The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "1984" ...
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Betrayal of Trust
The Orange County Register detailed the culture of exploitation that surrounded young female gymnasts who have fueled the sport's success since the early 1980's. Specifically, the Register investigation revealed the coach of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team had sexual relations with three young gymnasts he coached.
Tags: Olympics; U.S. Gymnastics; 1984; Coach; Sexual Abuse
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Children of Bhopal
In 1984, the Union Carbide pesticides factory in Bhopal, India leaked 40 tons of the highly poisonous gas, methyl isocyanate. Fifteen thousand people died, and those who survived have "endured horrific health problems over the past 26 years." Because the factory was never cleaned up, residents (including children) who still live in the impoverished area are subjected to the poison daily.
Tags: India; pesticide; Dow Chemical; cricket; Union Carbide
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Killer Prescription Drugs Part 1 and 2
Anderson Cooper 360 examined the FDA loopholes for prescription drugs. Since 1984, drug makers have been allowed to sell drug without approval as long as they "determine that the product was similar to others already approved and on the market." In some cases these similar, but unapproved, drugs have lead patients' deaths.
Tags: medicine; pharmacy; FDA; prescription; Phenobarbital; E-Ferol; chloral hydrate
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Mercury Menace
The author documented widespread mercury contamination in the town of McIntosh, AL. Most of the very public contamination had apparently escaped the attention of the EPA during Superfund investigations between 1984 and 2005. The reporter showed that mercury levels in creeks and rivers would rank among the highest mercury-contaminated areas of the U.S.
Tags: FOIA; contamination; Mercury; McIntosh; Superfund; E.P.A; Fish and Wildlife Service; Alabama Department of Environmental Management; Olin Corp.; Ciba Corp.
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Hacker Hunters
The authors investigated a battle of wits between the U.S. secret service and a cyber-crime gang known as the ShadowCrew. The story covers a rare victory by law enforcement to shut down a web-based crime outfit. It gave a face to the ShadowCrew, a network of over 4,000 people run by a part time college student and gave a reminder to internet users to be wary of doing business on the Web.
Tags: Internet; cyber-crime; web-based crime outfit; ShadowCrew; the U.S. Secret Service; e-business; Internet security
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A Shot in the Arm
Police arrested Darryl Burton on June 28, 1984, for the shooting death of Donald Ball, a notorious neighborhood gangster. Burton's trial in 1985 lasted two days, and a St. Louis jury found him guilty of capital murder and armed criminal action. Circuit Judge Jack L. Koehr sentenced the 23 year old Burton to life in prison. This story explores the murder conviction and the obstacles Burton has encountered in trying to get the conviction reversed. He was convicted on the strength of two eyewitness accounts. Gay finds that one of the eyewitnesses admitted perjury, and the other has had his character and testimony impugned by the arrival of new testimony.
Tags: Darryl Burton; reversed conviction; Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals; habeas corpus; FOI
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Equity Not Enough in Edgewood
In 1968, 400 Edgewood High School students protested against administration, demanding that they be provided with better supplies and more qualified teachers. Their parents set off a legal battle with the school district to get their kids a better education. In 1984, the current school finance system was declared unconstitutional and a new "Robin Hood" system was implemented. The new system required 134 of the richer school districts to share their funding with some of the poorer ones. This investigation looks at the effectiveness of this equity funding system, as well as other problems the district faces.
Tags: Edgewood School District; school finance; funding system; equity funding; "Robin Hood"; standardized testing
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Murder, Race, Justice - The State vs. Darryl Hunt
The Winston-Salem Journal carries out an investigative series that shows how a 1984 rape of a afternoon-newspaper reporter in Winston-Salem possibly resulted in a man's wrongful incarceration for 18 years. The series documents the flaws against Hunt and shows how the police used wrongful tactics and witnesses to focus on him as a suspect
Tags: rape; Deborah Sykes; DNA
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Murder, Race, Justice: The State vs. Darryl Hunt
The 1984 rape and murder of a 25 year-old white woman led to the wrongful incarceration of Darryl Hunt, a black man who was 19 at the time of the crime. This series documented the flaws in the case against Hunt, showing that police used questionable tactics, causing witnesses to focus in on him as a suspect. Hunt was finally released after DNA analysis proved his innocence.
Tags: DNA; conviction; arrest; race; racism
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Very troubled waters
A U.S. News examination of EPA data and state reports on thousands of rivers from 1984 to 1998 finds that the percentage of rivers designated as "impaired" has grown from 26 percent in 1986 to 36 percent in the most recent reports. The article looks at several pollutants affecting the water quality of rivers including: farm runoff, city sewage system, industry, mining, construction and urban and suburban runoff.
Tags: Clean Water Act; rivers; pollution; water quality; algae; farm runoff; EPA; Fayetteville; Arkansas.