not required. Attendees will need to bring their own laptop (no tablets) and a Google account for the training. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructors:   - Crystal Arroyo, The New York Times,   - Alex Lemonides, The New York Times: Alex works on the Election Analytics team at The New York Times, which produces the statistical models behind the Needle, conducts The New York Times/Siena College Poll and tells analytical, visual stories about how people vote. His job blends computer-assisted reporting with traditional techniques to help readers understand electoral trends and outcomes. ,   - Jacob Meschke, The New York Times: Jacob Meschke is a editor on the newsroom development and support team at The New York Times, a multidisciplinary team of journalists that works with desks across the Times newsroom to introduce new tools and initiatives. Much of his work focuses on audience data analysis and engagement and data reporting techniques. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobmeschke/ | GitHub: https://github.com/jakem7796 ------ How to crowdsource data for your next big story Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Asia Fields, ProPublica,   - Jeremy Merrill, The Washington Post: Jeremy B. Merrill is a data reporter at The Washington Post. He likes natural language processing and bad jokes. He lives in Atlanta.,   - Leon Yin, Bloomberg News ------ Layer Cake: How to build reusable, customizable graphics with D3 and Svelte Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Working on deadline, news graphics need to be made quickly. They also often require customization to meet the needs of the day's story accurately and cleanly. These two requirements are often at odds with one another. Graphics libraries that let you make charts quickly are often not customizable. The most customizable graphics framework, D3, often requires a great deal of prep and code to even make a simple bar chart. In this presentation, we'll look at Layer Cake, which is a graphics framework in Svelte built for these twin demands of a newsroom. Its approach is different from most frameworks or libraries you may have worked with and we'll look at how you can create reusable code to produce engaging graphics in a fast-paced environment. This session is good for people who have knowledge of JavaScript and D3 already and want to learn how to translate that to Svelte. Experience with Svelte is not required but will be helpful. We'll discuss the philosophy behind project code as much as possible. Attendees will need to bring their own laptop (no tablets) for the training. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Advanced Instructor:   - Michael Keller, The New York Times ------ Networking: Women in data Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Networking,   - Networking track Speakers:   - Khushboo Rathaore, Wisconsin Watch,   - K. Sophie Will, Bloomberg News ------ Public records for social justice: Uncovering inequity in your community through FOI Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Public records track Speakers:   - David Cuillier, Brechner FOI Project: Dr. David Cuillier is director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. He has taught data journalism and access to information for more than 20 years, and before that was a newspaper reporter and editor in the Pacific Northwest. He is a member of the FOIA Advisory Committee and is co-author of “The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records." Connect: X: https://twitter.com/BrechnerFOI | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/brechnerfoi.bsky.social | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brechnercenter/,   - Sydney Sims, Brechner FOI Project: Sydney Sims is the outreach coordinator for the Joseph L. Brechner FOI Project at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. She promotes the right to know through training and communications. Previously, Sims worked as a journalist at Capital B News, WABE 90.1 FM and the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. An Auburn University journalism graduate, she is an award-winning journalist and Atlanta native, now residing in Gainesville, Florida. Connect: X: https://x.com/bySydneySims | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydney-sims-51700b152/ ------ QGIS 2: Analyzing geographic data Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) Build on your existing knowledge of QGIS and learn how to explore, manipulate and analyze geographic datasets to gain new insights. This session is good for: Those who attended the QGIS I workshop or already know the basics of visualizing geographic data in QGIS. Laptops will be provided. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructors:   - Daniel Wainwright, BBC News: Daniel Wainwright is a senior data journalist with BBC News. He's covered UK elections both general and local and worked on the results of the 2024 U.S. election. He's previously been political editor of a regional newspaper in England and produced content from the 2021 Census for the UK's Office for National Statistics. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/danwainwright.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-wainwright-aa266b22,   - John Walton, BBC News ------ R 2: Data analysis and plotting Time: Friday, March 7, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Sarah Ryley, Columbia University: Sarah Ryley is an investigative and data journalist currently at Columbia University as a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economics and Business Journalism. Previously, she was an an investigative reporter at The Boston Globe and The Trace, and she was the data projects editor at the New York Daily News. Her work has triggered numerous reforms and has been recognized with dozens of awards and honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2017. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sryley/ ------ AI starter pack: Python Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - AI track,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor information coming soon. ------ Building the bridge to advanced data journalism Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Your students are comfortable with the fundamentals: they’re (mostly) fluent in numeracy, proficient with Google Sheets, can make publishable data visualizations and understand how to integrate data into their storytelling. Now it’s time to design an advanced class so that they can take the next logical step. But where should you concentrate your efforts to deepen their expertise? And how can you introduce challenging concepts—like coding, scraping and stats—without overwhelming them? Join some of the field’s top journalist-educators as they share practical strategies to make more advanced data skills accessible and meaningful over the course of a semester. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Liz Lucas, University of Missouri School of Journalism: Liz Lucas is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Missouri, where she teaches classes in problem-solving with data and AI. Previously she was the senior training director at IRE. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/eklucas,   - Dhrumil Mehta, Columbia University: Dhrumil Mehta is an associate professor who teaches data journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and assistant director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. He is also a visiting professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and was formerly a political journalist at FiveThirtyEight. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/datadhrumil | GitHub: https://github.com/dmil | LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dhrumilmehta,   - Alex Richards, Syracuse University: Alex Richards is a journalism professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. Before joining the academy, he was a reporter and editor at news organizations including the Chicago Tribune, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the Las Vegas Sun, as well as the consumer finance company NerdWallet. He's also a former IRE training director.,   - Derek Willis, University of Maryland: Derek Willis teaches and does data journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. He's been coming to NICAR since the late 1990s. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dwillis.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/dwillis ------ Covering college sports when the players are pros Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Jodi Upton, Syracuse University ------ Custom dataviz with JavaScript 102 Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor information coming soon. ------ Data reporting for smaller newsrooms Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Kate Martin, APM Reports: Kate Martin is a data correspondent at APM Reports. Over two decades, her investigative reporting has driven policy reforms, forced resignations, led to criminal indictments and spurred changes to at least five state laws or legal precedents. Most recently, she uncovered widespread violations of Illinois laws by hospitals failing to follow laws meant to protect sexual assault survivors. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/katereports.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katemartin | X: https://x.com/KateReports,   - Justin Myers, Chicago Public Media: Justin Myers (any pronouns) is a Chicago-based data journalist, visual journalist, developer and parent. They joined the Chicago Sun-Times in fall 2023 as its interactives editor. Before that, they were the data editor for The Associated Press, where they supported both data journalists across the U.S. and reporting projects around the world. They enjoy making things out of flour, yarn and code — but rarely at the same time. Connect: Mastodon: https://mastodon.sdf.org/@myersjustinc | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/justinmyers.net | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/myersjustinc/ | GitHub: https://github.com/myersjustinc ------ Finding the story: Localizing gun violence reporting with The Gun Violence Data Hub Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - George LeVines, The Trace: George LeVines is the editor of the Gun Violence Data Hub at The Trace. He previously worked at the Los Angeles Times, NPR and CQ Roll Call. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgelevines/ ------ Introduction to network analysis and visualization Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Walking participants through the entire process of getting data, structuring it into a network of nodes and edges, creating a graph layout, and creating an interactive visualization. Participants need to have Gephi (https://gephi.org/) downloaded to their machine prior to taking this class. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Tristan Lee, Bellingcat ------ Investigating who's behind that website Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Reporting online today, journalists must battle with astroturf campaigns, fake news sites and sketchy shell companies to find out who is behind the story. Usually it leads to a frustratingly common question: Who is behind this website? Using a range of tools (free and otherwise), we walk you through how to investigate the provenance and ownership of websites: how can you identify the scope and scale of the network it belongs to — if any? Who’s behind the site, now and in the past? Who are the main actors promoting this website? Where else does this site crop up? While it is not always possible to fully unmask the owner of a site, using a thorough checklist of tools and techniques that we have used in real-world investigations, we can help you make sure to reveal as much as possible about a website, and potentially uncover important clues. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Pri Bengani, Bloomberg: Priyanjana Bengani is on the data desk at Bloomberg, where she uses data science approaches to tackle news projects. She was previously a senior research fellow at Columbia University’s Tow Center. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/acookiecrumbles.bsky.social | Mastodon: https://indieweb.social/@acookiecrumbles ------ Networking for journalists of color Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Networking Speaker information coming soon. ------ R 3: Gathering and cleaning data Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Jasmine Han, Informa TechTarget (Industry Dive): Jasmine Ye Han is a news graphics developer at Informa TechTarget (Industry Dive), where she tells business news stories with data analysis and visualizations. Previously she was a data journalism reporter at Bloomberg Industry Group. Jasmine is an alumnus of the Missouri School of Journalism and NICAR data library. She moved to the U.S. from China in 2014. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/JasmineHanYe | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-ye-han-08122380/ ------ Regular expressions are fun (I promise!) Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor information coming soon. ------ dRy - don’t repeat yourself, in R Time: Friday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) You may have heard of the DRY principle in coding: don’t repeat yourself. But how do you actually do it? Join us as we walk you through iteration techniques in R to make your data analysis more efficient including how to import multiple files at once, creating unique functions and generating parameterized reports. This session is good for: basic R users who want to ramp up their data analysis skills. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructors:   - Karina Kumar, University of Texas at Austin: Karina Kumar is a senior journalism student at the University of Texas at Austin with a certificate in elements of computing. She has worked at The Daily Texan, Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine and will be working at the Minnesota Star Tribune this summer as a data intern. Under Professor Christian McDonald, now as the data fellow editor, she has worked on projects with campaign finance reports, school attendance records, prison data and much more. Connect: X: https://x.com/KarinaKumar03 | GitHub: https://github.com/karina-kumar | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karina-kumar-9355b4237/,   - Christian McDonald, University of Texas at Austin: Christian McDonald is an associate professor of practice and the innovation director in the school of journalism and media at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches classes about data, coding and news products. His last newsroom position was as data and online projects editor at the Austin American-Statesman. In his 28 years in journalism, he also worked at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, East Valley (Arizona) Tribune and the Longview (Texas) News-Journal. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/crit.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/critmcdonald | GitHub (org): https://github.com/utdata | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/critmcdonald | Mastodon: https://newsie.social/@crit ------ AI starter pack: JavaScript Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) Wondering how to leverage JavaScript for AI tasks? In this session, you'll code your way through an example project and get a crash course on the libraries, techniques and learning resources available for JavaScript users who want to `npm init` their first AI project. This session is good for people who feel comfortable writing JavaScript. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - AI track,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Alex Garcia, Independent journalist ------ Analyzing images and videos with AI Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: St. Croix I, sixth (Mac) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Jonathan Soma, Columbia University: Jonathan Soma is Knight Chair in Data Journalism at Columbia Journalism School, where he directs both the Data Journalism MS and the summer intensive Lede program. He regularly publishes tutorials on everything from basic Python and analysis to ai2html and machine learning. At the moment he unfortunately cannot stop talking about AI. When Soma isn't boring his students to tears he's probably rescuing cats. Connect: X: https://x.com/dangerscarf | GitHub: https://github.com/jsoma/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dangerscarf.bsky.social ------ Beginner track: Making your data story ironclad Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Beginner track Speaker:   - Liz Lucas, University of Missouri School of Journalism: Liz Lucas is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Missouri, where she teaches classes in problem-solving with data and AI. Previously she was the senior training director at IRE. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/eklucas ------ De-mystifying cryptocurrency data: How to find stories on ransoms, scams and betting markets Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (undefined) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Trump is back, and he's bringing crypto with him. With crypto’s rally comes a new boom of scams and ransoms. Two experienced data journalists share stories, tips and techniques from years of reporting on crypto's underbelly: ransoms, sanctions violations, romance scams and betting markets using blockchain and other cryptocurrency data. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner,   - This session will take place over multiple days. Instructors:   - Jeremy Merrill, The Washington Post: Jeremy B. Merrill is a data reporter at The Washington Post. He likes natural language processing and bad jokes. He lives in Atlanta.,   - Caitlin Ostroff, The Wall Street Journal: Caitlin Ostroff is a data reporter for The Wall Street Journal in New York, where she covers crypto, finance and politics. She's broken scoops and chronicled turmoil at crypto exchanges FTX and Binance. She was previously based in London for The Journal. Connect: X: https://x.com/ceostroff | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ceostroff.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/ceostroff | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-ostroff-237402b9/ ------ Do you really need a map? How to make the most of your data viz Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker information coming soon. ------ Finding narratives in a pile of documents Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Rob Wells, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland: Rob Wells is an associate professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, where he teaches reporting and data journalism. Wells was the former bureau chief of Dow Jones Newswires and then deputy bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal in Washington, D.C.; he has also reported for Bloomberg News and The Associated Press. He is the host of the Jazz Scoop, a weekly jazz show on KUAF, 91.3, NPR for Northwest Arkansas. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-wells-7929329/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/robwells.bsky.social ------ Finding the story: Wildfire data Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Using data from the National Interagency Fire Center, we’ll demonstrate how to clean it using R and create a basic interactive map with MapLibre, an open-source mapping library. Basic knowledge of R and HTML/CSS/Javascript is recommended. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructors:   - Taylor Johnston, CBS News: Taylor Johnston is an award-winning visual data journalist working with the CBS News data team. Previously, Taylor was a graphics reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media Group. She has also worked for The New York Times, The Center for Public Integrity, The Dallas Morning News and Newsday. Taylor is from Cleveland, Ohio. A first-generation college student, she graduated from Ohio University with bachelor's degrees in journalism and interactive information design. Connect: X: https://x.com/TF_Johnston | GitHub: https://github.com/johnstont05 | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-fay-johnston/,   - Grace Manthey, CBS News & Stations: Grace Manthey is a visual data journalist at CBS News & Stations. Previously, she was the founding member of the data journalist team at the ABC Owned Television Stations. She holds a master's in journalism from the University of Southern California and a bachelor's in journalism from Quinnipiac University. She currently lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with her husband and puppy/data sidekick, Dunkin. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmmanthey/ ------ First Athena Query: How to analyze hundreds of millions of records in seconds with Amazon Web Services and SQL Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) We’ve all been there. Excel can’t hang. Your dataframe locks up. And that damn SQL query has been running for two days now. There’s no way around it. This database is just too big for your laptop to handle. You don’t want to give up, but we all know what will happen if you ask your boss for a new computer. Attend this rapid-fire session to see the solution: Amazon Athena. Katlyn Alo and Ben Welsh will show you how newsroom nerds use this powerful tool to rip through millions of records with ease. We’ll demonstrate every step in the process and prepare you to slay any dataset. Notes:   - Session type: Demo,   - Elections track,   - Skill level: Intermediate Speakers:   - Katlyn Alo, The Washington Post: Katlyn builds tools to help reporters take on ambitious stories.,   - Ben Welsh, Reuters ------ Get help editing and improving your basic data visualizations Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth More data journalists are using easy tools to make data visualizations to aid storytelling, but especially on small teams, you may not have a visual editor to identify ways to make them better. Bring us your charts and graphs that you feel like could be better but aren't sure how. We'll give live and unscripted critique and constructive suggestions to take your charts from "fine" to "wow!" Notes:   - Session type: Commons,   - Data viz track,   - Skill level: Beginner Speaker:   - CJ Sinner, Star Tribune (Minnesota) ------ Google Sheets: Importing & data prep (repeat) Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ Using data and docs to fact-check immigration rhetoric Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Wendy Wei, Investigative Project on Race and Equity ------ Web scraping with Python *pre-registered attendees only Time: Friday, March 7, 2:15 – 4:30 p.m. (2h 15m) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) If you need data that's trapped on a website, writing some code to scrape the page could be your solution. This entry-level class will show you how to use the Python programming language to harvest data from a website into a data file. We'll introduce you to the command line and code notebookes and show you how to fetch and parse content from the web using Python. Preregistration is required and seating is limited. Laptops will be provided. Workshop prerequisites: This class is programming for beginners. Some basic familiarity with Python and HTML is helpful but not required. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate,   - This session requires pre-registration and an additional fee of $25 to participate: https://www.ire.org/product/nicar25-web-scraping-with-python/ Instructor:   - Cody Winchester, IRE & NICAR: Cody Winchester was a newspaper reporter, data specialist and web developer before joining IRE as a training director in 2017. He became tech lead in 2022. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/cjwinchester ------ 15 health datasets in 60 minutes Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Illness, disease and death, oh my! Health data can be a scary subject full of unreliable methods and incomplete data. We'll show you 15 reliable health-related databases and demonstrate how they can be used to localize national trends. Notes:   - Session type: Demo,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Madi Alexander, Politico: Madi Alexander is the senior graphics editor on POLITICO’s data and graphics team, where she covers health care, education and other public policy issues. She previously worked as a data journalist for Bloomberg Government and The Dallas Morning News. Madi has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. Outside of work, she enjoys birding and volunteers for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Connect: X: https://x.com/madilalexander | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madialexander/ ------ AI starter pack: R Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - AI track,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Matt Waite, University of Nebraska ------ Beginner track: Creating meatier stories: Sourcing, documents and other tools for start investigative reporting Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Beginner track Speaker:   - Aaron Mendelson, The Trace ------ Data scouting: A heuristic to plan data scraping and collection Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Commons,   - Skill level: Beginner Speaker:   - Alison Benjamin, BBC News ------ Finding needles in haystacks with fuzzy matching Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: St. Croix I, sixth (Mac) Fuzzy matching is a process for linking up records that are similar but not quite the same. It is often an important part of data-driven investigations as a way to identify connections between public figures, key people and companies that are relevant to a story. Max Harlow, who developed the CSV Match command line tool, will cover how fuzzy matching typically fits into the investigative process, with story examples, as well as show you how to perform different types of fuzzy match on some real datasets, including the pros and cons of each. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Max Harlow, Bloomberg News: Max Harlow is a data reporter at Bloomberg News in London. He uses data and documents to cover topics including money in politics, corporate sleaze and international trade. He formerly worked at the Financial Times. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/maxharlow.bsky.social | Twitter: https://twitter.com/maxharlow | Github: https://github.com/maxharlow ------ Finding the story: Trade data Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) USA Trade, part of the U.S. Census, is an incredible tool for data journalists across most beats, especially those relating to global economics, trade, tech, and foreign policy. Whether it’s a story on manufacturing or supply chains, or tariffs and their impact on certain goods and trade flows – USA Trade has very comprehensive, district-level data that can help frame larger trends and analysis. The website itself, however, is not the most intuitive to figure out. This session will demonstrate how to use USA Trade and discuss some ways to understand and use the data in your reporting. You will need to make a free account on https://usatrade.census.gov/ to follow along. This session is good for everyone, especially for those to whom U.S. import/export data would be useful. No data experience is necessary! Attendees will need to bring their own laptops (preferably no tablets) for the training. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Census track,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructors:   - Paroma Soni, Politico,   - Taylor Thomas, Politico ------ Findings and using undocumented APIs Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) This tutorial will introduce reporters to an exciting and often overlooked data source found on every website. You will learn how to find and use hidden APIs as a reporting resource, and hear about how this data source has been used in past reporting. We'll be working off this scripted documented: https://inspectelement.org/apis This session is for reporters who want to diversify their data sources. You don't need to write code: we'll teach participants to find hidden APIs in your web browser, but knowing some coding will let you to unlock detailed and rich datasets hidden in plain sight. Laptops will be provided. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructors:   - Piotr Sapiezynski, Northeastern University,   - Leon Yin, Bloomberg News ------ How to approach an investigative data question Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Public records track Speakers:   - Adiel Kaplan, NBC News: Adiel Kaplan is an investigative reporter and editor at NBC News, where she works on investigative projects with a data focus. Her work primarily appears in print on NBCNews.com, with cross-platform stories airing on Nightly News and NBC News NOW. She has covered topics from climate change to criminal justice, healthcare and labor, and teaches investigative reporting for the Stabile Center for Investigative Reporting and the Data Program at Columbia Journalism School. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adiel-kaplan/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/adielkaplan.bsky.social,   - Veronica Penney, Science: Veronica Penney is a graphics editor at Science, where she analyzes data to build visualizations and maps for the newsroom. She specializes in data reporting, climate change and cartography, and she previously worked as an investigative data reporter for Colorado Public Radio and as a climate and graphics reporter for The New York Times and The Washington Post. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/veronicapenney.bsky.social,   - Emily Zentner, The California Newsroom: Emily Zentner is the data journalist for the statewide public and nonprofit media collaborative The California Newsroom, where she works with partner newsrooms on investigative stories and trains reporters to use data skills in their reporting. Her work primarily focuses on criminal justice and climate stories. She was previously data reporter at CapRadio in Sacramento, where she reported on wildfire, climate change and police mishandling of sexual assault cases. Connect: X: https://x.com/emilymzentner | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/emilymzentner.bsky.social | Github: https://github.com/emilymzentner | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilymzentner/ ------ The 411 on 311: How to use calls-for-service data in your daily reporting Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) 311 data, or citizen complaint data, can help you feed the beast while feeding into investigations. In this session, we’ll do an example analysis using Python in a Google Co-Lab. Be sure to log in to a Google account before class. This session is good for: People comfortable with Python and Jupyter notebook. Taking or having taken "introduction to Python for data analysis" or "first Python notebook" is strongly recommended. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Public records track,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructors:   - Janelle O'Dea, Illinois Answers Project: Janelle O'Dea is an investigative reporter who enjoys marrying data and shoe-leather reporting. After five years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, she went to nonprofit news, first at the Center for Public Integrity and now at the Illinois Answers Project (Better Government Association). Along with two other reporters, she is on the state investigative team. She's based in St. Louis, and her beat takes her all over the Metro East and Southern Illinois. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/jayohday | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jayohday.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jayohday,   - Casey Toner, BGA/Illinois Answers Project ------ Unlocking interactive maps for newsrooms Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Brandon Liu, Protomaps: Brandon is the creator and lead developer of the Protomaps project, which unlocks affordable, custom interactive maps for newsrooms. He's been working on web cartography for over a decade in areas like environmental science, humanitarian aid and government. He's currently based in Taipei, Taiwan. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/bdon | Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@bdon | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bdon.org ------ Using OCCRP's Aleph tool Time: Friday, March 7, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Kickstart your investigations with OCCRP Aleph, the leak taming, company registry matching and huge dataset wrangling tool that enables the Organized Crime Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) to launch multiple cross-border projects a year. Learn about how to conduct advanced searches, cross-reference data across multiple leaks, and create your own investigation workspace — including building network diagrams and timelines. Make use of the billions of records that OCCRP Aleph hosts for your next investigation. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Eric Nicholas Barrett, OCCRP   *** SATURDAY, MARCH 8 *** ------ Beginner track: Tools to save you time Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Beginner track Speakers:   - Tyler Dukes, McClatchy Media,   - Cynthia Tu, Sahan Journal ------ Command-line data analysis with VisiData Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) VisiData is a fast, powerful, keyboard-driven tool for quickly exploring datasets. It's often the first piece of software I use to examine new data. In this hands-on session, you'll learn VisiData's essentials commands — including how to sort, filter, summarize and aggregate. This session is good for: People who have a basic familiarity with your computer's command line interface. No programming knowledge necessary, but some knowledge of Python is a plus. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Jeremy Singer-Vine, The New York Times: Jeremy Singer-Vine is a data editor, reporter, and computer programmer based in New York City. He currently serves as data editor for The New York Times. Previously, he founded the Data Liberation Project, served as the data editor for BuzzFeed News and worked at The Wall Street Journal. Since 2015, he has also published Data Is Plural, a newsletter highlighting useful and curious datasets. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/jsvine | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsvine ------ De-mystifying cryptocurrency data: How to find stories on ransoms, scams and betting markets (continued) Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 – 10 a.m. (undefined) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Trump is back, and he's bringing crypto with him. With crypto’s rally comes a new boom of scams and ransoms. Two experienced data journalists share stories, tips and techniques from years of reporting on crypto's underbelly: ransoms, sanctions violations, romance scams and betting markets using blockchain and other cryptocurrency data. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner,   - This session will take place over multiple days. Instructors:   - Jeremy Merrill, The Washington Post: Jeremy B. Merrill is a data reporter at The Washington Post. He likes natural language processing and bad jokes. He lives in Atlanta.,   - Caitlin Ostroff, The Wall Street Journal: Caitlin Ostroff is a data reporter for The Wall Street Journal in New York, where she covers crypto, finance and politics. She's broken scoops and chronicled turmoil at crypto exchanges FTX and Binance. She was previously based in London for The Journal. Connect: X: https://x.com/ceostroff | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ceostroff.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/ceostroff | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-ostroff-237402b9/ ------ Debunking sports myths with data Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Norm Lewis, University of Florida: Norm Lewis is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Florida, where he has been since getting his doctorate from the University of Maryland in 2007. Before then he was a journalist for 25 years, ranging from editor of smaller dailies to The Washington Post financial desk. In addition to creating five data courses at UF, he conducts statistics-based social science research into news culture for peer-reviewed journals. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bikeprof.bsky.social ------ Evolving threats to journalists' safety – digital, physical and legal Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Ben Camacho, The Southlander: Ben Camacho is an award-winning investigative journalist and documentary photographer. His work focuses on state-sanctioned violence and the communities impacted by it. He was sued twice by the city of Los Angeles in a failed effort to censor public records. He is an organizer at IWW's Freelance Journalists Union. He has spoken at Yale, USC and other institutions about press freedom. He enjoys street photography, shows and breathing clean air. Connect: X: https://x.com/bencamach0 | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bencamach0.bsky.social | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bencamach0/,   - Olivia Martin, The New York Times,   - Stephanie Sugars, U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Stephanie Sugars is the senior reporter for the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, covering press freedom aggressions across the country. She has previously worked at the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Post-Conflict Research Center, and her freelance reporting has appeared in Al Jazeera, openDemocracy and Balkan Diskurs. A graduate of NYU's Global and Joint Program Studies program, her professional work focuses on human rights, politics and identity-targeted violence. Connect: BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/stephaniesugars.bsky.social | X: https://twitter.com/stephanie_alena | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniesugars/ | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephanie.alena/ | Mastodon: https://newsie.social/@stephaniesugars ------ Finding the story: Education data Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Beat reporting track Instructor:   - Anastasia Goodwin, Hearst data team ------ Fun with shapes: Scripted mapping in R or Python *pre-registered attendees only Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (3h 30m) Location: St. Croix I, sixth (Mac) Let's face it, QGIS is the Excel of geospatial analysis. Sure, doing simple mapping in it and ArcGIS is a blast, but executing complex, reproducible joins and measurements can be a real drag. Taking a more scripted approach is way less of a buzzkill, especially when you need to revisit your earlier work or share with others. Whether you choose R or Python, follow along from mapping basics to more complex techniques that will make your next geospatial analysis a walk in the park. Cut loose, write some replicable code and have fun with shapes! Preregistration is required and seating is limited. To get the most out of this session, you should have a working knowledge of both GIS/mapping techniques and some experience with either Python or R. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate,   - This session requires pre-registration and an additional fee of $40 to participate: https://www.ire.org/product/nicar25-fun-with-shapes-scripted-mapping-in-r-or-python/ Instructors:   - Allie Kanik, Houston Chronicle / San Antonio Express-News: Alexandra Kanik is the data editor for Hearst Texas, which includes the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. She leads a team of reporters that produces unique analysis, interactive charts, custom graphics and reader-focused storytelling. She joined Hearst in May '21 after a decade in nonprofit news at organizations including Louisville Public Media and PublicSource. She holds a bachelor's degree in graphic design from MICA. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/akanik | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-kanik-918a891b/,   - Ryan Little, Baltimore Banner,   - Cam Rodriguez, The New York Times ------ How to investigate special-interest influence on your Congressional delegation Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Maggie Mulvihill, Boston University: Maggie Mulvihill is a veteran reporter, data journalism trainer, news entrepreneur, First Amendment advocate and attorney. Mulvihill is an associate professor of the practice in computational journalism at Boston University and a member of IRE’s Academic Task Force. Connect: X: https://x.com/@maggiemulvihill,   - Derek Willis, University of Maryland: Derek Willis teaches and does data journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. He's been coming to NICAR since the late 1990s. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dwillis.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/dwillis ------ Learn visualization packages in RStudio to make a variety of charts Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) R is a powerful tool; it can analyze data and visualize the data to present. This R class will introduce useful R packages for journalists using R to make different charts for their stories. In this session, you will learn how to adjust and beautify charts by coding them in R. This session is great for those with some experience using R and an interest in designing charts. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Jovi Dai, The Mercury News & East Bay Times ------ Networking for international journalists Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Networking,   - Networking track Speakers:   - Jasmine Han, Informa TechTarget (Industry Dive): Jasmine Ye Han is a news graphics developer at Informa TechTarget (Industry Dive), where she tells business news stories with data analysis and visualizations. Previously she was a data journalism reporter at Bloomberg Industry Group. Jasmine is an alumnus of the Missouri School of Journalism and NICAR data library. She moved to the U.S. from China in 2014. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/JasmineHanYe | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-ye-han-08122380/,   - Paroma Soni, Politico ------ PyCAR *pre-registered attendees only Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 a.m. – 5:45 p.m. (7h) Location: Birch Lake/Maple Lake, fourth (BYO) This hands-on workshop will teach journalists basic programming concepts using the Python language. The class will introduce language basics and useful libraries in the course of a typical reporting project: scraping data from the web, analyzing a spreadsheet and visualizing the results. Preregistration is required and seating is limited. You must bring your own laptop (no tablets) to this training. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate,   - This session requires pre-registration and an additional fee of $75 to participate: https://www.ire.org/product/nicar25-pycar/ Instructors:   - Caroline Ghisolfi, Houston Chronicle: Caroline Ghisolfi is the deputy data editor for the Houston Chronicle. Before coming to Houston, Caroline was at the Austin American-Statesman, where she was part of the team selected as a Pulitzer finalist in public service. She trained in data journalism in multiple roles at the Associated Press and holds a journalism master's degree from Stanford University. Connect: X: https://x.com/carolineghisolf | GitHub: https://github.com/carolineeghisolfi | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-ghisolfi/,   - Justin Mayo, Big Local News,   - Tom Meagher, The Marshall Project,   - Scott Pham, CBS News: Scott Pham is an investigative reporter and a managing editor of the CBS News data team.,   - Gerald Rich, Big Local News,   - Eric Sagara, Big Local News,   - Irene Casado Sanchez, Big Local News,   - Serdar Tumgoren, Big Local News ------ Quantifying history Time: Saturday, March 8, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Michael Corey, Mapping Prejudice, University of Minnesota Libraries: Michael Corey is the geospatial, technical and data lead, and associate director, for Mapping Prejudice. Before transitioning to public history, Michael spent 20 years as a data journalist at the Star Tribune, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Des Moines Register. His previous work has spanned zoning and segregation, mortgage disparities, the U.S.-Mexico border fence system, human-induced earthquakes and sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mikejcorey.bsky.social,   - Alexia Fernandez Campbell, Bloomberg Industry Group ,   - Jennifer LaFleur, UC Berkeley,   - Emmanuel Martinez, The Washington Post,   - Pratheek Rebala, ProPublica,   - Andrew Ba Tran, Washington Post ------ Airtable: Building better and easier-to-use databases Time: Saturday, March 8, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Airtable is a spreadsheet and database software with useful features to view, sort, group, and link records between tables. You'll see a few examples of how Airtable has been useful for the instructor's reporting (and why she almost never use Excel anymore!) and walk through a hands-on example. This session is good for: Anyone who has been frustrated at making multiple versions of the same spreadsheet, creating extra columns (or filters) and then repeatedly hiding and unhiding them, or jumping between multiple spreadsheets to bring together different information about the same record. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Amy Fan, Independent journalist: Amy Fan is an investigative data reporter and lapsed quantitative social scientist. Most recently, she worked at Scripps News, where she was the lead data reporter on "Poisoned Water," a series on the aftermath of the Flint water crisis that won a 2024 National Emmy. She holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Duke University and previously worked in the finance department at MIT Sloan. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/amyafan | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-f/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/amyafan.bsky.social ------ Behind the story: 2024 Philip Meyer winners Time: Saturday, March 8, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker information coming soon. ------ Climate change has changed natural disasters; we must change how we prepare Time: Saturday, March 8, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Wildfires and hurricanes. Excessive heat and bitter cold. Extreme weather events have become stronger, more prevalent, and more unpredictable thanks to human-caused climate change. While these events provide an opportunity to capture an audience's attention and explain the connection between extreme weather and climate change it isn’t always apparent how we can — whether we should — do that. This moderated panel will combine firsthand insights from those covering extreme weather events with breaking news threat modeling to develop a framework for the age of human-caused climate change that emphasizes the "So What" and "Here's Why This Matters" of the unfolding story. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Adiel Kaplan, NBC News: Adiel Kaplan is an investigative reporter and editor at NBC News, where she works on investigative projects with a data focus. Her work primarily appears in print on NBCNews.com, with cross-platform stories airing on Nightly News and NBC News NOW. She has covered topics from climate change to criminal justice, healthcare and labor, and teaches investigative reporting for the Stabile Center for Investigative Reporting and the Data Program at Columbia Journalism School. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adiel-kaplan/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/adielkaplan.bsky.social,   - Chris Keller, The Associated Press: Christopher L. Keller joined The Associated Press in 2023 as a member of its award-winning data journalism team. His particular focus is building datasets that can help provide big-picture context in breaking news situations. Christopher has worked in a variety of roles in various newsrooms since 2002. He grew up in Wisconsin, attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and currently studies interpersonal communication at the University of New Mexico. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-keller-48471a1a5/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/christopherlkeller.bsky.social,   - Teghan Simonton, Tampa Bay Times: Teghan Simonton is a data reporter for the business and health teams at the Tampa Bay Times, where she's written about housing, cost of living and public health. She joined the newsroom in 2023 after working as a research assistant for Investigative Reporters & Editors. When not writing words or code, she likes to bake, train for marathons (three, so far) and get lost in bookstores. Connect: X: https://twitter.com/teghan_simonton | GitHub: https://github.com/teghan-simonton | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teghan-simonton/,   - M.K. Wildeman, The Associated Press ------ Customizing ggplot for yourself or your organization Time: Saturday, March 8, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) Imagine a version of ggplot customized to your organization’s style guidelines, in which you no longer have to write the same theme styling or geom_text layers every time you make a new chart. We’ve done that at Pew Research Center by writing our own graphics package made up of functions that modify, combine and extend existing ggplot functions (wrappers), and we want to share what we learned! We’ll demonstrate how to write these types of functions and give examples of the situations in which they’re particularly useful. At a minimum, attendees would leave the session knowing how to get much closer to publication-ready graphics without leaving R in far fewer lines of code. For those who may want to go beyond streamlining their personal ggplot use, we’ll also go over why (or why not) a custom R graphics package could be the right solution for their organizations — and how to start building one if it is. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructors:   - Athena Chapekis, Pew Research,   - Kaitlyn Radde, Pew Research Center: Kaitlyn Radde is an associate information graphics designer at Pew Research Center, where she designs data visualizations, interactives and social media products. She previously interned with the graphics teams at NPR and Chalkbeat. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlyn-radde | Website: https://kaitlynradde.github.io/ ------ Everything you need to know about political dark money Time: Saturday, March 8, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Dark money played a major role in the 2024 elections, and in the months ahead, it will continue to shape the legislative landscape in Washington and all across the country. This panel will provide an overview of what you need to know to uncover dark money activity and try to find out who is behind it. Learn how to follow the money trails with tools and techniques to track secretive groups, piece together opaque spending networks, and uncover donors through political ad records, corporate records, and campaign finance data as well as filings with the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor, Congress, and more. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Michael Beckel, Issue One: Michael Beckel is the research director at Issue One, a D.C.-based bipartisan political reform advocacy group. He is a nationally recognized expert on dark money, campaign finance and election administration issues. He previously worked as a reporter for more than a decade, including at OpenSecrets, the Center for Public Integrity and Mother Jones. Born and raised in Minnesota, he is happy to give recommendations to those visiting his home state. Connect: X: https://x.com/mjbeckel | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mjbeckel.bsky.social,   - Soorin Kim, ABC News,   - Robert Maguire, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington,   - Shanna Ports, Campaign Legal Center,   - Albert Serna, bglavin@opensecrets.org ------ Upping your Excel game *pre-registered attendees only Time: Saturday, March 8, 10:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (2h 15m) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) If you've found yourself struggling in a spreadsheet, thinking that whatever you were trying to achieve seemed harder than it should've been, then this is the class for you. We’ll learn about various tools and functions in Excel that come in handy when you need to re-structure or otherwise get your data ready for analysis. We'll cover string functions, logical functions, date functions, reshaping data, merging data using lookup functions and perhaps a few other nifty tricks if time allows. We’ll do some “drills” introducing you to these concepts, then put your new skills to work in a sort of “scrimmage,” fixing up some real-life data. You’ll also walk out with practice data and a 30-page tipsheet that covers, in detail, everything from the class, plus more that we won’t have time for. Preregistration is required and seating is limited. Laptops will be provided for the training. Workshop prerequisites: You should have prior experience using Excel or Google Sheets, and be comfortable with introductory-level spreadsheet skills, such as sorting, filtering, SUM and AVERAGE functions, calculations such as percentage change or percent of total, and how to use pivot tables. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate,   - This session requires pre-registration and an additional fee of $25 to participate: https://www.ire.org/product/nicar25-upping-your-excel-game/ Instructor:   - MaryJo Webster, Minnesota Star Tribune: MaryJo Webster is the data editor at the Minnesota Star Tribune. Previously she worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, USA Today, Center for Public Integrity, Investigative Reporters & Editors and small newspapers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/maryjowebster.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryjo-webster-2733706/ ------ Visualizing data with large language models Time: Saturday, March 8, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - AI track,   - Skill level: Advanced Instructor information coming soon. ------ Workshop your public records request Time: Saturday, March 8, 10:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (2h 15m) Location: Minnesota, sixth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Commons,   - Public records track Speakers:   - Dillon Bergin, Muckrock,   - Kelly Kauffman, MuckRock,   - Kate Martin, APM Reports: Kate Martin is a data correspondent at APM Reports. Over two decades, her investigative reporting has driven policy reforms, forced resignations, led to criminal indictments and spurred changes to at least five state laws or legal precedents. Most recently, she uncovered widespread violations of Illinois laws by hospitals failing to follow laws meant to protect sexual assault survivors. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/katereports.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katemartin | X: https://x.com/KateReports,   - Matt Topic, Loevy & Loevy ------ 50 free government data sets in 50 minutes Time: Saturday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Why take time to argue with government records custodians when you can grab story-ripe data online for free? This session will run through 50 free datasets in 50 minutes – a twist on the 50 FOIA requests in 50 minutes. The classics, like dams, train wrecks, and bridge inspections, but also new ideas that the savvy data journalist may have missed. It will show where the datasets are located, what stories can be generated, and any caveats, with a handout providing all the relevant links to the data and IRE Resource Center tip sheets. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Public records track Speakers:   - David Cuillier, Brechner FOI Project: Dr. David Cuillier is director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. He has taught data journalism and access to information for more than 20 years, and before that was a newspaper reporter and editor in the Pacific Northwest. He is a member of the FOIA Advisory Committee and is co-author of “The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records." Connect: X: https://twitter.com/BrechnerFOI | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/brechnerfoi.bsky.social | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brechnercenter/,   - Sydney Sims, Brechner FOI Project: Sydney Sims is the outreach coordinator for the Joseph L. Brechner FOI Project at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. She promotes the right to know through training and communications. Previously, Sims worked as a journalist at Capital B News, WABE 90.1 FM and the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. An Auburn University journalism graduate, she is an award-winning journalist and Atlanta native, now residing in Gainesville, Florida. Connect: X: https://x.com/bySydneySims | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydney-sims-51700b152/ ------ Beginner track: Writing with numbers Time: Saturday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Beginner track Speaker:   - Jennifer LaFleur, UC Berkeley ------ Cutting-edge web scraping techniques Time: Saturday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Advanced Instructor:   - Simon Willison, Datasette ------ Finding the story: Labor data Time: Saturday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on Instructor information coming soon. ------ From code to Charts: Create DataWrapper graphics straight from R Time: Saturday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) Supercharge your visualization workflow by using the DataWrapper API to create powerful graphics directly from R. Clean, analyze and visualize data without exporting or switching between applications. Build charts and maps, create templates, automate production tasks and produce dozens (or hundreds) of charts with just a few lines of code. This session is good for journalists with some knowledge of DataWrapper and R. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Adam Marton, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland: Adam Marton is a data journalist specializing in visual storytelling, code and design. He is on the faculty at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at The University of Maryland, where he oversees the data and graphics bureau of Capital News Service and teaches data journalism and visual design courses. He previously worked at The Baltimore Sun, where he led the data and graphics desk in the newsroom. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/amarton/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/adammm.bsky.social ------ Google Sheets 1: Getting started with spreadsheets (repeat) Time: Saturday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ Lessons learned from inclusive collaborations to inform Global Majority-led cross-border investigations Time: Saturday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Many cross-border investigations are led by a Global Minority media partner who are incentivized to prioritize Global Minority editorial objectives and audiences. How could we apply DEI practices that have been pioneered in collaborative community reporting projects to design more equitable international collaborations? Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Eva Constantaras, Lighthouse Reports,   - William Lager, The Marshall Project ------ Spatial analysis using geographical Census data Time: Saturday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) How to find more about your community with spatial analysis: This session will touch on how reporters can aggregate Census data using spatial analysis. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Census track,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructors:   - Michael Corey, Mapping Prejudice, University of Minnesota Libraries: Michael Corey is the geospatial, technical and data lead, and associate director, for Mapping Prejudice. Before transitioning to public history, Michael spent 20 years as a data journalist at the Star Tribune, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Des Moines Register. His previous work has spanned zoning and segregation, mortgage disparities, the U.S.-Mexico border fence system, human-induced earthquakes and sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mikejcorey.bsky.social,   - Sandhya Kambhampati, Los Angeles Times: Sandhya Kambhampati is a data reporter on the Los Angeles Times data desk, where she specializes in demographic and statistical analyses. She previously worked at the Chronicle of Higher Education, Correctiv and ProPublica Illinois. She is an adjunct at the Annenberg School at University of Southern California. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sandhyak.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandhyakambhampati/ ------ Yes, you still need to calculate an accuracy rate for your AI workflow Time: Saturday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude really can be helpful. I swear. They have helped us by reading large quantities of documents and classifying them, or by extracting a snippet, to answer questions like: Do these Truth Social posts contain an insult? Who is the guest in described in this podcast episode description? Is "Bethel Christian School" a religious or secular school? But they don't always help on the first try -- and you can't evaluate AI with just vibes. I mean, you can. But you'll end up being wrong. Come learn best practice methodologies for how to use these sorts of AI classification and extraction methodologies from Washington Post journalists who have done about a dozen such experiments in the past year. We'll cover how to generate gold data, pick the right accuracy stat, calculate that accuracy stat and how to use those stats to improve your prompts. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - AI track Speakers:   - Jeremy Merrill, The Washington Post: Jeremy B. Merrill is a data reporter at The Washington Post. He likes natural language processing and bad jokes. He lives in Atlanta.,   - Ence Morse, The Washington Post ------ AI tools for your newsroom Time: Saturday, March 8, 2:15 – 4:30 p.m. (2h 15m) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) We'll cover new AI tools and technology for reporters and editors, with a focus on investigative work. Mike Reilley, founder of JournalistsToolbox.org and co-author of "Data + Journalism" will guide you through the latest and greatest data and digital tools (most of them free!) that you can incorporate into your workflow right now! Come armed with a laptop and smartphone. Participants get a handout with links to tools, examples, tips, tricks and more. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - AI track,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Mike Reilley, University of Illinois Chicago & Journalist's Toolbox: Mike Reilley is a senior lecturer in data and digital journalism at the University of Illinois Chicago. He owns and operates JournalistsToolbox.ai and is the lead trainer for the RTDNA/GNI fact-checking program and for the ONA/Microsoft AI in Journalism program. He is the author of two books: "The Journalist's Toolbox: A Guide to Digital Reporting and AI" and "Data + Journalism" with Samantha Sunne. Connect: X: https://x.com/itsmikereilley | X (Journalist's Toolbox): https://x.com/journtoolbox | BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/mikereilley.bsky.social ------ Beginner track: Easy visualizations for your first data stories Time: Saturday, March 8, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Beginner track Speaker information coming soon. ------ Beyond the press release: Uncovering corporate behavior Time: Saturday, March 8, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) What companies say and how companies behave is often vastly different. Violation Tracker is a database that tracks the behavior of companies across 450 regulatory agencies - including OSHA, EPA, Department of Labor, and state and local attorneys general offices. In all, it has 655,000 records totaling over $1 trillion in fines, fees and settlements. In this session, participants can learn how to get the most out of the database, including making industry comparisons, connecting parent companies through subsidiaries and other tips for digging into companies. Because many companies also receive significant government assistance via economic development subsidies, we'll also tour Subsidy Tracker, a database which allows users the ability to search which companies have received taxpayer subsidies. We'll also demonstrate our newest database, Violation Tracker Global, which tracks the behavior of the biggest companies across 45 countries. Plus, learn about SEC filings, corporate structures, and the key relationships that keep a company going. Cover how companies actually behave - not how they say they do. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructors:   - Arlene Martinez, Good Jobs First: Arlene Martínez is with Good Jobs First, which promotes corporate and government accountability in economic development, especially around taxpayer incentives. Her work focuses on who benefits from tax and economic policies and regulatory changes. Before joining the nonprofit GJF, (which maintains the Subsidy, Violation, and Tax Break Tracker databases), she was a reporter with the USA TODAY Network, The Morning Call, the LA Times and Hispanic Link News Service. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodjobsfirst.org | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-jobs-first/ | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodJobsFirst | X: https://x.com/GoodJobsFirst,   - Siobhan Standaert, Good Jobs First: Siobhan joined Good Jobs First in January 2023 with experience in corporate research and organized labor, and works to maintain the Violation Tracker database. She has a Masters in International Studies from the University of Denver, where she focused on global labor exploitation and corporate accountability. ------ Covering agriculture & our food supply with data Time: Saturday, March 8, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth During this session, panelists will share their experiences and tips for reporting on agricultural issues and data-driven food supply chains. Attendees will learn about relevant agricultural and environmental databases that will allow them to explore the intersections between food production, climate change, and economic factors. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest,   - Leah Douglas, Reuters,   - Gavin Off, Charlotte Observer ------ First LLM Classifier: Practical AI in the newsroom *pre-registered attendees only Time: Saturday, March 8, 2:15 – 5:45 p.m. (3h 30m) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) Learn how journalists use large-language models to organize and analyze massive datasets. Take this three-hour class to get hands-on experience creating a machine-learning model that can classify the text recorded in campaign contributions, crime reports, legislative bills, consumer complaints and other newsworthy data. You will learn how to: * Replace a complex machine-learning system with a simple LLM system * Write a prompt that classifies text into predefined categories * Evaluate your results using a rigorous, scientific approach * Improve your prompt by training it with rules and examples By the end, you will understand how the new class of LLM classifiers can outperform traditional machine-learning methods with significantly less code, and you will be ready to write one yourself. Anyone who has dabbled with code and AI is qualified for this class. A curious mind and good attitude are all that’s required. Preregistration is required and seating is limited. Laptops will be provided. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - AI track,   - Skill level: Advanced,   - This session requires pre-registration and an additional fee of $40 to participate: https://www.ire.org/product/nicar25-first-large-language-model-classifier/ Instructors:   - Ben Welsh, Reuters,   - Derek Willis, University of Maryland: Derek Willis teaches and does data journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. He's been coming to NICAR since the late 1990s. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dwillis.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/dwillis ------ Google Sheets 2: Formulas & sorting (repeat) Time: Saturday, March 8, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ Introduction to R *pre-registered attendees only Time: Saturday, March 8, 2:15 – 5:45 p.m. (3h 30m) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) We'll introduce you to R, a free, powerful open-source programming language that will take your data reporting to the next level. By the end of this three-hour session, you will be able to read data from common file types into R, clean and explore it, create visualizations, and make your entire data workflow reproducible. We'll also talk about how to find help when you're stuck. Workshop prerequisites: This session will be most helpful if you’re comfortable working with data and you’re ready to take your skills to the next level. Preregistration is required and seating is limited. Laptops will be provided for the training. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate,   - This session requires pre-registration and an additional fee of $40 to participate: https://www.ire.org/product/nicar25-introduction-to-r/ Instructor:   - Liz Lucas, University of Missouri School of Journalism: Liz Lucas is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Missouri, where she teaches classes in problem-solving with data and AI. Previously she was the senior training director at IRE. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/eklucas ------ Managing investigators: Leading those born to challenge authority Time: Saturday, March 8, 2:15 – 4:30 p.m. (2h 15m) Location: Minnesota, sixth Being a news manager is already tough, but what if you supervise investigative journalists? They come with an extra layer of challenges because their very job (and likely their personality) makes them hyper-alert to authority figures. This course is designed to give you some tools and tactics to lead individuals and entire teams of investigators more effectively. Learn from three investigative managers from different media at different stages of their leadership careers. How did they launch into their roles, and what experience have they gained along the way? This course is for current investigative managers and anyone aspiring to step into such a position in the future. NEW AT NICAR25: We’ll tailor portions of this course for people who lead data journalists. We’re also squeezing it into two hours of learning, then an hour-long management networking/meetup event. Oh… and it’s free to attend (typically, an additional fee is required)! Topics will include: managing compassionately, hiring challenges, transitioning to management, forging partnerships, building relationships, handling resource cuts, organization/structure, tough decisions/conversations, in-house training/growth, delivering feedback, creating inclusive opportunities, and juggling responsibilities/projects/work. Notes:   - Session type: Commons Speakers:   - Emma Carew Grovum, The Marshall Project; Kimbap Media: Emma Carew Grovum is the director of careers and culture at The Marshall Project and also the founder of Kimbap Media, a consultancy solving problems at the intersection of technology and audience. Emma coaches journalists on leadership, product thinking and digital transformation. She is a co-founder and regular contributor to the News Product Alliance, runs a leadership accelerator for journalists of color called Upward and co-hosts Sincerely, Leaders of Color. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacarewgrovum/ | BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/ecg.bsky.social,   - Jamie Grey, InvestigateTV : Jamie Grey is managing editor of InvestigateTV, Gray Television’s national investigative team. The team’s stories air on the company’s stations in 113 markets across the country. Prior to joining InvestigateTV, Jamie was managing editor/chief investigator at the NBC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri, where she was also an assistant professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. She has past investigative reporting experience in Iowa and Idaho. Connect: X: https://x.com/tvnewsjamie?s | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-grey-a1a89950/ | BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/ecg.bsky.social,   - Josh Hinkle, KXAN: Josh Hinkle is KXAN’s director of investigations and innovation, leading the station’s duPont and IRE Award-winning investigative team on multiple platforms. He also leads KXAN’s political coverage as executive producer and host of “State of Texas,” a weekly statewide program focused on the Texas Legislature and elections. In 2021, he was elected to the IRE Board of Directors and currently serves as its vice president. Connect: X: https://x.com/hinklej | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hinklej/ | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hinklej002/ | BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hinklej.bsky.social ------ Policing the police with data Time: Saturday, March 8, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel Speakers:   - Lakeidra Chavis, The Marshall Project,   - Jeff Hargarten, Star Tribune: Jeff is a Minneapolis-based journalist at the intersection of data analysis, reporting, coding and design. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffhargarten.bsky.social ------ Tips for successful public records requests Time: Saturday, March 8, 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Public records track Speaker:   - Matt Topic, Loevy & Loevy ------ Auditing AI algorithms for bias Time: Saturday, March 8, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - AI track Speaker:   - Hilke Schellmann, New York University ------ Finding the story: Immigration data Time: Saturday, March 8, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on Instructor information coming soon. ------ Google Sheets: Using string functions to manipulate data (repeat) Time: Saturday, March 8, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Crystal Lake, fourth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ Navigating federal campaign finance data Time: Saturday, March 8, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) This class will focus on using the FEC’s web tools to access data. It will feature a hands-on demonstration of accessing reports as soon as they are filed. Participants will learn what is included in the reports, how to interpret entries, and potential pitfalls. The presenter will share a user-friendly spreadsheet template for viewing downloaded report data and walk participants through a simple recipe for creating compelling stories using campaign finance data. This session is good for everyone. Attendees will need to bring their own laptops (no tablets) for the training. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Elections track,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Brendan Glavin, OpenSecrets ------ No comment? What to do when government agencies won't answer your questions about their data Time: Saturday, March 8, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Public records track Speakers:   - Hannah Fresques, ProPublica,   - Ryan Little, Baltimore Banner,   - Greg Morton, The Baltimore Banner: Greg Morton is a data reporter at the Baltimore Banner, where he works on data-driven accountability stories about Maryland and its institutions. At the Banner he co-authored an investigation into the arduous commutes that are a feature of Baltimore's popular school choice system. His work has appeared in ProPublica, The Washington Post and The Texas Tribune. Connect: X: https://x.com/invisibae | GitHub: https://github.com/invisibae/ | LInkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmorton301/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/invisibae.bsky.social ------ Surveys 101: A journalist’s guide to writing with polling data Time: Saturday, March 8, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth A well-designed survey can lend important insight into the public’s views and experiences. For journalists, working with high-quality survey data can inspire story ideas and add deeper context to reporting, while mistakenly using a shoddy poll can distort the facts and create confusion. We’ll give attendees the tools to tell the difference. This session is good for anyone who is fairly new to working with public opinion polls and would like to level up their understanding. It will cover what polls can tell us – and what they can't; and how to assess survey quality using metrics like questionnaire design, sample weighting and survey mode. We’ll also give tips on how to write about survey results in a fair and balanced way and pitfalls to avoid. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Chris Baronavski, Pew Research Center: Christopher Baronavski is lead engineer for editorial content at Pew Research Center. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baroncs | GitHub: https://github.com/chrisentery,   - Katherine Schaeffer, Pew Research Center: Katherine Schaeffer is a writer and researcher on Pew Research Center's data journalism team. She is a former newspaper reporter. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherineschaeffer/ ------ Tidyquant in R, and a few other business and economics tools Time: Saturday, March 8, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) Tidyquant is a one-stop shop R package specifically for retrieving and analyzing financial data, with simple functions to pull data from sources like Yahoo Finance and FRED, conduct financial and performance analytics, and create beautiful charts. We’ll also go over a few other useful R packages for doing financial and economic analysis as time permits. This session is best for people who are already comfortable with the basics in R. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Sarah Ryley, Columbia University: Sarah Ryley is an investigative and data journalist currently at Columbia University as a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economics and Business Journalism. Previously, she was an an investigative reporter at The Boston Globe and The Trace, and she was the data projects editor at the New York Daily News. Her work has triggered numerous reforms and has been recognized with dozens of awards and honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2017. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sryley/ ------ Tools, tips and tough lessons for teaching data journalism Time: Saturday, March 8, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth This panel is all about the latest in teaching data journalism to college students. Many NICAR participants have been teaching for a long time, or make side money teaching a class as an adjunct. The panelists will discuss strategies and techniques that help make data journalism accessible to students. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Rahul Bhargava, Northeastern University: Rahul Bhargava is an educator, designer and artist working on creative data storytelling and computational journalism in support of social justice and community empowerment. He creates data murals and theatre, award-winning museum exhibits, AI-powered civic technologies with CSOs, and he has delivered keynote talks across the globe. Rahul’s first book, “Community Data: Creative Approaches to Empowering People with Information," is now available from Oxford University Press. Connect: BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/rahulbot.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/rahulbot | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulbot/ | Mastodon: https://vis.social/@rahulbot,   - Maggie Mulvihill, Boston University: Maggie Mulvihill is a veteran reporter, data journalism trainer, news entrepreneur, First Amendment advocate and attorney. Mulvihill is an associate professor of the practice in computational journalism at Boston University and a member of IRE’s Academic Task Force. Connect: X: https://x.com/@maggiemulvihill,   - Aarushi Sahejpal, American University,   - Matt Waite, University of Nebraska ------ Google Sheets 3: Filtering & pivot tables (repeat) Time: Saturday, March 8, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Pine Lake/Cedar Lake, fourth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ How to turn your investigation or data findings into narrative audio Time: Saturday, March 8, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Curtis Gilbert, APM Reports,   - Kate Howard, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting ------ Manager meetup: Networking for investigative leaders Time: Saturday, March 8, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Minnesota, sixth Leading investigative journalists can be extra challenging, so let us help! Socialize, forge partnerships or find a support group at this NICAR25 meetup! Swap best practices, laugh at lessons learned along your journey and find out more about IRE’s upcoming management training initiatives! This networking event takes place directly after the always-popular, slightly shorter, FREE “Managing Investigators” master class. You don’t have to attend the master class in order to stop by the meetup, though we welcome you to check it out! This networking session is for anyone managing (or aspiring to manage) investigators. Notes:   - Session type: Networking,   - Networking track Speakers:   - Emma Carew Grovum, The Marshall Project; Kimbap Media: Emma Carew Grovum is the director of careers and culture at The Marshall Project and also the founder of Kimbap Media, a consultancy solving problems at the intersection of technology and audience. Emma coaches journalists on leadership, product thinking and digital transformation. She is a co-founder and regular contributor to the News Product Alliance, runs a leadership accelerator for journalists of color called Upward and co-hosts Sincerely, Leaders of Color. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacarewgrovum/ | BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/ecg.bsky.social,   - Jamie Grey, InvestigateTV : Jamie Grey is managing editor of InvestigateTV, Gray Television’s national investigative team. The team’s stories air on the company’s stations in 113 markets across the country. Prior to joining InvestigateTV, Jamie was managing editor/chief investigator at the NBC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri, where she was also an assistant professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. She has past investigative reporting experience in Iowa and Idaho. Connect: X: https://x.com/tvnewsjamie?s | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-grey-a1a89950/ | BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/ecg.bsky.social,   - Josh Hinkle, KXAN: Josh Hinkle is KXAN’s director of investigations and innovation, leading the station’s duPont and IRE Award-winning investigative team on multiple platforms. He also leads KXAN’s political coverage as executive producer and host of “State of Texas,” a weekly statewide program focused on the Texas Legislature and elections. In 2021, he was elected to the IRE Board of Directors and currently serves as its vice president. Connect: X: https://x.com/hinklej | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hinklej/ | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hinklej002/ | BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hinklej.bsky.social ------ Practical, ethical use of AI in the newsroom: Research, reporting and fact-checking Time: Saturday, March 8, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 4, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Demo,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - AI track Speakers:   - Katlyn Alo, The Washington Post: Katlyn builds tools to help reporters take on ambitious stories.,   - Dylan Freedman, The New York Times: Dylan Freedman is a machine-learning engineer and journalist on the A.I. Initiatives team at The New York Times. He started his career on a machine-learning team at Google before pivoting to study journalism at Stanford. He served as lead developer at journalism nonprofit DocumentCloud and most recently worked on elections at The Washington Post. He is passionate about building open-source tools to empower investigative reporting and analyze documents, media and data. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dylanfreedman.nytimes.com | GitHub: https://github.com/freedmand | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanfreedman/ | X: https://x.com/dylfreed,   - Ryan Sabalow, CalMatters ------ Scraping without programming (repeat) Time: Saturday, March 8, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Scraping is a catch-all word for grabbing information off a web page and into your spreadsheet - whether the website wants you to or not. This session will introduce easy, hands-on methods for scraping data from a live webpage without having to learn any code. We will use the ImportHTML and ImportXML formulas in Google Sheets. Scraping beginners welcome! Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Samantha Sunne, Independent journalist: Samantha Sunne is a freelance journalist based in New Orleans. She is the recipient of several national grants and awards for investigative reporting, most recently the ProPublica Local Reporting Network fellowship. Her first book, coauthored with trainer Mike Reilley, “Data + Journalism: A Story-Driven Approach to Learning Data Reporting,” was an Amazon bestseller in 2023. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/samanthasunne.bsky.social ------ Swapping LexisNexis for free tools Time: Saturday, March 8, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Demo,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Dillon Bergin, Muckrock ------ Teaching lessons from the JedR Academy Time: Saturday, March 8, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Deer Lake, fourth (PC) While there is a myriad of platforms and methods to teach people R, this hands-on session will showcase the benefits and challenges of interactive lessons using Quarto Live and the posit.cloud platform, which we've used to develop JedR Academy, a fun way to learn and practice data journalism in R with a Star Wars theme. Learn to build interactive lessons that run in a browser without a Shiny server. This session is good for: Those who teach R or are interested in developing interactive tutorials with Quarto Live and posit.cloud. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Advanced Instructor:   - Christian McDonald, University of Texas at Austin: Christian McDonald is an associate professor of practice and the innovation director in the school of journalism and media at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches classes about data, coding and news products. His last newsroom position was as data and online projects editor at the Austin American-Statesman. In his 28 years in journalism, he also worked at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, East Valley (Arizona) Tribune and the Longview (Texas) News-Journal. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/crit.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/critmcdonald | GitHub (org): https://github.com/utdata | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/critmcdonald | Mastodon: https://newsie.social/@crit ------ Using data to report on the housing crisis in your community Time: Saturday, March 8, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 3, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Camila Vallejo , Eviction Lab : Camila is a communications specialist for the Eviction Lab at Princeton University. She’s interested in the impacts of substandard housing, who gets harmed by evictions and tenant organizing. Before joining the lab, Camila was the housing reporter for Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR) through Report for America. She covered housing policy with a social justice lens. Her work has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, PRX’s The World, NPR’s Here and Now and more. Connect: X: https://x.com/m_camilavallejo | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camilavallejo/ ------ Using open-source tools to investigate public transit Time: Saturday, March 8, 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. (1h) Location: St. Croix I, sixth (Mac) Session attendees would learn how to collect live vehicle location data to report on transit and accessibility. We'd spend part of the session learning about GTFS and GTFS-realtime data, and the other part learning how to use conveyal's r5r package to model multimodal transit networks with R. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - Greg Morton, The Baltimore Banner: Greg Morton is a data reporter at the Baltimore Banner, where he works on data-driven accountability stories about Maryland and its institutions. At the Banner he co-authored an investigation into the arduous commutes that are a feature of Baltimore's popular school choice system. His work has appeared in ProPublica, The Washington Post and The Texas Tribune. Connect: X: https://x.com/invisibae | GitHub: https://github.com/invisibae/ | LInkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmorton301/ | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/invisibae.bsky.social   *** SUNDAY, MARCH 9 *** ------ Beginner track: Taking it all home Time: Sunday, March 9, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth You've picked up some new skills, filled your brain with inspiration and your notebook with ideas, but now what? We'll give you some tips on how to take advantage of what you've learned, avoid letting your skills get rusty and even continue learning when you get back to your job. Bring your questions, too! We'll have lots of time for that. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Beginner track Speakers:   - Greta Kaul, Minnesota Star Tribune: Greta Kaul covers the built environment, including development and livability issues, at the Star Tribune. Prior to joining the Star Tribune, she was the data reporter at the Star Tribune.,   - John Kelly, CBS News and Stations,   - Liz Lucas, University of Missouri School of Journalism: Liz Lucas is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Missouri, where she teaches classes in problem-solving with data and AI. Previously she was the senior training director at IRE. Connect: GitHub: https://github.com/eklucas ------ Coaching ChatGPT to help with coding and data tasks (repeat) Time: Sunday, March 9, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - AI track,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor information coming soon. ------ Election data to use after the election Time: Sunday, March 9, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker:   - Derek Willis, University of Maryland: Derek Willis teaches and does data journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. He's been coming to NICAR since the late 1990s. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dwillis.bsky.social | GitHub: https://github.com/dwillis ------ First visual story: Launch a data-driven website *pre-registered attendees only Time: Sunday, March 9, 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (3h 30m) Location: Excelsior Bay, eighth (Mac) Learn how America’s top news organizations escape rigid content-management systems to publish custom graphics on deadline. Take this class to get hands-on experience in every stage of the development process, writing JavaScript, HTML and CSS within a Node.js framework. You’ll start with data from a real-life Los Angeles Times analysis. You won’t stop until you’ve crafted a custom presentation and deployed a working application on the World Wide Web. Workshop prerequisites: If you have a good attitude and know how to take a few code crashes in stride, you are qualified for this class. If you’re a little scared, that’s a good thing. You’re ready for this. Notes:   - Session type: Pre-registration - Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate,   - This session requires pre-registration and an additional fee of $40 to participate: https://www.ire.org/product/nicar25-first-visual-story/ Instructors:   - James Thomas, The New York Times: James is a software engineer in the interactive news department of The New York Times, a team of technologists that creates tools used by reporters and editors to exceed the capabilities of the content management system.,   - Ben Welsh, Reuters,   - Aida Ylanan, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ------ Introduction to the command line (Macs) (repeat) Time: Sunday, March 9, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: St. Croix I, sixth (Mac) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on Instructor information coming soon. ------ R 1: Intro to R and RStudio (repeat) Time: Sunday, March 9, 9 – 10 a.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor:   - Destiny Herbers, Flatwater Free Press: Destiny is an investigative journalist at the Flatwater Free Press, where she uses data to tell stories that matter to Nebraskans, often focusing on Indigenous affairs and environmental issues. She was previously a Roy W. Howard fellow at FFP, and got her master’s degree in journalism at the University of Maryland as a fellow of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/@destinyherbers.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/destinyherbers/ ------ Covering transportation with data and docs Time: Sunday, March 9, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded,   - Skill level: Beginner Speaker:   - Paul Overberg, The Wall Street Journal ------ R 2: Data analysis and plotting (repeat) Time: Sunday, March 9, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor information coming soon. ------ Using IF statements and VLOOKUP in Sheets Time: Sunday, March 9, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) In this session, we'll help you take Google Sheets to another level, giving you some tools that are extremely helpful for data cleanup, restructuring and joining columns from another sheet. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - MaryJo Webster, Minnesota Star Tribune: MaryJo Webster is the data editor at the Minnesota Star Tribune. Previously she worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, USA Today, Center for Public Integrity, Investigative Reporters & Editors and small newspapers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Connect: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/maryjowebster.bsky.social | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryjo-webster-2733706/ ------ Yes, you really CAN get high-res satellite images for free Time: Sunday, March 9, 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth This panel will show newcomers to this compelling form of evidence that medium res images are now free and easy to use via open source portals (you can just tap a slider on EO Browser app to eliminate pictures with clouds), and also how to Make and Frame your email request to marketing people at private companies for high res images. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speakers:   - Carl Churchill, Wall Street Journal,   - Laura Kurtzberg, IRE & NICAR: Laura Jael Kurtzberg is a data visualization specialist, cartographer and news applications developer with a particular interest in environmental stories. Laura has worked at the intersection of data journalism and design with organizations like InfoAmazonia, Ambiental Media, WLRN Public Media and Mongabay.,   - Rowan Philp, Global Investigative Journalism Network ------ Early career journalists' roundtable Time: Sunday, March 9, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 1, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Commons,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker information coming soon. ------ Fraud investigations: How to get and use data Time: Sunday, March 9, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Grand Portage Ballroom 2, fourth Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Panel,   - Session audio will be recorded Speaker information coming soon. ------ Google Sheets: Advanced pivot tables (repeat) Time: Sunday, March 9, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Wayzata Bay, eighth (BYO) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Beginner Instructor:   - George LeVines, The Trace: George LeVines is the editor of the Gun Violence Data Hub at The Trace. He previously worked at the Los Angeles Times, NPR and CQ Roll Call. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgelevines/ ------ R 3: Gathering and cleaning data (repeat) Time: Sunday, March 9, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (1h) Location: Spring Park Bay, eighth (PC) Description coming soon. Notes:   - Session type: Hands-on,   - Skill level: Intermediate Instructor information coming soon.