NICAR Conference Programs

I used to think that data journalism started in the 2000s. Then I dug further into the history of computer-assisted reporting (CAR). News nerds have been congregating at a conference hosted by the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) since the early 90s.

At NICAR 2017, I gave a lightning talk, CAR Through the Ages*, showcasing the recent history of CAR, as seen through past NICAR conference programs (+ slides here).

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I’ve scanned all the historical conference programs from 1996 to 2016.**

Special thanks to Heather Feldmann Henry of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), the parent organization of NICAR, for sending me the paper versions!

Here they are in list form. You can access the entire Dropbox folder here.

1993 — Computing: The News Frontier. Putting Bytes Into Your Bark
1994 — C.A.R. Trek: Computer-Assisted Reporting in the 90s
1995 — CAR Rock
1997 — NashCAR
1998 — Indiana CAR
1999 — Boston CAR Party
2000 — Kentucky Fried CAR
2002 — Philly CAR
2003 — Charlotte CAR
2004 — Head First CAR
2005 — Hollywood CAR
2006 — CAR on the Turnpike
2007 — Don’t Miss a Beat!
2008 — CAR Conference Houston
2009 — CAR Conference Indianapolis
2010 — CAR Conference Phoenix
2011 — CAR Conference Raleigh
2012 — CAR Conference St. Louis
2013 — CAR Louisville
2014 — CAR Baltimore
2015 — CAR Conference Atlanta
2016 — CAR Conference Denver
2018 — CAR Conference Chicago

And below are the conference covers one-by-one, in all their pun-filled glory (my fave is the “Boston CAR Party”). Click on the image to go to the Dropbox link.


* Yes, that’s a Harry Potter reference.

** There was no NICAR 1996, and the NICAR 2001 was rescheduled due to 9/11. NICAR 2017 has entered the digital age, and no paper copies of the program were made. NICAR 2018 has gotten even fancier, with an interactive conference guide as well as the usual online schedule. UPDATE: IRE has made a PDF version of the 2018 conference program available, which I’ve included as a link on this page.


1993 — Computing: The News Frontier. Putting Bytes Into Your Bark

1994 — C.A.R. Trek: Computer-Assisted Reporting in the 90s

1995 — CAR Rock

1997 — NashCAR

1998 — Indiana CAR

1999 — Boston CAR Party

2000 — Kentucky Fried CAR

2002 — Philly CAR

2003 — Charlotte CAR

2004 — Head First CAR

2005 — Hollywood CAR

2006 — CAR on the Turnpike

2007 — Don’t Miss a Beat!

2008 — CAR Conference Houston

2009 — CAR Conference Indianapolis

2010 — CAR Conference Phoenix

2011 — CAR Conference Raleigh

2012 — CAR Conference St. Louis

2013 — CAR Louisville

2014 — CAR Baltimore

2015 — CAR Conference Atlanta

2016 — CAR Conference Denver

2018 — CAR Conference Chicago