Fostering a watchdog culture in the newsroom IRE/NICAR

What is your newsroom’s mission? What goals do the reporters and editors want to accomplish through daily and watchdog coverage?

Buying into investigative reporting Publishers, news directors, executive directors, editors and reporters all need to buy into the importance and impact of watchdog and public service reporting.

Practical tips

How often are you meeting with sources on your beat? Is it often enough? Tip Talk to your sources even when you don’t need a quote for a story, to get your hands on a document or to update breaking news..

Coffee Ask them what stories are happening that aren’t being covered. Try to schedule coffee with a source on your beat at least once a week. Ask them what stories are happening that aren’t being covered. Ask them the biggest challenges they are facing. Ask them what they like about your newsrooms coverage and what they dislike.

Keep an open mind Listen to tipsters. Have an open tip line. Always make at least one call or check into a tip.

Keep each fresh by holding internal training session over lunch hour Brown bag sessions Keep each fresh by holding internal training session over lunch hour Help improve each other data skills Experiment with new tools Work through roadblocks other reporters are encountering

Background every source and company in your story Tip Internet creates a lot of noise — have a search strategy Look for experts, studies, datasets Evaluate the source — is it current, reputable?

Backgrounding & research tips Stay organized As you search, log all the records you find in a spreadsheet, noting date, address, description, notes, connections, source, link, etc. Print electronic files to a pdf and keep in a folder. Use a checklist And background all sources - even for features and sports. Verify, verify, verify Verify all information. Go to primary source documents to cq information found on the web or in news accounts. Think outside the box Obituaries, marriage and divorce records and other civil filings can be great places to find relatives and property or personal details. Voter registries typically include birth dates and addresses. Expand your search Background relatives, business associates. Talk to old neighbors, teachers, etc. Search yourself Run your own name, friends through websites to get an idea of reliability.

FOIA Constantly. Try to always have requests filed with some agency. Tip Find data that is updated yearly like police calls for service, building permits and graduation rates

Celebrate one another!!!

What can IRE do for you? Tip A lot!!!