Member spotlight: Timesland reporter Claire Mitzel sponsors future journos

Claire Mitzel

It’s never too early to help the next aspiring watchdog.

Only a year out of college herself, Timesland News Guild member Claire Mitzel is already helping the next wave of young journalists learn their craft.

Mitzel recently sponsored memberships to Investigative Reporters and Editors for two college students, recruiting them via Twitter.

“It’s a great way to help everybody else out,” Mitzel said. “I know I can’t do a whole lot yet, but here’s one way I can make some sort of difference.”

IRE, a nonprofit affiliated with the University of Missouri School of Journalism that has operated since 1975, provides conferences, training and resources for investigative reporters, editors, researchers and students.

In March, Mitzel came to The Roanoke Times to cover K-12 education and started work three days before the novel coronavirus shut down Virginia public schools. Before that, she was a government watchdog reporter at The News Leader in Staunton.

And she knows IRE’s work first-hand. As a student at the University of Missouri, Mitzel worked at IRE Journal, a quarterly publication dedicated to investigative reporting. There, she wrote about journalists at work across the country, from Pulitzer Prize-winners to reporters toiling at small local papers.

“I got to talk with journalists basically about stories they did, which is just like a dream — to talk to journalists about journalism,” Mitzel said. “It was also just terrific because it was just another way to expand my writing skills.”

She wants to provide similar opportunities to other young journalists and help build newsrooms that are more diverse.

Mitzel stipulated that her IRE sponsorships should go to a person of color or a student attending either a community college or a public university.

“I'm a product of a public school,” she said.

Her support will provide a year’s IRE membership to a student at the University of Texas at Austin and another at George Fox University in Oregon, according to Amy Johnston, IRE member coordinator.

IRE members have access to thousands of tipsheets compiled by experienced investigative reporters, more than 30 government databases and other digital tools to enhance reporting, as well as conferences and training sessions.

Sponsoring a student membership is easy, and costs only $25, Mitzel said.

For more information on IRE student sponsorships, visit https://www.ire.org/membership/student-sponsorships.