More than 400 journalists passionate about computer-assisted reporting in March gathered in Philadelphia to trade tips, brush up on their skills and network. With newsrooms across the country slashing training budgets, many of the journalists attending IRE and NICAR's annual computer-assisted reporting conference paid their own way, and invested in their own careers. Journalists packed 55 hands-on classes, learning everything from basic spreadsheet skills to statistical analysis and advanced programming tricks.
And they had the chance to sample from more than five dozen presentations, panels and roundtable discussions aimed at broadcast, print and online journalists. John Allen Paulos, the Temple University mathematician and author of "A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper," kicked off the four-day conference on March 14 with a spoken tour of his book, outlining the numeric pitfalls that journalists have fallen into.