A fellowship from the Fund for Rural Computer-Assisted Reporting allowed me to spend six days in August 2012 at an Investigative Reporters and Editors boot camp. That training gave me the confidence to ask for complicated data and analyze it to show readers the impact of public policy without having to rely on the interpretations offered up by government employees or politicians. I was the p...

When I received a Rural Computer Assisted Reporting fellowship, I was the city hall reporter for The Bulletin daily newspaper in the small central Oregon city of Bend. The fellowship allowed me to attendthe Investigative Reporters and Editors CAR bootcamp in January 2013 during a challenging financial time for the newspaper. After the editor in chief learned that I received the R-CAR fellowship, h...

The R-CAR fellowship for the Investigative Reporters and Editors boot camp helped shape me into a more well-rounded investigative reporter. Working in a rural area can be a challenge because some public officials have the power to sweep important details "under the rug." Mark Horvit and the Investigative Reporters & Editors team have increased my confidence in digging for data and for more inf...

Kate Martin (right) of the Skagit Valley Herald, in Mt. Vernon, Wash., was the inaugural recipient of the Fund for Rural Computer Assisted Reporting fellowship. She attended the Investigative Reporters and Editors' six-day boot camp in March of 2011. Below is her testimony. Though the Skagit Valley Herald is a rural newspaper, our readers expect top-notch reporting on local issues. The Fund for...