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Austin Investigative Reporting Team |
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 Ken MartinI read about Meetups in Clay Shirky's "Here Comes Everybody" and thought starting a meetup would give people interested in investigative reporting in the Austin area a great way to get together. In late December 2009, I founded the Austin Investigative Reporting Team as an experiment, to find out if there's any interest in participating in a self-help group that would boost interest in the craft.
It's no longer an experiment. By early March 2010 the meetup had attracted 23 members with a variety of backgrounds, many with decades of experience in journalism.
Some of the members have already gotten together, formed a team, and started working on an investigative project. And that's the whole idea: the mission of the Austin Investigative Reporting Team is to give its members a way to connect and help them to actively participate in investigative reporting.
Anyone who wants to learn more about the craft of investigative reporting and work on projects with other Team members is welcome to join. Some may want to teach. Some may want to learn. All should want to make a difference.
A possible side effect of the Austin Investigative Reporting Team is there's a chance that some of those who get involved in it would also want to write, take photos, or produce video reports or podcasts for The Austin Bulldog, which is an initiative of the Austin Investigative Reporting Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity. But producing material for The Austin Bulldog is not a requirement for being in the group.
You do not have to be an investigative reporter to participate, or even a journalist, just someone with willingness to brainstorm ideas, or share knowledge, techniques, technology and anything else that would facilitate the quality and quantity of investigative reporting being done in Austin.
To find out more about the Austin Investigative Reporting Team, its members, and what they are working on, visit the site. And if you're interested, join.
—Ken Martin
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