Free webinar Thursday to help journalists better cover the police beat

The Poynter Institute will host a free one-hour webinar at 2 p.m. (EST) on Thursday to help journalists use available data to better cover the police beat. Webinar participants will learn how "to get data that government agencies don't want you to have, analyze it and find patterns that will help you build police accountability stories," states Poynter. The webinar will focus on: How to find unique story ideas that hold police accountable; how to gather data and use it to build a solid story; where to look for data; how to navigate bureaucracy to get the data you need; and how to begin to spot patterns in police data.

Cheryl W. Thompson, an investigative reporter for The Washington Post and an associate professor of journalism at George Washington University, will be the course instructor. To enroll in the course, click here. For those unable to attend the webinar, an archived reply will be made available on the Poynter website.