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 "DC" ...
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A City Program's Deadly Failures
In this story, we uncovered dangerous breakdowns in a DC program critical to public safety. It had received millions of city dollars to rehabilitate young offenders without locking them up. Yet we found many of its teens did not get any services at all, and dozens were murdered or arrested for murder. As a result of our reporting, the city overhauled the program and the mayor called for an investigation by the attorney general.
Tags: Public safety; crime; criminals; young offenders; teen criminals
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Big Money 2012
Big Money 2012 is an unprecedented multi-platform project to investigate campaign finance in the post-Citizens United era. Spanning television documentary, radio and online news outlets, this initiative draws on the award-winning talents of some of the best in the industry to dig deep into a story that goes to the foundations of our democracy. FRONTLINE’s pre-election TV broadcast of Big Sky, Big Money in partnership with American Public Media’s Marketplace formed the center of this multiplatform investigation, Big Money 2012, which continued on the radio and on the web. Further coverage of this timely story also continued online as part of ProPublica’s Dark Money series featuring reporting by ProPublica investigative reporter Kim Barker with Rick Young and Emma Schwartz reporting for FRONTLINE. Big Money 2012 tells a tale of money, politics, and intrigue in the remote epicenter of campaign finance, Montana. The investigation led the teams from big sky country—to a meth house in Colorado and to a UPS store in D.C. as they followed a trail of documents. What they find exposes the inner-workings of a dark money group. In all, it’s a unique collaboration a year in the making, which has led to robust journalism with real impact. And, the story is still unfolding.
Tags: campaign finance; politics; politicians
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D.C. Tax Office Scandal
The District of Columbia struck an unprecedented number of deals behind closed doors this year with prominent commercial property owners who had appealed their tax assessments, reducing the city's tax base by $2.6 billion. The settlements were kept from the public for months until The Washington Post started mining public records and filing FOIAs, which the city routinely denied until the newspaper's lawyers got involved. The Post also learned that city leaders had kept critical internal audits about the tax office in "draft" format to prevent their release under FOIA. Through sources, The Post obtained the undisclosed reports -- along with a dozen other audits that had been kept from public view -- and published the findings for the first time. The series prompted the City Council to change the law to require the tax office to immediately make public all of its reports -- bringing a new level of transparency to a once secretive agency. The Securities and Exchange Commission also launched a probe to see if the city had kept critical findings from audits used to determine bond ratings. The inquiry is ongoing.
Tags: tax fraud; taxes; taxpayers; tax office
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Wounded Warriors
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review began following up on tips worldwide from military personnel inside the Warrior Transition Units, the special military-medical wards constructed in the aftermath of the scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. After months of gathering leaked documents and compiling numerous interviews at bases nationwide, especially with soldiers, the Tribune leaked reams of secret reports detailing the Pentagon's own inspection of medical wards.
Tags: Military Personnel; Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Washington D.C. Documents
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The Crown Topples: The Swift Rise and Brutal Fall of Maryland's Latin Kings
An inside look at what happened when a national gang infiltrated two suburban counties. Major findings: in 2007 and 2008, the brother of a brutal gang member started a new Latin Kings "tribe" in Maryland and Washington D.C. The Royal Lion Tribe grew to nearly 200 members and initiated a bloody rivalry with the local branch of MS=13. A group of federal agents took down the gang from the inside after a minor crime brought the new gang into the spotlight.
Tags: Gangs; Gang Violence; Maryland; Royal Lion Tribe; Latin Kings;
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Are Our Pipelines Safe?
A look at whether or not D.C.'s largest utility company, Washington Gas, neglects natural gas leaks, putting the public at risk.
Tags: Natural Gas; Utilities
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60 Minutes: Insiders
Washington D.C. is a town that runs on inside information- but should our elected officials be able to use that information to pad their own pockets?
Tags: Congress; Elected Officials
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UDC
WTTG's 16-part investigation exposed out-of-control spending by the president of the University of DC, the only publicly-funded university in the nation's capital.
Tags: UDC; false records; broadcast
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Prison Profiting: Behind Arizona's Immigration Law
NPR's report shows that private prison corporations helped to write Arizona 1070, its controversial immigration law. The story examines "the private prison companies' handin getting the law written and passed, beginning with a private meeting at the Hyatt in washington D.C and ending with extensive campaign contributions and political connections to lawmakers and the governor of Arizona."
Tags: immigration; private prisons; lobbying; Arizona 1070; illegal immigrant; illegal immigration; criminal justice
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Washington Mardi Gras, Pay to Party
Local public officials and employees attend D.C. Mardi Gras festivities each year at taxpayer expense. Is it all work or play? Reporters found local government spent more than $80,000 for the festivities in 2009.
Tags: Mardi Gras; taxpayer; government; city; finance; money; D.C.; Mystick Krewe; civil servants