NEFAI 2021 Curriculum

This year’s program features a mix of live workshops, recorded presentations and “drop-ins” where faculty will be available for questions and additional instruction. Learn more about NEFAI 2021.

October  31

10 a.m. – 11 a.m. Featured Speaker

Tracy Jan | Washington Post

Karen Bordeleau (Introduction) | NEFAC, Arizona State University

Related Links: (1) He Helped Halle Berry and Taraji Henson to Stardom. Now 9 Minority Women are Accusing Him of Sexual Harassment (2) George Floyd’s America (3) The ‘Whitewashing’ of Black Wall Street (4) After Prison, More Punishment

11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Break

11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Panel: Tales from the Trenches

Panelists will share their practical experience in investigative work through painstaking interviewing and use of freedom of information laws to unearth corruption and bring truth to light.

Evan Allen | The Boston Globe
Libor Jany | Minn. Star Tribune
Cheryl W. Thompson | NPR

Walter V. Robinson (Moderator) | NEFAC, The Boston Globe

Recommended: View (1) “Transparency and the Boston Police Department“.

Related Links: (1) Pulitzer Prize Winning Work of Star Tribune (2) Chauvin Trial Again Casts Spotlight on MPD’s Training Program (3) Behind the Shield (4) OpenSecrets (5) For Boston Police Officers Accused of Crime, a Friendlier Justice System Awaits (6) A Database of 10 Years of Boston Police Disciplinary Action (7) Fatal Police Shootings of Unarmed Black People Reveal Troubling Patterns (8) Six Black Girls Were Brutally Murdered in the Early ’70s. Why Was This Case Never Solved?

9 p.m. – 10 p.m. Zoom Social

Please join us for a casual gathering of all Institute participants. Learn more about the work of our fellows, faculty and speakers. This is a great opportunity to personally connect with others as the Institute begins. Halloween costumes optional.

November 1

9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Panel: Effective Sourcing

Helen Branswell | STAT
Cindy Galli | ABC News
Melissa Korn | The Wall Street Journal

Karen Bordeleau (Moderator) | NEFAC, Arizona State University

Related Links: (1) National Library of Medicine – PubMed (2) LinkedIn for Journalists

11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Break

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Drop-In: Common Pitfalls in Accessing Documents Through FOI Requests

Drop-in sessions are an opportunity for fellows to speak with the instructors of our recorded presentations and ask follow-up questions. 

Jason Leopold | BuzzFeed News
Jenifer McKim | GBH Center for Investigative Reporting, Boston University
Matt Rocheleau | Hearst Connecticut Media Group

Tim White (Moderator) | NEFAC, WPRI-Providence

Required: (1) View “Common Pitfalls” and (2) “Federal Freedom of Information Act: An Introduction to Public Records” prior to drop-in session.

Related Links: (1) Why Do So Many Traffic Stops Go Wrong?

1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. New Hampshire Break-Out Session

Richard Gagliuso | NEFAC, Bernstein Shur
Nancy West | InDepthNH.org

Required: (1) View “New Hampshire: An Introduction to Public Records” and (2) review FOI Guide – New Hampshire prior to this session.

November 2

9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Web Scraping

Maggie Mulvihill | NEFAC, Boston University

Required: View (1) Web Scraping 101 and (2) Web Scraping 102 prior to this class. Please download Tabula (free) and create an Open Refine and IfThisThenThat account. You will also need a Google account and access to DomesticViolenceReport.pdf.

Related Links: (1) Presentation Slides – Web Scraping (2) Suffolk DA Kicks Off Effort to Drop Tens of Thousands of Convictions Tied to Tainted State Drug Lab (3) Judge Declines Mass Dismissal of Cases From Tainted Drug Lab (4) Confusion Over Eviction Ban Led to Selective Enforcement (5) Nowhere to Go (6) Tabula Practice Files [Zip File Containing 16 PDFs] (7) Presentation Slides – Tabula

11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Break

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Drop-In: Confrontational Interviews

Drop-in sessions are an opportunity for fellows to speak with the instructors of our recorded presentations and ask follow-up questions.

Mike Beaudet | WCVB-Boston, Northeastern University

Required: (1) View “Confrontational Interviews” prior to drop-in session.

1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Rhode Island Break-Out Session

Edward Fitzpatrick | NEFAC, The Boston Globe
Raymond Marcaccio | Oliverio & Marcaccio LLP

Required: (1) View “Rhode Island: An Introduction to Public Records” and (2) review FOI Guide – Rhode Island prior to this session.

Related Links: (1) APRA Summary (2) Henry v. Media General Operations 

November 3

9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Database Analysis

Brooke Williams | Boston University

Required: (1) View “Database Analysis – Getting Started” prior to this class (2) confirm that you have access to Google Sheets and (3) install Tableau Public (free).

Related Links: (1) Analyze Boston (2) Google Sheets Function List (3) Excel Functions

Recommended: View (1) Data Cleaning 101 (2) Data Cleaning 102 and (3) Data Visualization 101.

11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Break

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Drop-In: Writing and Narrative Flow Workshop

Drop-in sessions are an opportunity for fellows to speak with the instructors of our recorded presentations and ask follow-up questions.

Fernanda Santos | Arizona State University

Required: (1) View “Writing Workshop” prior to drop-in session and (2) begin completing your own “Story Map”.

Related Links: (1) ‘Every Day is a Struggle: El Paso, One Year Later (2) A Year of Pandemic (3) Sin Luz

3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Maine Break-Out Session

Judy Meyer | NEFAC, Sun Media Group
Sigmund Schutz | NEFAC, Preti Flaherty

Required: (1) View “Maine: An Introduction to Public Records” and (2) review FOI Guide – Maine prior to this session.

5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Vermont Break-Out Session

Lia Ernst | NEFAC, ACLU-Vermont
Courtney Lamdin | Seven Days

Required: (1) View “Vermont: An Introduction to Public Records” and (2) review FOI Guide – Vermont prior to this session.

Related Links: (1) Rough Guide to Open Meetings (2) Rough Guide to Public Records

November 4

9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Introduction to R

Maggie Mulvihill | NEFAC, Boston University

Required: Download (1) BabyNames.Rmd (2) AnalyzingDeerData.Rmd (3) Deer.xlsx and (4) MA.txt prior to this class. Please also download the free Base R and RStudio software. Here’s a video to help with the software installation.

Related Links: (1) Getting to Know the R Environment (2) Launching RStudio and Importing Data

11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Break

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Drop-In: Staying Out of Legal Trouble: Defamation and Invasion of Privacy

Drop-in sessions are an opportunity for fellows to speak with the instructors of our recorded presentations and ask follow-up questions.

Gregory V. Sullivan | NEFAC, Malloy & Sullivan

Required: (1) View “Defamation and Invasion of Privacy” prior to drop-in session.

Recommended: View (1) HIPAA and Public Records (2) FERPA and Public Records and (3) How to Respond to a Subpoena.

1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Massachusetts Break-Out Session

Peter Caruso, Sr. | NEFAC, Caruso & Caruso
Todd Wallack | WBUR-Boston

Required: (1) View “Massachusetts: An Introduction to Public Records” and (2) review FOI Guide – Massachusetts prior to this session.

Related Links: (1) HIPAA – Are You a Covered Entity? (2) HIPAA – A Guide for Law Enforcement

November 5

9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Climate Reporting

Agya Aning | InsideClimateNews
Kendra Pierre-Louis | Gimlet
Annie Ropeik | Spectrum News Maine

Kendall Moore (Moderator) | University of Rhode Island

11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Break

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Drop-In: Sports Journalism

Drop-in sessions are an opportunity for fellows to speak with the instructors of our recorded presentations and ask follow-up questions. Panelists will discuss the intersection of general news reporting and sports writing while providing investigative tips for journalists of all backgrounds. 

3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Connecticut Break-Out Session

Mike Savino | WFSB-Hartford
Mary Schwind | Connecticut FOI Commission

Required: (1) View “Connecticut: An Introduction to Public Records” and (2) review FOI Guide – Connecticut prior to this session.

November 6

9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Panel: Former NEFAI Fellows

Olivia Belanger | Keene Sentinel
Maddie Hughes | Eagle Tribune
Terry Stackhouse | WMTW-Portland

Karen Bordeleau (Moderator) | NEFAC, Arizona State University

Related Links: (1) Area Hospitals Don’t Yet Meet Federal Price-Transparency Rules (2) More COVID Cases Reported in Outbreak at Keene Senior-Living Center (3) COVID-19 Outbreak at Keene Center Swells to Nearly 5 Dozen People (4) Weeks After Outbreak Started, No Active COVID Cases at Keene Center (5) Though Fatal ODs Aren’t Spiking, Drug Use Still Widespread in Granite State (6) COVID-19 Reported Patient Impact and Hospital Capacity By Facility (7) HealthData.gov – Additional Datasets (8) MaineHealth Leaders Call Attention to Staff Shortage, Capacity Crunch (9) Study Finds Increase in Medication Use to Treat Opioid Use Disorder (10) Maine AG: $26 Billion Opioid Settlement Could Bring ‘Significant Resources’ (11) Family Recovers Body After Weeks of Silence From Funeral Home (12) Effort Underway to Unionize Nurses at Maine Medical Center (13) MaineHealth Gave COVID-19 Vaccine to Anti-Union Contractors and Non-Front-Line Staff (14) Maine Med. Nurses Share What’s at Stake in Unionization Battle (15) Rise of the Moors Member Intends to Represent All Suspects in Court (16) Extreme Belief Experts Weigh-In on Maine-Bound Standoff Suspects (17) COVID-19 Deaths at Senior Home Now Total 12 (18) More COVID-19 Deaths at Andover Facility (19) Pandemic Disruption to School Causing Anxiety, Behavioral Issues for Students

11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Break

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Featured Speaker and Concluding Remarks

Astead W. Herndon | The New York Times, CNN

Karen Bordeleau | NEFAC, Arizona State University

State Break-Out Sessions

State Break-Out Sessions are an opportunity to discuss public record and open meeting concerns with a local attorney and veteran journalist.

• Connecticut | Nov. 5 | 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Maine | Nov. 3 | 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Massachusetts | Nov. 4 | 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• New Hampshire | Nov. 1 | 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• Rhode Island | Nov. 2 | 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• Vermont | Nov. 3 | 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Recorded Presentations and “Drop-Ins”

The following presentations can be viewed leading up to and during the institute. The session instructors will also be available for live “drop-ins” at the times listed.

• Common Pitfalls in Accessing Documents Through FOI Requests | Nov. 1 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• Confrontational Interviews | Nov. 2 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• Writing and Narrative Flow Workshop | Nov. 3 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• Staying Out of Legal Trouble: Defamation and Invasion of Privacy | Nov. 4 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• Sports Journalism | Nov. 5 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.