Live-blogging the IRE 2012 Conference in Boston: Resources that will help you be a better investigative journalist

The classic stereotype about journalists is that we’re all backstabbing vultures who would sell our mothers for a good story. Nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, we only sell our mothers for really, really good stories. But more importantly, we’re actually an amazingly friendly, collaborative bunch. I’m in Boston where more …

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Print ain’t dead: How an itty bitty news brief sparked dozens of phone calls from readers

The historic Wesley Peacock House near Woodlawn Lake in San Antonio, Texas

With all the talk about print being dead, you’d think no one actually picks up newspapers anymore to read the archaic things. Tell that to Elaine Austin Palmer. Palmer curates the Wesley Peacock House, a historic home built in 1890 near Woodlawn Lake that served as the headquarters of a military academy. Related: Yard sale …

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A sliver of hope for the New Orleans Times-Picayune? Only if spin is true

As corporate honchos try to paint a rosy picture about the New Orleans Times-Picayune downsizing and no longer publishing a daily print edition, I hope this nugget from the newspaper’s editor, Jim Amoss, is more than corporate spin: Plans call for the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday editions of The Times-Picayune to be in many ways …

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Long-form journalism project asks for money, raises $100,000 on Kickstarter

This is pretty great. First, a new, in-depth journalism project called Matter set a fundraising goal of $50,000 on Kickstarter. They reached it in 38 hours. They set a new goal of $75,000. They reached it in four days. Related: What’s Evernote for? How about making a vast, searchable archive of all your files They …

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Could a blog win a Pulitzer prize?

After online publications won Pulitzer Prizes this year, Dennis Yang at Techdirt asks if a blog could ever win: Nothing about a physical newspaper inherently makes it better suited for doing great reporting. Print and online are just mediums, and as consumption patterns shift towards online, we should see more of this in the future. …

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Readers aren’t getting the memo that no one reads newspapers

Aaron Blanco, owner of Brown Coffee Co.

With all the doom and gloom we keep hearing about newspapers, you’d think no one ever reads them. Tell that to Aaron Blanco. Six days ago, reporter Brian Chasnoff wrote a cool feature story about Blanco and his company, Brown Coffee Co., where Blanco roasts fresh coffee beans in small batches to unlock pungent, fruity …

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