The Investigative Reporters and Editors annual conference brings together hundreds of journalists committed to sharing best practices around investigative reporting and data journalism. Together they work to address issues from access to public records to producing accountability reporting, exploring new opportunities and challenges in the digital age. 

Knight Foundation will join everyone in Phoenix to take part in workshops, panels and discussions about the role of journalism in an increasingly complex media environment. Take a look at these events to connect with Knight and our network of partners and grantees at IRE 2017.

Thursday, June 22:

• 8:30-10:00 a.m: Meet Knight’s journalism team. Knight kicks off IRE with office hours in the Knight Meetup Room, Grand Sonoran A.
• 10:15 am: Ron Nixon and Nikole Hannah-Jones, both journalists with The New York Times and co-founders of the Ida B. Wells Society, share reporting techniques for covering racial inequities in housing, education and criminal justice in Grand Canyon 9-10.
• 11:30 a.m.: Join Knight Foundation, the Democracy Fund and the the Rita Allen Foundation in Grand Canyon 4-5 as we announce the winners of the prototype open call for ideas to improve the flow of accurate information. Jennifer Preston, Knight’s vice president of journalism, will then moderate a panel that will include Knight chair Bill Adair of Duke University, Amanda Zamora of The Texas Tribune and Scott Klein of ProPublica to discuss the winning projects and what comes next for the field of journalism.
• 2:00 p.m.: Come meet the Prototype Fund winners to discuss their ideas on addressing misinformation and increasing trust in news. Round table discussions will take place in Knight Meetup Room, Grand Sonoran A, exploring fact checking, news literacy, attracting new audiences and civic engagement.
• 3:30 – 5 p.m.: Cheryl Phillips, co-author of “Teaching Data and Computational Journalism,” published by Columbia Journalism School with support from Knight Foundation, will lead a training session on bringing data journalism to universities in Pinnacle Peak I.
• 3:45 p.m.: Join a talk by University of Arizona professor David Cuillier on Freedom of Information Act requests. He is the author of a report commissioned by Knight on the challenges and potential solutions for journalists centered on the Freedom of Information Act.
• 5:00 p.m.: Meet investigative journalists Brooke Jarvis and Ben Taub, two of the 2017 Livingston Award winners who will be talking about their reporting with Livingston judge Stella Chavez in Grand Canyon 9-10. Knight supports the award, which celebrates journalists under 35.

Friday, June 23:

• 10:30 a.m.: Join Knight, along with Facebook, Montclair’s Center for Cooperative Media, the Institute for Nonprofit News and Local Independent Online News Publishers in Grand Sonoran A to explore how small news organizations can use Facebook to engage local audiences. The group will also explore how Facebook is taking local news into account when developing new tools.
• 12:45 p.m.: Catch a brown bag lunch on legal issues in investigative reporting in Grand Canyon 9-10 with a top legal team, including Katy Townsend of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
• At 2:30 p.m.: Come by the Knight Meetup Room, Grand Sonoran A, for a discussion with Troy Thibodeaux on how local journalists and local news organizations can make data more relevant for their communities through the Associated Press’ localized data initiative.

Saturday, June 24:

• 10:30 a.m.: Jay Rosen, professor of journalism at New York University, joins Doug Haddix for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of journalism in Grand Canyon 6. Professor Rosen is leading a new lab on community and audience engagement, funded by Knight and Democracy Fund, that brings new approaches from Dutch publication De Correspondent to the United States.
• 11:30 a.m.: Join David Cuillier and MuckRock founder, Michael Morisy in the Knight Meetup Room, Grand Sonoran A, for a discussion on challenges and potential solutions for journalists using the Freedom of Information Act.
• 12:30 p.m.: Check out the IRE awards luncheon in the Grand Saguaro Ballroom with keynote speaker Nikole Hannah-Jones.
• 3:15 p.m.: Wrap up IRE 2017 with a panel discussion in Grand Canyon 6, co-sponsored by the Trust Project and the Maynard Institute. The panel discussion will cover the problem of misinformation and how to build trust in a modern news environment.

Follow @knightfdn and #IRE17 on Twitter for updates. We hope to see you in Phoenix!