On the Road

Behind the Story: Doctors caught cheating on the way to the top

 

Memorizing test questions and passing them on to future test takers is considered cheating by most people. However, for many radiologists, attempting to become board certified, it is simply a technique used to study. CNN's "Exclusive: Doctors cheated on exams" takes a close look:

"From my understanding, I would say nationwide from my friends across the country who are all in the same stages of training throughout the years, everyone gets a group. People decided beforehand what sections I will focus on, in terms of trying to recall those questions and answers," said Dr. John Yoo, a practicing radiologist ...

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Behind the Story: 10 years in, safety concerns still plague nuclear waste site

USA Today: Hanford nuclear cleanup

In "Problems plague cleanup at Hanford nuclear waste site," USA Today’s Peter Eisler takes on 56 million gallons of radioactive waste and finds he isn’t the only one who has a few things to learn. After 10 years of developing the “first-of-its-kind” nuclear waste treatment plant, the Department of Energy and its contractors still don’t know how to build it.

Project costs tripled to $12.3 billion and the start-up date was moved to 2019 from 2011, Eisler reported.

By using in-depth interviews and federal employees' documented concerns over "technical problems," Eisler was able to relay to ...

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Share, interact with data easier with a PANDA in your newsroom

Developers will demo a beta version of the newsroom appliance at the 2012 CAR Conference.




Tucked away on reporters' computers are dozens of details that could benefit news coverage, if only other journalists knew where to look.PANDA Project

Newsrooms are swimming in data. Journalistic organizations big and small continue to collect data from local, state and federal governments, and dozens of other places. As the collection grows, making sense of that information can become more difficult.

That's what the PANDA project, a 2011 Knight News Challenge winner, wants to solve — make data analysis easier for journalists and make sharing ...

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Behind the Story: Tracking problem police officers in Florida

It was an unbelievable record for anyone, let alone a public employee. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that one Opa-Locka, Fla., officer had been:

“Fired five times and arrested three, he was charged with stealing a car, trying to board an airplane with a loaded gun and driving with a suspended license.…(He) split a man's lip with a head butt. He opened another man's head with a leg sweep and takedown. He spit in the face of a drunken, stumbling arrestee. One time, he smacked a juvenile so hard the boy's face was red and swollen the ...

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Using documents to cover religious organizations

Covering religious organizations can be difficult, because it can be tough to get public documents. Kansas City Star reporter Judy Thomas, spoke at an IRE training session for McClatchy journalists and offers the following tips:

  • Get to know your subjects inside out. Subscribe to newsletters, magazines and other publications of the organizations you cover. Get a flow chart of the organization, learn the chain of command, become familiar with the acronyms.

  • While churches typically don't have to file IRS 990 forms, it's worth checking because some do so voluntarily. (www.guidestar.org is a good place to check ...
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New York Times' Abramson to keynote 2012 IRE Conference

Jill Abramson, who took over as executive editor of The New York Times in September, will deliver the keynote address at the 2012 IRE Conference in BostonShe is the first woman to hold that position in the newspaper's more than 160-year history. 

More than 800 journalists and journalism educators are expected to attend the four-day conference that focuses on accountability reporting techniques and trends. Abramson will deliver the keynote speech during annual IRE Awards luncheon on Saturday, June 16, 2012. She follows CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager, who was the keynote speaker at the 2011 IRE Conference

"Jill ...

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Guidelines for dealing with confidential sources

Avoiding landmines when dealing with confidential sources was the focus of one of the panels highlighting a joint workshop held last week by IRE and the Canadian Association of Journalists.

More than 90 journalists gathered at the Ryerson University School of Journalism to learn more about key issues facing journalists on both sides of the border, from the environment and terrorism to using open records laws and finding relevant data online.

The confidential sources panel, featuring three journalists and a media lawyer, provided practical advice in how to deal fairly with sources who request confidentiality while not getting into legal ...

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Piercing the secrecy of private companies

Investigating private companies can stymie even the most dogged reporter. They aren’t subject to Sunshine requests and they don’t file paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But chances are, you can still find out a lot about most of them.

Ames Alexander, a reporter for The Charlotte Observer, detailed some of these strategies at a recent training seminar in Charlotte, N.C. Here are a few of the insights that Alexander shared:

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IRE looks to hire new training director

Training Director Doug Haddix has accepted a position at the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Reporting at Ohio State University. He has served as one of two IRE training directors for the past three years, helping plan conferences and leading dozens of training sessions. Haddix also edited The IRE Journal, IRE’s award-winning, quarterly magazine on investigative reporting techniques and trends.

IRE plans to hire a new training director. If you’re interested in the position contact Executive Director Mark Horvit at mhorvit@ire.org. The candidate will join a strong organization with a more than 35-year commitment to improving ...

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Live chat with Charles Lewis, executive editor Investigative Reporting Workshop

Mark your calendars: Charles Lewis, executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at the American University School of Communication, will chat live at the Reynolds Center’s BusinessJournalism.org at 9:30 a.m. (PDT) on Sept. 27.

This hour-long conversation will cover investigative journalism and how to turn reporting into a book project.

Lewis was the founder of the Center for Public Integrity. He also helped create theInvestigative News Network in 2009. The network has grown to a 60 member nonprofit news organizations.

Here’s more information on Lewis and the free chat.