This seminar unfolds over five weeks, beginning May 8 and ending June 5. Live sessions will take place on Thursdays at 2 p.m. Eastern. Participants are strongly encouraged to attend the live session, but sessions will also be recorded in case something comes up.
In addition to the live instruction, participants will interact in an online forum and complete weekly assignments. Alexandra Zayas will be available to talk through participants’ journalism challenges with them.
Week 1: May 8, 2 p.m. Eastern
Choose the right story by answering an essential question: What’s the harm? Learn how to spot the seed of a possible investigation. Almost every one that won an award last year from IRE got kicked off in a similar way. Learn how to make this work for you.
Week 2: May 15, 2 p.m. Eastern
Launch into reporting. Learn how to hone your mindset to avoid obstacles – including some of your own making. Get a lay of the land. Dive into the world of public records, including ones you may not have ever heard of.
Week 3: May 22, 2 p.m. Eastern
Sniffing the ground and eating the stuff. Zayas will walk you through her own award-winning work to discuss creative approaches to reporting beyond public records. She’ll share tips from her best reporters about how to penetrate institutions and get insiders to spill.
Week 4: May 29, 2 p.m. Eastern
Putting it all together. Using your findings to build a spine, and the narrative gems in your notebook, to give your story heart. Participants will look at 11 years’ worth of leads that placed in the Pulitzer Prize’s investigative category. How effective were they?
Week 5: June 5, 2 p.m. Eastern
Planning for impact. Strategies to help your investigation make a difference, including newsroom partnerships. Participants will hear advice from winners of the Selden Ring Award, which is an award given specifically because of the impact generated by a story.
