We calculated how much marijuana is seized at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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The Center for Investigative Reporting’s staff is thrilled to be one of seven organizations chosen to host a Knight-Mozilla fellow in 2015. The start date for the 10-month fellowship can be decided later, but it typically begins in February or March.

Here’s our pitch for why, other than the fact that we are based in the most beautiful place in the country, you should apply to be a fellow and come to CIR. And be sure to do so by the deadline of Aug. 16!

Our newsroom is doing groundbreaking work, rooted in a distinguished 37-year history. What once was a compact, reporting-focused team of a few core journalists has grown dramatically through expansion and a merger. We’re now a 65-person newsroom, still dedicated to producing high-impact, award-winning journalism.

We’ve added in-house expertise in radio and video production, animation, data analysis, news applications development, user engagement and more.

As we identify the bare patches in our newsroom to work to be even better, one key area stands out: design of data interactives and graphics.

We work with many graphic designers and have featured their incredible work. But we've never had anyone dedicated to making our reporting and data analysis really shine. When it comes to news apps, we’ve been pretty good at faking it, but we know that we can really up our game.

We need to be able to tell readers things they don't already know and are actually worth knowing. We need your help to communicate that information more effectively. We'll challenge you to help users understand complex concepts and help us understand the best way to distill millions of relevant records into a compelling presentation.

We've got all the meaty data you could desire: drug seizures along the U.S.-Mexico border, frighteningly high opiate prescription rates among veterans, toxic waste rolling across the country, complaints about conditions in public housing and America's Worst Charities.

CIR is a nonprofit newsroom in the San Francisco Bay Area and reports stories close to home, across California and the nation, and around the world. We produce our stories on every available media platform – including print, online, video, radio, interactive data applications and live events (even poetry and coloring books) – so that our reporting is accessible and engaging.

But wait, there’s more: We have our own stats club, writing club and running club. We even have an office bike-share program and fresh fruit deliveries.

And yes, we have data and stories – lots of them. Come help us make them beautiful.

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Jennifer LaFleur

jlafleur@revealnews.org

Jennifer LaFleur worked at The Center for Investigative Reporting until September, 2017. Jennifer LaFleur is senior editor for data journalism for Reveal. Previously, she was the director of computer-assisted reporting at ProPublica and has held similar roles at The Dallas Morning News, the San Jose Mercury News and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the first training director for Investigative Reporters and Editors. She has won awards for her coverage of disability, legal and open government issues. LaFleur is based in Reveal’s Emeryville, California, office.

Michael Corey is a former senior data editor. He led a team of data journalists who seek to distill large datasets into compelling and easily understandable stories using the tools of journalism, statistics and programming. His specialties include mapping, the U.S.-Mexico border, scientific data and working with remote sensing. Corey's work has been honored with an Online Journalism Award, an Emmy Award, a Polk Award, an IRE Medal and other national awards. He previously worked for the Des Moines Register and graduated from Drake University.