Link of the Week: Jan 28 - Feb 3
Geographic Information NC
Some reporters’ eyes glaze over when they face the prospect of telling a story that deals with working with GIS (Geographic Information Systems) data. But many others find that a wealth of news stories come from digging through this information. For instance, one GIS story in Florida plotted out the homes of those convicted of crimes involving abuse of children. Such offenders are not allowed to live within 100 yards of a school. But reporters who used GIS to compare the residences of these offenders to the locations of schools found that about 1/3 of offenders broke this law. A state crackdown soon followed in response to the story. Similarly, GIS stories have uncovered leaking underground storage tanks and even demostrated that DUIs most often occur near local bars. To find GIS data for our region, Geographic Information North Carolina is a good place to start. The site features links to data and helpful tutorials, in case you still aren’t quite sure what GIS is.

The Missing Link
Have any suggestions for us regarding next week’s link? Or is there information you seek, but you can’t find a helpful link? Let us know! If others would benefit from the information, we just may track down a link for you, or use your suggestion as Link of the Week.

<<<<<<Hey, What's That?
Glad you asked! That box on the lower left border side of the page is a new way to keep up with FIRE. Type in your e-mail, hit subscribe, and we'll do the rest! You'll get occasional updates from us about new workshops, links and assorted FIRE services. We won't barrage you with e-mails or distribute your e-mail address. Please sign up today.

Rolling Thunder Democracy Tour
FIRE is teaming up with other WNC nonprofit organizations, media, businesses and individuals to bring the Rolling Thunder Democracy Tour (RTD2) to the region. For more information on how to get involved locally, contact us. We'll post a link to the local page once it is online.

Apply for IRE Reporting Awards: The contest "recognizes the best investigative reporting in print, broadcast and online media, and helps identify techniques and resources used by entrants." This is the annual contest of the Investigative Reporting and Editing, Inc. (IRE). For entry forms and additional information, visit the contest page at IRE's site.

2003 CAR Conference in NC: IRE has also announced that the Annual Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference will be held on March 14-16, 2003 in Charlotte, N.C. The event features panels by the best in the business on every beat and topic including Census, crime, education, local and state government, freedom of information and transportation. Hands-on classes will be offered featuring spreadsheets, database managers, mapping, statistics and the latest in cutting-edge technology. IRE sponsors the event along with the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR). This year's event is hosted by The Charlotte Observer and NBC News. See IRE's site for more details and registration information.

Help Put a Local Paper on the Web!: If you have some spare time to give to a good cause, we could use your help! Please visit our new volunteer opportunities page.

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"Nonprofits Online"
Information is posted regarding this free workshop. At least one more workshop will be scheduled, so please contact us to get on our mailing list (regular and/or e-mail) or waiting list. You can also take a tour of our workshop page.

Welcome to FIRE, a non-profit organization which provides community media resources to the Appalachian region. You can use the search box on this page to search our online archive of media outlets throughout the area. If you are a local journalist (or want to be), visit the "Resources for Journalists" section. You'll find resources that will improve your community reporting skills and will enable area residents to easily locate your published articles online.

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