I spent the past weekend in Chicago speaking at an IRE workshop for ethnic media. IRE, Investigative Reporters and Editors, is synonymous with top-notch watchdog training and its many Pulitzer Prize-winning members. I was impressed by how committed the organization is to helping ethnic media.

About 20 journalists from Asian American, African American and Latino community newspapers learned how the mainstream media covers cops, business and government in a two-day workshop. I did a workshop on covering business and “Dot-Con Job,” the investigative series I co-wrote on InfoSpace and its founder Naveen Jain. I had prepared a presentation on combing through Securities and Exchange Commission documents but switched gears when I got there. I realized what the community journalists wanted was a thoughtful discussion on how to provide business coverage that highlights community success stories while also holding businesses accountable to readers. AAJA Chicago chapter Secretary Rui Kaneya (Chicago Reporter) also did a great workshop on covering immigration.

While I was in Chicago, I also met with AAJA members Lorene Yue (Crain), Angie Lau (Bloomberg), Chicago chapter Co-President Rumanna Hussain (Chicago Sun-Times) and Alana Price (Global Information Network) for dinner to talk about diversity, our industry and the importance of completing our $2 million AAJA national endowment.

Props go to: IRE for inviting me and paying for my travel expenses, and the McCormick Foundation for funding these workshops. The Seattle Times for giving me Friday to fly to Chicago. Lorene Yue for organizing the dinner. The journalists who gave up their weekend to learn how they can serve their community better.