Journalists from around the country "log on" at the Portland IRE conference.

Over 400 reporters attended a standing-room-only conference on computer-assisted reporting at an Investigative Reporters and Editors event in Portland, Oregon, featuring seminars, hands-on practice with database programs, and demonstrations from experienced journalists on how to use computers for investigative work.

Question: Why on earth would 400 reporters get up at 8 a.m.?

Answer: A whole day of lectures and demonstrations at the largest conference ever on computer-assisted reporting.

Investigative Reporters and Editors sponsored the program on computer-assisted reporting as part of its national conference held in Portland, Oregon June 11-14.

But judging from the turnout, most conference attendees considered the day essential, rather than optional.

"I have been going to these conferences for 10 years and I have never seen an 8 a.m. conference with standing room only," said IRE president Mark Middlebrook.

In addition to the seminars and panels, a computer practice room staffed by volunteers gave everybody the opportunity to practice downloading data from 9-track tape. Participants tested a variety of database management programs, including XDB, Paradox and Foxpro. Experienced journalists gave demonstrations of different mapping programs and anybody could try tapping into research libraries through on-line services.

The National Library on Money and Politics gave away more than 200 free diskettes with FEC information listed by state. And IRE sold, for $4, about 100 shareware diskettes each containing a sampler of 10 utilities programs.

The nine seminars and panels Thursday ranged from recognized experts discussing the direction of computer-assisted reporting to nuts-and-bolts demonstrations on how it is actually done.

Statistics sage Phil Meyer talked about the past, present and future of the craft and called for more sophisticated analysis instead of the usual "quick-hit" approach. However, Elliot Jaspin assured the audience that basic counting and sorting can still lead to great stories.

Other seminars covered more practical problems for journalists eager to start computer sleuthing, such as "Getting Started: Computer-Assisted Journalism on a Budget in Your Newsroom."

Accomplished reporters shared war stories and tips on building databases, prying tapes from unwilling government bureaucrats and mining huge databases, such as the census.

In "Deciphering the Gibberish: A Short Course in Government Databases" the audience watched the computer screen, projected overhead, as reporters George Landau, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Penny Loeb of New York Newsday, and Bob Port of the St. Petersburg Times typed through the methodology used for some of their best stories.

"Computer-assisted journalism has always been pushed by reporters," said Bill Dedman, IRE boardmember and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. "This (conference) means the seeds have been planted at several hundred more newspapers."