Montgomery Symposium

Details

Want to learn how to effectively use public records to find great stories for your readers?

Then you’ll want to register for this year’s Montgomery Family Symposium Nov. 11 at the University of Kansas. It’s cheap and practical for every size newspaper.

The annual symposium is underwritten by a $50,000 gift to the Kansas Newspaper Foundation from the Montgomery newspaper family in Kansas.

This year’s session will be led by Mark Horvit, the executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). He will help Kansas editors and reporters find and analyze local records to develop important, engaging and useful stories. Participants will leave with a ton of tips and more confidence on how to do web searches and use data from local government, businesses and nonprofits.

The event is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at KU’s Adams Alumni Center.  Registration is $40 for the first participant from each newspaper and $20 for a second participant. Registration fees include lunch and refreshments.

To register, e-mail Emily Bradbury at ebradbury@kspress.com. If you have any questions, contact Doug Anstaett, danstaett@kspress.com ,or Pam Fine, Knight Chair at KU, who is coordinating the event, at pamfine@ku.edu.

Here's the schedule:

9 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.: Registration. Coffee, tea, soft drinks.
 
9:20 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.: Welcome — Pam Fine, Knight Chair for News, Leadership and Community, and professor, KU School of Journalism; Doug Anstaett, executive director, Kansas Press Association.
 
9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.: Using the Web as an Investigative Tool, Mark Horvit, executive director, Investigative Reporters and Editors.
 
10:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.: Break.

10:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: Key Documents for Every Beat, Mark Horvit.

11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.: Tapping into Twitter and Social Media, Mark Horvit.

12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Lunch. Speaker Evan Smith of the Texas Tribune.
 
1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Bulletproofing a Story and Building a Watchdog Culture.

2:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.: Break.

2:45 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Quick Hit Investigations, Mark Horvit.