The upcoming AAN regional conferences will each include a "Better Watchdog Workshop" organized by Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). The AAN West workshop on Jan. 28 will be led by Brant Houston, executive director of IRE, professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and author of "Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide." The AAN East workshop on Feb. 18 will be led by Ron Nixon, projects editor on the New York Times computer-assisted reporting team. Nixon led an IRE session at AAN West two years ago, when he was computer-assisted reporting editor for The Minneapolis Star Tribune, and attendees described it as "worth repeating." Both workshops will cover effective searches on the Internet, cultivation of sources and interviewing, getting the most out of open records laws, and quickly providing context and depth with easily accessible databases.
