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2000 IRE Awards
Return to The IRE Contest

The IRE Investigative Reporting Contest

This Year's Winners

2000 IRE Contest Winners and Finalists

NEWSPAPERS

Local Circulation Weeklies

No Winner

Finalists Small newspapers (under 100,000)

IRE Certificate

"Stadium Naples," Naples Daily News, Gina Edwards.

Relentless and dogged beat reports over four years documented a web of corrupt dealings involving a golf-stadium development, county grants, the PGA tour and local commissioners. Ultimately, one of the key subjects of these stories was indicted based on the information developed in the newspaper. The stories show how digging on a breaking news story can lead to important investigative disclosures. The paper gave the reporter plenty of support through space and prominent play throughout the investigation.

Finalists Medium newspapers (100,000 through 250,000)

IRE Certificate

"Detroit Fire Department: Out of Service," The Detroit News, Melvin Claxton, Charles Hurt.

The reporters documented irresponsibility and incompetence in the Detroit Fire Department, outlining myriad flaws - malfunctioning fire trucks, broken hydrants, closed stations - that contributed to deaths. They reconstructed in detail one fire in which two children died because equipment was not in working order. The series put pressure on public officials to increase funding. The presentation was clear and the writing was precise.

Finalists Large newspapers (over 250,000)

IRE Certificate

"The Body Brokers," The Orange County Register, Mark Katches, William Heisel, Ronald Campbell, Sharon Henry, Michael Goulding.

Despite a federal ban on profiting from the sale of skin, bone and tissue obtained from dead people, a $500 million-a-year industry deals in donated body parts. This industry operated in the shadows, out of sight and mind of the American public, until it was revealed by the Register. Most impressive was the paper's documentation of the relationship between not-for-profit tissue banks and their for-profit tissue-processing partners. Particularly shocking were the revelations that skin desperately needed for burn victims was instead going to cosmetic purposes. The series has spawned reforms in California and nationally.

Finalists

TELEVISION

Network/syndicated

IRE Certificate

"First Casualty," CBS; 60 Minutes II, Bob Simon, Draggan Mihailovich, Christine Spolar.

Within 12 hours of Operation Desert Storm, the U.S. suffered its first casualty, Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher. But as 60 Minutes II revealed, Speicher may not have died when his plane went down. Compiling secret Pentagon documents, including satellite photos and forensic reports, this report uncovered a series of missteps, some of which appear to be rooted in politics. The result was a breathtaking and well-told story about how the Department of Defense misled the American people and violated its most important military creed, to leave no soldier behind.

IRE Certificate

"The Paper Chase," Dateline NBC, John Larson, Lynne Dale, Allan Maraynes, Neal Shapiro, Andy Lehren, Mable Chan.

When State Farm Insurance Co. wants to challenge an insurance claim, it often sends out patient records to several companies through a little-known practice called "paper review." Dateline's investigation documented how these companies used people with no medical training to write up reports that routinely denied patient claims. The reporters did an outstanding job of penetrating the inner workings of an industry which thrives on secrecy. The judges were awed by the depth and difficulty of the reporting and the outstanding interviews of the company executives, who were caught cold by the superb, incisive questioning.

Finalists
  • "Diamonds and Blood," ABC News, John Quinones, David Fitzpatrick, Thomas E. Goldstone, David Ward, Jane Hartney.
  • "Dangerous Drugs," CBS News, Allyson Ross Taylor, Jim Murphy, Jim McGlinchy, Mark Katkov, Andy Triay, Sharyl Attkisson.
  • "No Safe Haven," CNN&Time, Ken Shiffman, Daphne Algom, Linda Pattillo, David Timko, Lisa Satterfield, Sarah Fogel, Roger Herr, Lisa Satterfield, Ira Raider, Claire Cibik.
Top 20 markets

IRE Certificate

"Treading on Danger?" KHOU-TV, David Raziq, Anna Werner, Chris Henao.

By now everyone knows that Firestone tires on Ford Explorers were defective and caused several deadly crashes. The company agreed to recall those tires, the second largest tire recall in U.S. history. It is unlikely any of this would have happened without the reporting of KHOU in Houston. The results of KHOU's investigation are spectacular: the second largest tire recall in US history, congressional hearings and new regulations. Were it not for this piece, the failure of Firestone tires on Ford Explorers likely would have remained sealed in court cases throughout the country. In the face of denials and threats from the two companies, the television station expanded the scope of its inquiry internationally. The reports sparked intense scrutiny of not only a defective product, but of the way complaints and patterns of defects are quashed or ignored.

Finalists Below top 20 markets

IRE Medal

"Who's Policing the Police," WTVF-Nashville, Phil Williams, Bryan Staples.

Phil Williams began investigating how off-duty Nashville police officers were getting paid as security guards in the city's most notorious strip zone. He soon discovered that high-ranking police officers were ordering a hands-off approach to the establishments at the behest of their owners. Williams and Staples went on to expose other unethical actions by police. Despite threats to himself and his family, Williams persevered. It was a powerful but even-handed series of reports. He went after one of the most powerful institutions in any town and broke the blue line by getting police officers to talk about their superiors. The story was nailed and resulted in the resignation of a top-ranking police officer and a change in the policy regulating off-duty employment by police. An outstanding example of dogged local reporting.

Finalists

OTHER MEDIA

Magazine/specialty publication

IRE Medal

"The Secret History of Lead," The Nation, Jamie Lincoln Kitman.

This reads like a classic turn-of-the-century muckraking piece. The author documents how American businesses, including General Motors and Standard Oil, produced and marketed leaded gasoline even though they knew there were safer, though more expensive, alternatives. And this story reveals that after lead was finally banned in U.S. gasoline in 1986, the companies continued to market leaded gas overseas. The research manifested here is nothing short of breathtaking.

Finalists Radio

IRE Certificate

"Beneath Native Land: Occidental Petroleum in South America," Living on Earth from NPR, Ingrid Lobet.

The reporter went on an extraordinary journey into the heart of the South American jungle. She showed enterprise and daring as she exposed the effects of Occidental Petroleum’s oil drilling on native lands. On a tight budget and journeying through the most horrendous conditions, the reporter uncovered water contamination and environmental damage caused by a major U.S. oil company.

Finalists SPECIAL CATEGORIES

Tom Renner Award

"California’s Billion Dollar Rip-Off," KCBS-TV, Joel Grover, Jennifer Cobb.

The California Medicaid program - Medi-Cal - has been beset by fraud for years. But KCBS brought the state's residents face to face with the swindles, showing how corrupt doctors, nurses and street hustlers were defrauding the system and costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Excellent use of undercover video provided graphic proof of an unabashed fraud. And the station did not let bureaucracy off the hook, showing how obsolete computers made the fraud so easy. The undercover work was gutsy, smart and powerful. The series resulted in immediate action by the governor and the closing of 12 of the 13 clinics that the reporters exposed.

Finalists Online

IRE Certificate

"Our Private Legislatures - Public Service, Personal Gain," Center for Public Integrity, Diane Renzulli, Meleah Rush, John Dunbar, Alex Knott, Robert Moore, Ken Vogel.

The Center for Public Integrity decided to investigate conflicts of interests involving state legislatures in all 50 states. To proceed, it obtained the financial disclosure documents of all state legislators and compiled them into a master database. The result: an eye-opening project that disclosed that more than 20 percent of state legislators sat on committees charged with regulating the legislators' professional or business interests. This is the first comprehensive look at all state legislators in one place and the interactive nature of the project allows voters to see for themselves how their lawmakers measure up.

Finalists FOI Award

"Inside the '96 Olympics," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Melissa Turner.

Following the disclosure of the Salt Lake City Olympics bribery scandal, the Journal-Constitution wanted to take a closer look at what happened during the '96 Olympics in Atlanta. But the Atlanta Olympics committee denied the paper's request for documents, saying those records were private. The paper would not give up, and was joined in its efforts by the state attorney general and ultimately Congress. After finally receiving the hundreds of boxes of documents, the paper produced a remarkable series of stories that gave readers an incredible behind-the-scenes look at the Olympics and its organizers. The effort also set an important precedent for news organizations seeking to look into Olympic organizing committees in the future.

Finalists Book

IRE Certificate

"The Book of Honor: Covert Lives and Classified Deaths at the CIA," Doubleday, Ted Gup.

When Ted Gup was visiting the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters in Langley, Va., in 1991, he noticed a large marble wall in the lobby. It featured 69 black stars, representing each of the CIA agents or employees who had died on assignment. More than half of those stars had no names attached. Nine years later, Gup's book discloses the people behind the stars and the stories of their deaths. Gup went after one of the most impenetrable institutions in the country, breaking more than 50 years of silence by the agency. His painstaking research uncovered information even the victims' fellow agents didn't know, and he presents it in an engaging, compelling fashion. Beyond the remarkably detailed portraits of individuals, Gup's research presents a mosaic of our nation’s covert actions overseas.

Finalists Student Work (All Media)

IRE Certificate

"Cycle of Influence: How Campaign Contributions, Lobbyist Spending and Personal Financial Interests Affect the West Virginia Legislature," Charleston Gazette/University of Missouri, Scott M. Finn.

Excellent storytelling about how lobbyists influence legislators in the state capital of West Virginia. The reporter combined excellent computer-assisted reporting skills with strong sourcing. He was able to show through many different windows how personal and business conflicts affect legislation in that state. As a contest screener said, "Finn has done a service for the readers of West Virginia."

Finalists