The Center for Investigative Reporting is the largest non-profit investigative newsroom in the United States.  Over the past five years it has undergone a tremendous shift of focus from being mostly a data-driven daily news website to a focus on multi-platform, long-form storytelling with a weekly, national radio show, Reveal.  David Ritsher, will review the lessons learned during CIR’s evolution with particular focus on how their stories evolved during this period.  In addition, since long-form requires putting a greater investment into fewer bets, he will discuss story pitch process and production workflow that we have worked out to maximize newsroom input on story selection; take a look at what makes a good long-form story in radio, video, and print; and review the technical approaches that have been successful for us to produce for multiple platforms in parallel.

Trainers

David Ritsher

David Ritsher has produced and edited award-winning investigative documentaries for over 15 years, on subjects ranging from loose nukes in Russia to Latino gangs in Northern California. His work has appeared on FRONTLINE, PBS NewsHour, ABCNews, Al Jazeera English, National Geographic, Discovery, KQED and other national broadcast outlets. The video work at CIR has won numerous awards, including multiple Emmy awards, Edward R. Murrow Awards, and has been an important element in many of the other projects for which CIR has been recognized. David is a strong proponent of a multi-platform approach to journalism to maximize the return and impact of reporting, and in addition to video and radio production is actively exploring applying VR technologies to investigative stories.