After three years, Rosemary Armao has resigned as IRE executive director to become Anne Arundel County bureau chief for the Baltimore Sun. IRE is opening a national search to replace Armao, who resigned Nov. 1 in a letter to the group's board of directors and the dean of the Missouri School of Journalism. Explaining why she is leaving IRE, Armao said she can no longer ignore her strong desire to return to the practice of journalism.
She feels, she said, "an increasing homesickness for the newsroom." After nearly three years as executive director, a time "spent working with great reporters, reading wonderful journalism, and advocating in-depth journalism around the world," Armao said she is inspired. "Now its my turn to try to produce my own great journalism." IRE, based at the University of Missouri- Columbia, is the leading educational organization for journalists who want to learn to do more thorough, better organized, and important stories.
Armao's tenure marks a dramatic increase in the programs and reach of IRE. The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR), a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism, has held seminars and conferences training more than 8,000 journalists. Thanks to a grant from the Robert McCormick Tribune Foundation, IRE created Periodistas de Investigacion which will serve as an IRE-like organization providing investigative and computer training for Mexican journalists.
Armao will be leaving her position in mid-December.