Ire Radio Podcast

When a Navy helicopter crashed off the coast of Virginia in January 2014, Jason Paladino lost one of his childhood friends - Petty Officer Third Class Brian Collins. But instead of grieving the loss and moving on, Paladino, a journalism grad student at UC-Berkeley, decided to investigate. Working with The Virginian-Pilot and NBC News he helped expose serious problems with the MH-53E Sea Dragon, the Navy’s oldest and most crash-prone helicopter. On this episode of the podcast we’re going behind the investigation with Paladino, Mike Hixenbaugh of The Virginian-Pilot and Anna Schecter of NBC News.

IRE’s Shawn Shinneman talks with Los Angeles Times reporter Richard Marosi about his 18-month investigation into the working conditions of Mexican agribusinesses supplying produce to major U.S. supermarkets and restaurants. Tune in to hear Marosi discuss the reporting challenges he faced on the ground in Mexico. Also on this episode: A 3-minute guide to mapping by former NICAR database library student Travis Hartman.

How many times a year do police kill people? And what happens to officers after they fire a fatal shot? Those were just some of the questions prompted by the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York. On this episode of the IRE Radio Podcast we’ll be talking to some of the journalists working to answer those questions.

Americans donate about $300 billion a year to charities, with about 30 percent of that taking place in December. But not all charities are good stewards of donated dollars. For our last podcast of 2014 we’re talking about how to investigate nonprofits and charities. Here’s the lineup: - Justin Elliott of ProPublica talks about investigating the American Red Cross’ Superstorm Sandy relief efforts. - Craig Harris of the Arizona Republic explains how he exposed major problems with the nonprofits running the Fiesta Bowl

It’s a special Halloween episode of the IRE Radio Podcast, and this week we’re telling some housing horror stories. Here’s the lineup: - Marisa Kwiatkowski of The Indianapolis Star talks about her story "The exorcisms of Latoya Ammons," which became the most-read story in the Star’s history. - Kate Berry of American Banker explains "zombie foreclosures" and offers tips for reporters looking to track them.

It's not easy prying information out of hospitals and health departments. On our podcast this week we’ll hear from journalists who successfully negotiated for the data or documents they needed to fuel an investigation. Here’s the lineup: - Gary Dotson of the Belleville News-Democrat shares the paper’s 2012 story about the state’s failure to investigate after disabled adults living at home died from abuse or neglect. - Robin Fields of ProPublica explains how she successfully argued for data on dialysis facilities across the country. - Ellen Gabler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel discusses “Deadly Delays,” an instigation that exposed processing delays that put newborn lives at risk.

You don’t have to be a full-time sports reporter to investigate athletes. This week we’re looking at sports investigations on several levels: college, military and professional. Join us for tips on getting around secretive athletics departments and digging deeper when players get in trouble. Here’s the lineup: - Tom Roeder of the Colorado Springs Gazette discusses “Broken Code,” his investigation into the Air Force Academy’s athletics program. - Jill Riepenhoff of the Columbus Dispatch explains how she tracked speeding tickets of Ohio State athletes. - Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today Sports talks about investigating football team doctors.

Think oil and gas stories are just for reporters in a few key states? Think again. There are more than 1.1 million active oil and gas wells in 36 states. On this podcast we’ll explore the dark side of the oil and gas boom with journalists who have investigated elements of the industry. Here’s the lineup: - Bob Marshall of The Lens discusses his reporting on "Losing Ground," a multimedia project that visualizes and explains the deterioration of the Louisiana coastline. - Blake Morrison of Reuters talks about an investigation into Chesapeake Energy Corporation. - Ed Williams of KDNK, a community radio station in Colorado, explains how he investigated gas spills on private property.

This week we bring you an education-themed podcast in two acts. First we’ll talk about campus coverage, specifically investigations into Title IX and sexual assault. In Act II we’ll turn to K-12 education with a piece on school segregation. Here’s the lineup: - Paula Lavigne and Nicole Noren of ESPN talk about their investigation into Title IX complaints on college campuses. - Nikole Hannah-Jones of ProPublica discusses the state of school segregation 60 years after the Brown v. Board decision.

When a story breaks, speed is key. But so are depth, context and accuracy. So how do you cover the news while simultaneously digging deeper? This week we’re talking about investigating breaking news. Our speakers will cover everything from identifying sources on the scene to developing a plan for watchdog coverage. Here’s the lineup: - Scott Friedman from KXAS-TV in Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas explains the station’s three-step process for turning breaking news coverage into an ongoing and in-depth investigation. - Leonard Downie Jr., former executive editor of the Washington Post, talks about how the paper got creative to find sources immediately following the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007. - Jennifer Peck of Banjo discusses the free social media app and explains how journalists have used it to cover breaking news. - Blair Hickman, previously of ProPublica, discusses how the non-profit newsroom used its audience to mine documents on spending during the 2012 presidential election. - Brandon Quester of the

A good reporter-editor relationship can make or break your investigative project. This week's episode is all about building chemistry in your newsroom. Here’s the lineup: - Alexandra Zayas and Chris Davis of the Tampa Bay Times talk about working together on the 2012 series “In God’s Name.” - Alison Young and John Hillkirk of USA TODAY walk through some of the key moments in their work on “Supplemental Shell Game,” a multi-platform project on dietary supplement firms run by people with criminal backgrounds. - Kate Martin, Nanci Wilson and Matthew Doig share tips for pitching investigative stories and managing project time.

This week we’re talking about investigating veterans issues, past and present. Here’s the lineup: - Dennis Wagner of the Arizona Republic discusses how he helped break open the most recent scandal involving falsified wait-time data at the Phoenix VA hospital. - Aaron Glantz of the Center for Investigative Reporting talks about benefit backlogs at the Veterans Benefits Administration. - Michael Phillips of the Wall Street Journal walks through his 2013 series “The Lobotomy Files.” Using documents from the National Archive, Phillips was able to document how the U.S. lobotomized approximately 2,000 World War II veterans.

Welcome to another episode of the IRE Radio Podcast. On this week’s episode we’re talking about crime – everything from fact-checking police stats to building databases to track gun violence. Here’s the lineup: - Michael Berens of The Seattle Times gets things started with a story about an odd beam of light, some dead rabbits and a police chopper. - Debra Juarez, news director at NBC 5 Chicago, talks about the ethics of naming suspects involved in a prostitution sting. - Steve Thompson of the Dallas Morning News and Ben Poston of the Los Angeles Times explain how to spot red flags in crime stat data. - David Fallis of the Washington Post walks through how he combined two data sets to track down the sources of guns used in crimes.

Welcome to the third episode of the IRE Radio Podcast. We’re taking a cue from reporter Corey Johnson and calling this episode “True Believers.” This week we’ll be talking about how to find crucial sources and, more importantly, how to get them to talk. Here’s the lineup: - Corey Johnson of the Center for Investigative Reporting talks about how he found "true believers" as he reported on unsafe schools for California Watch. - Michael Isikoff explains how he got Department of Justice whistleblower Thomas Tamm to talk for his 2008 Newsweek story. - Shawn Boburg of The Record in northern New Jersey discusses how he sourced his award-winning coverage of the George Washington Bridge scandal.

We're back with another episode of the IRE Radio Podcast. This week we're focusing on FOIA. Here's the lineup: - Kirsten B. Mitchell, a former journalist and current facilitator with The Office of Government Information Services, talks about common FOIA problems and how to fix them. - Deb Nelson, Michael Ravnitzky, Charles Ornstein, and Jennifer LaFleur share tips on beating FOIA fees, arguing for data, and more. Looking for links to the stories, resources and events we discussed on this week's podcast? We've collected them for you: http://bit.ly/1oA5s7l

Welcome to the first episode of the IRE Radio Podcast. Here's what's coming up: - Get caught up on IRE news, including information on the upcoming conference in San Francisco. - NICAR Database Library Director Liz Lucas talks about her job and explains how NICAR can help journalists. - Listen to three reporters discuss how they dealt with difficult data. We've got Will Evans (Center for Investigative Reporting), Ryan McNeill (Reuters) and Fredreka Schouten (USA TODAY).