Tracking Companies’ Influence on Politics: EIJ, Ft. Lauderdale, Sept. 20

By Flickr user League of Women Voters of California

As the most expensive election campaign in U.S. history draws to a close, now’s the time to dig into campaign-finance and lobbying reports. Find out how at this Pre-Conference Workshop at the Excellence in Journalism (EIJ) 2012 Conference in Fort Lauderdale on the morning of Sept. 20.

Bring the name of a company you follow to learn how to track its efforts to influence elected officials.

Find out how to locate campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures at the local, state and federal levels, as well as how to tie company spending to legislative or regulatory actions.

Using case studies, you will get a road map to this data, including best practices for unearthing donors to super PACs.

New York Times reporter Ron Nixon will be your guide to tracking companies’ efforts at political influence.

A fee of $25 is required for this half-day workshop, which is a pre-conference event for the joint meeting of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA).

You can register for this workshop without attending the rest of the Excellence in Journalism 2012 Conference; however, some scholarships to attend the full conference are available to SPJ members.

Register for this Pre-Conference Workshop and pay the $25 fee.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

How to:

• Find campaign contributions by companies at the state and federal level.
• Find lobbying expenditures by companies at the state and federal level
• Tie company spending on candidates or lobbying to legislative or regulatory actions

AGENDA: Tracking Companies’ Influence on Politics

9-9:10 a.m.: Welcome and introductions — Reynolds Center staffer Cassandra Nicholson

9:10-10 a.m.: How the world of campaign finance has changed since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010. — Ron Nixon

10-10:50 a.m.: How to track campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures — Nixon

10:50-11 a.m.: Break

11 a.m.-noon: How to tie companies’ spending on politics to regulatory or legislative action — Nixon

Ron Nixon

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Ron Nixon is a domestic correspondent in the Washington Bureau of The New York Times, where he has worked since 2005. He is the former computer-assisted reporting editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and a former training director for Investigative Reporters and Editors.

Nixon will also lead a session during the conference on Sept. 21 from 9-10 a.m. on Mastering Math to Tell Better Stories.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

This workshop is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. If you have any questions about the workshop or the center, please email Executive Director Linda Austin or call 602-496-9187.

The Reynolds Center is a proud co-sponsor of the Excellence in Journalism 2012 Conference. Stop by our booth and register for a chance to win a tablet computer.

Can’t make it to EIJ? A similar workshop, “Follow the Money — Tracking Companies’ Influence on Politics,” will be presented at Investigative Reporters and Editors’ annual conference in Boston on June 13.

The Reynolds Center also offered a similar workshop ahead of IRE’s CAR Conference in St. Louis on Feb. 22. Videos, handouts and PowerPoints from that training are available as self-guided training.