Looking at unemployment trends can lead to larger investigation. AARP’s Senior Policy Advisor Jen Schramm shares her data tips with NPF fellows.

An 18-month investigation by The Atlantic’s Caitlin Dickerson exposed the Trump administration’s family separation policy.

Protect Democracy’s “Authoritarian Handbook” can help journalists distinguish between autocratic threats vs. hard-nosed politics.

Evan Perez of CNN and Carrie Johnson of NPR explain how to cover a Department of Justice that doesn’t leak.

Experts on misinformation, online harassment and election security share their concerns and hopes for election audits and public trust.

Capitol Hill reporters from PBS Newshour, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and CNN share advice for reporters covering Jan. 6, spending bills and more.

By tackling different beats, CNN’s Abby Phillip said journalists will find new perspectives that will strengthen their reporting.

In response to Donald Trump’s Twitter ban following the Jan. 6 insurrection, three free speech experts discuss First Amendment protections, limitations and challenges in law, policy and social media.

While the Federal Election Commission is trying to stay on top of campaign finances as technology rapidly changes, journalists can help look out for violations.

Taking the plunge with demographic data is worth the effort, said Sean McMinn of Politico

NPR producer Huo Jingnan offered Widening the Pipeline fellows a simple strategy for starting a data-driven project

GOP adviser Matt Mackowiak shares how politicians decide what issues to elevate and which journalists to talk to.

How to identify model bills using the Center for Public Integrity’s tool and find out the special interest groups behind them, according to ‘Copy. Paste. Legislate’ journalists Michael Squires, Kristian Hernandez and Preethak Rebala.

Gerrymandering is an “attack on minority political power,” says Michael Li of the Brennan Center for Justice.

Election polls can be easily over-interpreted by journalists and the public, Texas Politics Project director Jim Henson warned NPF Statehouse reporters.

University of Texas law professors Hugh Brady and Randall Erben share how to analyze new legislation - even without a law degree.

Voting Rights Lab lawyer demonstrates tracking tool for statehouse journalists, while Texas Tribune reporter and Common Cause advocate remind reporters to focus on voters’ human stories.

AP reporter Fatima Hussein started covering the U.S. Treasury Dept. just a month before new sanctions on Russia. Here’s her advice for journalists.

Brad Heath is a reporter with a law degree – and it shows – as he teaches journalists how to use PACER, Lexis Nexis and other tools – and avoid common errors.

Reporters know about “dog-whistling,” but what about “mediated authenticity,” controlling reporters with a “drip” or “the dead cat bounce”?

White House reporters from the AP and Washington Post share their advice for getting scoops and dealing with harassment.

“The turmoil of the Trump presidency, the attack on the capital on January 6th was a reminder of the fragility of our democracy and the role that journalism has to play.”

“Budgets aren’t about numbers. They’re about priorities.”

The New York Times’ Washington bureau FOIA coordinator offers an in-depth field guide for reporters on how to navigate federal and state public records requests.

Taking the pulse of America is getting harder in hyper-partisan times, but the nation’s main pollsters still generally get it right.

A top advocate of police reform says U.S. needs a major rethinking of policing strategies to reduce violence and end racial disparities.

From the briefing room to the press secretary offices and beyond, the environment and culture of the White House beat have changed.

You can measure inequality and its pain with detailed data on poverty.

The federal budget process can be tricky to navigate. Learning the basics can help better inform audiences.

The law and its players can be intimidating. Don’t let it consume you. Rely on your journalism skills.

The Supremes get the most attention, but the federal courts offer a chance to break news, avoid spin, build sources – plus much more.

Community development financial institution experts say CDFIs can help alleviate rural poverty and racial inequities where previous pandemic relief failed. How journalists can track COVID-19 federal funding in their communities.

Congress and the White House get most of journalists’ attention, but reporters should learn to mine the federal regulatory system, where arcane rule changes can lead to big shifts in power and money.

The former U.S. Treasury Secretary calls for restoring IRS enforcement to close the $600 billion-a-year “tax gap.”

Law professor Dorothy Brown, author of “The Whiteness of Wealth,” details how racial inequities permeate the tax code and how journalists can work around data gaps.

Campaign finance is more than tracking the dollars – it’s also showing the connection between donations and bills that are passed or blocked. A campaign finance expert from followthemoney.org shows how to investigate how money influences legislation.

As of March, lawmakers in 47 states had introduced 361 bills with rules that restrict voting. Biden calls it “Jim Crow sneaking back in,” while the GOP says the bills will prevent voter fraud. Journalists should brush up on the Constitution to cover the coming battles.

In Quincy, Mass., police knock on doors of drug poisoning victims to help them get treatment – not to arrest them. The architect of the program explains why.

Conventional wisdom holds that underfunding of state and local pensions is a crisis, but new research suggests that money might be better spent on current needs than on closing the pension funding gap.

Lobbyists work the corridors of statehouses nationwide, writing into law their pet bills and then replicating those bills from capital to capital. A Center for Public Integrity reporter explains how he tracked it. Plus: Other statehouse resources.