IN THE NEWS
IRE and NICAR offer data, stories and tipsheets to help cover the latestOther resources for covering the news
Reconstruction Contractors
(Dec. 12, 2003)
Every year, the U.S. government pays billions to contractors, including companies based in other countries. This week, though, the Department of Defense announced that it would not award Iraq reconstruction contracts to companies in countries that opposed the war. The countries affected include France, Germany, Russia and Canada. The contracts, according to The Associated Press, will amount to $18.6 billion.
IRE and NICAR have put together resources to help journalists cover government contracts and what they mean in their communities.
German companies alone, in fiscal year 2002, did almost $1 billion worth of business with the U.S. government. Companies in those other countries range from $27 million to $630 million. Some have employees in the United States and do work in the U.S.
Databases
Federal contracts
A database of Individual Contract Action Reports (ICARS) created by the Government Services Agency.
Names and numbers, from 1979 through 2002, can be found in the federal contracts database, available from the IRE and NICAR Database Library. The database includes company names and locations, how much, where the work was to be performed, what type of work and which agency.
For example, in 2002, the Department of Defense obligated $159 million for architectural services in Germany. It obligated almost $130 million for guided missiles or related work.
To order the data, call the Database Library at 573-884-7711 or download an order form.
Stories
To order stories from the IRE Resource Center, send e-mail to rescntr@ire.org or call us at 573-882-3364.
Story #19602
From the Caller-Times of Corpus Christi, Texas, is a collection of six stories on House Armed Services Committee third-ranking Democrat, Rep. Solomon Ortiz, and his influence on and personal gain from defense federal contracts in his district.
Story #19458
Shortly after President Bush took office, he revoked a rule designed to stop federal contracts from going to companies that repeatedly break the law. Ken Silverstein of Mother Jones acquired data that revealed the top 200 contractors are among the worst offenders.
Story #2037
This Fortune article discusses how H. Ross Perot is banking on federal contracts to make Electronics Data Systems Inc. the leader in computer services industry.
Story #7412
The Los Angeles Times uses computer-assisted research to conclude that the wealthy often exceed the $25,000 the limit on campaign contributions; bundled contributions by individuals are most effective way to influence members of Congress; most influential PACs are often small companies dependent on federal contracts; members of Congress spend most of their campaign reserves for purposes that do not involve direct appeals to voters; Federal Election Commission does not monitor its own database for violation of federal election laws.
Story #5899
The Belleville News-Democrat follows the progress of a federal contract being awarded to a minority-owned firm at Scott Air Force Base under a minority set-aside program, although the firm did not submit the lowest bid.
Search for more stories in IRE's Resource Center.
Tipsheets
To order tipsheets from the IRE Resource Center, send e-mail to rescntr@ire.org or call us at 573-882-3364.
Tipsheet #1930
By Nancy Amons of WSMV-TV, detailing the importance and usefulness of having the federal contracts database around when news breaks.
Tipsheet #1776
Mike Fabey of The Daily Press in Virginia provides this short synopsis on using computer-assisted reporting to cover defense contractors. He lists Web links, tips on building your database, and other important tips to know.
Search for more tipsheets in IRE's Resource Center.
IRE Publications
The Investigative Reporter's Handbook, Brant Houston's Computer-Assisted Reporting book and other helpful publications are available from IRE and NICAR.
Part Two of the Investigative Reporter's Handbook is about Investigating Individuals, Institutions and Issues. It includes chapters about investigating the various arms of government and investigating businesses. Several pages are devoted exclusively to government contracts and the contracting process.
Chapter 4 of the Investigative Reporter's Handbook covers "Crossing Borders: International Investigations."
Be sure to see the lists of related Web sites for Chapter 4, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 and Chapter 12.
Several articles published in Uplink may be useful:
May/June 2003
With the current situation in Iraq, military contractors is an interesting and topical story. Adam Bell of The Charlotte Observer analyzed the Federal Procurement Data to find companies that benefited from military contracts in the Carolinas. In this article, Bell discusses how he went about analyzing and cleaning the data. He also offers some tips to reporters working on similar stories.
January/February 2002
David Wethe and Michael Whiteley of the Dallas Business Journal give a very detailed explanation on how they analyzed the impact the war on terrorism would have on the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Using Visual Foxpro 6.0 and NICAR's database of federal contractors, the authors did a compelling story in just a week. Included in the article are the queries used to analyze the database.
March/April 2003
Jeff Porter, IRE and NICAR database library director, discusses some uses of the Federal Procurement Data System and how to combine the separate years into one complete data file using a program in Visual FoxPro.
IRE members can search the indexes of The IRE Journal and Uplink. Back issues of The IRE Journal and Uplink may be purchased for $10 each. There is an additional $10 user fee for nonmembers. Check with the Resource Center at 573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org for availability.
Web Links
| For more information, contact: | |
| Jeremy Milarsky Database Library Director IRE and NICAR E-mail: jeremy@ire.org Voice: 573-882-1982 Fax: 573-884-5544 |
Beth Kopine Research Director IRE Resource Center E-mail: beth@ire.org Voice: 573-882-6668 Fax: 573-884-8151 |
