IRE History | Recent Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
   Steve Doig, Contest Committee chairman, 480-965-5012, steve.doig@asu.edu
IRE offices:
   Brant Houston, Executive Director, 573-882-2042, brant@ire.org
   Len Bruzzese, Deputy Director, 573-882-2042, len@ire.org

Complete listings of winning news organizations and journalists, as well as finalists, in each category.
Videostreamed excerpts from television category winners.
March 31, 2004

COLUMBIA, Mo. — An astonishing story of brutal war crimes by The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade and a book on the American tax system by David Cay Johnston took top honors in the 2003 IRE Awards, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. announced today.

The Blade team uncovered the story of an elite U.S. unit called Tiger Force that went on a seven-month rampage in Vietnam in 1967 killing hundreds of unarmed civilians. Reporters Michael Sallah, Mitch Weiss and Joe Mahr tracked down 43 former Tiger Force soldiers, many of whom are haunted by the atrocities they committed or watched.

The book by Johnston, "Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich — and Cheat Everybody Else" (Penguin Group USA), combined compelling anecdotes with exhaustive big-picture research to convey vital information about arcane tax policy in a way that can be understood by general readers. The contest judges noted Johnston's tenure as a reporter with The New York Times.

"His years of covering the intricacies of America's loophole-ridden tax system and the wealthy who take advantage of it have paid off in a book that should anger every citizen," they said.

The annual awards of IRE - a 5,000-member professional organization - recognize outstanding investigative work in 15 categories, most of them based on market or circulation size. The categories are separated into print, broadcast, online media and work that demonstrates superior use of freedom of information and open records laws.

IRE judges recognized a wide range of work that included investigations into a major nonprofit environmental organization, a decrepit and unsafe school system, the perils of overseas volunteer work, flaws in U.S. energy policy and international water policy, workplace dangers, sexual assaults at the Air Force Academy, and hotels for the homeless.

The IRE Awards program is unique in its efforts to avoid conflicts of interest. Work that includes any significant role by a member of the IRE Board of Directors or an IRE contest judge may not be entered in the contest. This often represents a significant sacrifice on the part of the individual — and often an entire newsroom — who may have done outstanding investigative work. For example, this year The Seattle Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Wisconsin State Journal, WCNC-Charlotte and WEWS-Cleveland were unable to enter the contest.

IRE's Freedom of Information Award went to a team from the (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader for exposing a massive secret pardons program rife with questions and conflicts for the governor. The team included David Kranz, Stu Whitney, Terry Woster, Jon Walker and Patrick Lalley.

"The Argus-Leader's work is a sterling example of a news organization working around a state's inadequate freedom of information law to monitor the affairs of a government's executive branch," the judges said.

For a second straight year, an IRE Certificate was awarded to Phil Williams and Bryan Staples of WTVF-Nashville for investigating state government. Despite ethics reforms, the team documented continued cozy relationships between politicians and lobbyists as well as questionable spending practices by the University of Tennessee president.

Other certificate winners:

Joe Stephens and David B. Ottaway of Washington Post for "Big Green," a report about the Nature Conservancy that found sweetheart land deals for insiders, drilling for oil in sensitive habitat, and a board of directors with executives from corporations known more for causing environmental problems than curing them behind the environmental icon.
Debbie Cenziper and Jason Grotto of The Miami Herald for "Crumbling Schools," an exposé of decrepit, unsafe conditions in Miami school classroom buildings that led to the resignation of the superintendent and top building officials and state scrutiny.
Russell Carollo and Mei-Ling Hopgood of the Dayton Daily News for "Casualties of Peace," a gripping examination of thousands of assaults, robberies, rapes and even murders since 1990 that turned Peace Corps volunteers into victims around the world.
Phoebe Zerwick and Les Gura of the Winston-Salem Journal for "Murder, Race, Justice: The State vs. Darryl Hunt," the story of a man who was sent to prison for 19 years for a crime he did not commit and the racial attitudes and scientific evidence involved in the case.
Julie Jargon of Westword for "The War Within" about the story of sexual abuse and rape at the U.S. Air Force Academy and its honor system.
A team including David Barstow, David Rummel, Neil Docherty, Lowell Bergman, Linden MacIntyre, Robin Stein, James Sandler, Nelli Kheyfets, Remy Weber, Jason Maloney, Lynda Baril, Louis Wiley Jr., David Fanning, Ann Derry and Lawrie Mifflin from PBS Frontline, New York Times Television and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for "A Dangerous Business," how the McWane Corporation has amassed more safety violations than all of its major industry competitors combined, leaving employees maimed and killed. The investigation also exposed how ineffective OSHA policies have failed to protect McWane's employees.
Jeff Harris, John Ferrugia, Kurt Silver, Jason Foster and Byron Grandy of KMGH-Denver for "Honor and Betrayal: Scandal at the Academy," a look at the rapes and cover ups at the U.S. Air Force Academy that helped prompt changes throughout the military.
Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele of Time for a series of stories about "U.S. Energy Policy," that used exhaustive research and clear, real-life examples show how America's failure to stick to a consistent energy policy and its special-interest legislation for energy firms amount to an unnecessary hidden tax on Americans.
Andrea Bernstein and Amy Eddings of WNYC-New York Public Radio for "Handshake Hotels," an absorbing report inside the ramshackle world of New York City's "Hotels for the Homeless Program" and the lax regulations and poor communication that allowed administrators to spend $180 million a year on dangerous, dirty and derelict housing for the city's needy population.
William Marsden, Maud Beelman, Bill Allison, Erika Hobbs, Daniel Politi, Aron Pilhofer, Andre Verloy, Laura Peterson and Samiya Edwards of the Center for Public Integrity for "The Water Barons," a sweeping, worldwide look at outbreaks of disease, unaffordable drinking water and lack of oversight as a result of water policies gone awry.
John Frank, Jamie Dougher, Matt Hanson, Joe Rauch, Suzanne Presto and Lynne Shallcross of The Daily Tar Heel for "Raising the Cap," for a six-part series examining the University of North Carolina's plans to increase enrollment of out-of-state students.
This year the judges chose again to give a special citation for international work. The citation went to Gerald Ryle and Brian Robins of The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. The reporters uncovered how public property across the country was being leased to corporations, wealthy individuals and political donors at rates far below market value.

The IRE Awards will be presented during the June 19 luncheon at the IRE Annual Conference in Atlanta. The conference, scheduled for June 17-20 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, will feature many of the winners speaking about the techniques they used to develop their stories.

IRE, founded in 1975, is a nonprofit professional organization dedicated to training and supporting investigative journalists. It is based at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Contest entries are screened and judged by other working journalists.

Copies of all contest entries are available from the IRE Resource Center. The center can be reached via e-mail at rescenter@ire.org or by calling 573-882-3364.

Complete listings of winning news organizations and journalists, as well as finalists, in each category.
Videostreamed excerpts from television category winners.