What We’ll Do
Join ONA St. Louis on Thursday, May 23, at Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. in The Grove as we learn how to do more and better investigative journalism. Investigative Editors & Reporters (IRE), a grassroots nonprofit, will be offering tips and tools on building watchdog work into your daily routine and producing meatier stories.
What You Can Expect
We’ll have free pizza and free Urban Chestnut beer, as well as other non-alcoholic beverages.
The event will be held in a private room at Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.’s location in The Grove, 4465 Manchester Ave.
Urban Chestnut offers a free parking lot on the east side of the building. There is also street parking along Manchester and side streets.
Please note: This event starts promptly at 6 p.m., so please arrive on time. Questions? Please call Steph Kukuljan at 314-971-0615.
Schedule
5:15 to 6 p.m.
We typically give people about a half hour to arrive at the venue. Take your time to sign in, grab some food and drink, and mingle.
6 to 6:10 p.m.
At the start of every event, we update the group on any upcoming events, initiatives in the works, etc.
6:10 – 6:25
Lightening talk with Beth Hundsdorfer, investigative reporter for St. Louis Public Radio.
6:25–7:30.
IRE Director of Data Services Charles Minshew will discuss how to build watchdog work into your daily routine and produce meatier stories, even in breaking news situations. He’ll also give some real-world tips on time management and organization and strategies to give everyday stories more depth.
(Break if needed)
7:45–8:30 p.m.
Charles will offer advice on developing a documents state of mind, exploring key records on a variety of beats, and becoming familiar with key national data sets to produce high-impact local stories. He’ll share a checklist of key data and documents to request that can generate story ideas immediately.
Questions are encouraged throughout the entire workshop, but we’ll save time for a brief Q&A at the end. You can also submit questions in advance to stlouis@journalists.org.
ONA St. Louis wants to remind attendees we have members from dozens of St. Louis-area media outlets. We ask that people be mindful and constructive when mentioning local examples in conversation.
We would also like to thank our sponsors for this event:
-Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.
-Byrne PR
-Drury Hotels
-St. Louis Post-Dispatch
First-Timer?
For those who have never attended an Online News Association event before, we are part of the world’s largest association of digital journalists. Our mission is to inspire innovation and excellence among journalists to better serve the public.
You do not have to be a member to attend one of our meetups. We do ask that you RSVP well in advance, however, to help us better gauge how much food we will need to order.
Contact Us
If you are looking to help us organize one of our monthly events, take on a leadership role with ONA St. Louis, sponsor the group, or ask any questions about the event, please feel free to email us at stlouis@journalists.org.