Iowans are invited to enjoy stories from the careers of some longtime journalists while sipping cocktails, munching on delicious food and browsing a silent auction.
The Friday, April 12, “Inside Scoop: The Story Behind the Story” event will support reporting from Investigate Midwest's IowaWatch newsroom. Get tickets here.
The event starts at 6 p.m. at Poindexter Coffee inside The Graduate Hotel in Iowa City.
“This is a great evening to enjoy storytelling from professionals who have been telling the stories of Iowa and the Midwest for decades,” said Erin Orr, executive director of Investigate Midwest.
Speakers include:
- Lee Rood, investigative reporter and Reader's Watchdog columnist, Des Moines Register;
- Dana James, founder and publisher, Black Iowa News;
- Maudlyne Ihejirika, author, retired Chicago Sun-Times columnist/reporter, journalism and storytelling program director, Field Foundation of Illinois
- Randy Evans, executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and former reporter/editor for the Des Moines Register
- Zachary Oren Smith, eastern Iowa reporter, Iowa Public Radio
The Graduate Hotel is located at 210 South Dubuque Street in Iowa City.
Investigate Midwest is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that provides investigative reporting about agribusiness and industrial agriculture companies. His stories are available to other news outlets for free. IowaWatch.org was acquired as part of Investigate Midwest in March 2022.
IowaWatch newsroom staff will be in attendance, including data journalist Mónica Cordero, a Report for America corps member in Des Moines. Suzanne Behnke, digital editor at Urbandale and a native of Bremer County. and Mary Ungs-Sogaard, Dyersville donor relations manager. Orr, who lives in northwest Indiana, will also be on hand.
Tickets and other donations to “Inside Scoop” support investigative journalism and help educate college students as part of the University of Iowa's event planning certificate program.
Investigate Midwest, also known as the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, was founded in 2009 in Kansas City before moving to Champaign, Illinois in 2012. It has won national and regional awards for its data-driven investigative reporting.
Contact Ungs-Sogaard at mary.ungs-sogaard@investigatemidwest.org with questions.
