Upcoming CAR Training — Uplink Archive

IRE and NICAR are offering multiple journalism training workshops in spring and summer 2002, including advanced statistics, GIS mapping, religious census data, and CAR boot camps for reporters seeking to improve their computer-assisted reporting and data analysis skills.

Advanced Statistics Workshop, June 9-13 - Chapel Hill, N.C CAR guru and Knight Chair in Journalism Professor Philip Meyer once again will present an advanced statistics workshop with IRE and NICAR. The workshop strengthens the skills of reporters who want to move beyond basic computer-assisted reporting and use social research methods and statistical analysis in their work, including understanding and using regressions, indexes, sampling and polling. Participants are introduced to SPSS, a statistical software package. Other instructors include Sarah Cohen of The Washington Post and IRE Executive Director Brant Houston.

Mapping the Census Seminar, May 3-5 - Columbia, Mo. IRE and NICAR will offer this intensive hands-on training using ArcView GIS software, with a focus on mapping Census data to uncover stories. We will look at noteworthy stories that have used mapping. The sessions will include address geocoding, thematic mapping, overlaying and spatial analysis. Trainers include Andy Lehren of Dateline NBC, Jennifer LaFleur of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and David Herzog of NICAR and the Missouri School of Journalism. Participants are encouraged to bring their own data to work on during open lab time.

Using the Religious Census, April 10-11, 2002 - Washington, D.C. Religion Newswriters Association Workshop at National Press Club: Reporters will learn how to use data from Glenmary Research Institute's religious census, which will be released in May or early June. The Census is done every 10 years by the Institute, a religious-based research organization. The Census Bureau often refers reporters to this organization since they are barred from asking religious questions. The religious census contains information relating to the number of churches and total church membership by denomination by state and county.

CAR Boot Camps

March 24-29 and May 19-24 - Columbia, Mo. IRE and NICAR are offering two CAR boot camps in Missouri this spring with special tracks. The six-day boot camps each open with special sessions on campaign finance and each offer four fellowships for journalists at small- to medium-sized news organizations who are interested in improving their coverage of elections. The May boot camp also will have special sessions on using Census data. Aug. 4-9 - Columbia, Mo. A special track for broadcast journalists will be featured at this Boot Camp. Learn how to acquire electronic information, use spreadsheets and databases to analyze the information and to translate that information into high-impact stories. In addition, NICAR provides follow-up help when participants return to their news organizations.

For registration and fellowship information, go to www.ire.org/training/otr.html