Data Driven Investigation

On subjects as diverse as political expenses and ambulance response times, data has changed the face of investigative journalism. Data is now another valuable weapon in the armoury of the investigative journalist, one that gives brand new perspectives on what might have seemed like old topics, and incredible opportunities for connecting interactively with audiences and readers. In our next hacks/hackers meet-up we will look into how ‘data’ is used as a tool for investigative journalism in Ireland.

We have a very exciting list of speakers for this event:

Ken Foxe is an assistant lecturer at the DIT School of Media and a reporter with the RTE Investigations Unit, where he works on data and online journalism projects. He is the author of two books 'Snouts in the Trough: Politicians & Their Expenses' and 'Revenge', a true crime book. He was winner of the TV3 Story of the Year Award for 2009 following a series of newspaper stories about political expenses, which led to the resignation of then Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue. He has a particular interest and expertise in the use of Freedom of Information legislation and data for investigative reporting. @kenfoxe (https://twitter.com/kenfoxe)

Simon Darcy is a Software Developer in RTÉ Digital, where he works on the Production & Operations team whom look after the design, development and maintenance of RTÉ Digital's core products such as rte.ie (http://rte.ie/), the RTÉ Player and the RTÉ News Now app. @sidarcy (https://twitter.com/sidarcy)

Ailbhe Jordan is head of data, trends and social media at irishmirror.ie (http://irishmirror.ie/), Ireland’s top mobile breaking news site. As the only Irish tabloid publisher with a dedicated data unit, irishmirror.ie (http://irishmirror.ie/) has transformed data driven content from ‘nice to know’ to front page news. Find out how they’ve pushed data stories to the top of the news agenda @amjordo (https://twitter.com/amjordo).

Seán McCárthaigh is news editor of the Ireland edition of The Times. He is the former head of Irish Examiner’s Dublin office with over 25 years experience of covering politics, courts, tribunals and other major news stories. He is also the former producer of TV3’s Tonight with Vincent Browne. @ seanmccarthaigh (https://twitter.com/seanmccarthaigh)

The event will take place in RTÉ Donnybrook in Audience Reception 4 (next to the main RTÉ reception). RTÉ Digital will be providing nibbles and beverages during registration. After the short talks, everyone is welcome to Arthur Maynes (https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Arthur+Mayne's/@53.3216627,-6.2351724,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x1e456b551be04ba3?sa=X&ved=0CH8Q_BIwCmoVChMIna7O6f2byAIVC1UaCh3XJgeZ) in Donnybrook village for casual drinks and continued discussion.