Watchdog journalists gather here April 9-10

Investigative Reporters and Editors will bring its nationally acclaimed watchdog journalism workshop series to Saint Michael’s College on April 9-10.

The sessions are designed for writers, editors, and producers from small, midsize and large publications, TV, radio stations, Web-only news sites and news blogs. Freelancers, students, journalism educators and the general public are welcome.

Hosted by St. Michael’s College Media Studies, Journalism & Digital Arts Department and the Vermont Press Association, the training will offer several core sessions designed to improve information gathering on the Web, finding critical documents and data for stories, and to help produce quick-hit enterprise pieces. Workshop sessions will also give you tips on how to negotiate for records, getting sources to open up and much more.

The primary session runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 9 in Cheray Science Hall.  An optional hands-on computer-assisted reporting session is 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 10 in JeanMarie Hall.  Free parking is available on campus.

Registration includes a one-year IRE membership, giving attendees access to reporting tipsheets, training resources and more; current members receive a one-year extension. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged to ensure seating.

Information on the schedule, pricing and pre-registration can be found on the websites for IRE (www.IRE.org)  and the VPA (www.vtpress.org).