Investigative Reporting Workshop Information

The Investigative Reporting Workshop, based at the School of Communication at American University, was founded in 2008 by longtime investigative journalist Chuck Lewis, who continues to report and write for the site and national publications. Our own staff and freelancers contribute to our site. In addition, IRW pairs graduate students as researchers and reporters with professional staff at The Washington Post and PBS FRONTLINE. Other media outlets have co-reported and co-published Workshop stories, including inewsource and KPBS in San Diego; WAMU-FM in Washington, D.C.; Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting; The New Yorker; The New York Times; and the Columbia Journalism Review. Two of our most recent 2020 projects, investigations into water quality — and racial, economic and political factors contributing to lack of clean water — have been co-reported by The Weather Channel and co-published by The Fresno Bee and the Tampa Bay Times. The Workshop has published more than 200 stories, won a dozen national awards and trained more than 160 students.