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 "Family Products" ...
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Human Tissue Donation
It’s a billion dollar business that begins with an act of generosity: When someone or their family agrees to donate a person’s body, for free, after death. When they click the “donor” box on their driver’s license application, most organ donors don’t realize that they have also agreed to donate their tissue. They’ve made a legally binding promise that a private company can take skin, bones, tendons, ligaments and anything that’s not a living organ—and turn it into for-profit medical products. In a four part radio series that aired in July 2012, NPR Correspondent Joseph Shapiro highlighted this little known industry and the shortcomings in regulation that raise concerns among donors, medical professionals, and government officials at many levels. The series was part of a collaboration between NPR’s Investigative Unit and the International Consortium for of Investigative Journalists, a project of the Center for Public Integrity.
Tags: Human tissue donation; organ donors; ICIJ; Center for Public Integrity
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Trashing Your Tax Dollars
The NBC2 Investigators uncovered wasteful spending in a multi-million dollar federal program mean to re-stabilize neighborhoods hard hit by foreclosures. The program - called NSP (Neighborhood Stabilization Program) - utilized stimulus money approved during the George W. Bush administration to buy foreclosed homes, refurbish them and then sell them to families who would live in them, thus stabilizing a neighborhood. In our area, the program was administered by our county (Lee) and another program was administered by our city (Fort Myers). Our investigation of the county-run program found they were throwing away perfectly good appliances and replacing them with more expensive products. Not only could they have kept those appliances in the home - leaving them more money to refurbish others - but the appliances they did throw away could have gone to people in need in our community. Ultimately, our story forced the county to change policies in the program. They now coordinate with a local non-profit to donate all appliances and equipment once meant for the landfill.
Tags: broadcast; neighborhoods; foreclosed homes; appliances
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Amazing Profits?
Many Americans are struggling to find and keep jobs in this economic recession, so when they have a chance to earn money; it is something they will jump on. An infomercial, which claims it is possible for ordinary people to make huge profits from buying tax foreclosed homes, has caught the attention of many desperate people. These people do not need real estate experience or a large amount of capital to beginning this program. But it is discovered this program is deceptive and has sold “15 thousand” DVDs and brochures a week, which explains the program.
Tags: scams; FOIA; John Beck; Free and Clear Real Estate System; customers; Family Products; telemarketer; television; taxes
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An Empire Built on Bargains Remakes the Working World
This investigation shows how Wal-Mart as a corporation has both positive and negative effects on the world. The corporation is huge, it is the world's largest corporation and does more than eight times the sales as Microsoft. The article shows how the company prospers by cutting costs in any way possible, but also how its low costs affect the global economy. Factory workers overseas have wages cut down to pennies so Wal-Mart will buy their products, local grocery chains are forced out of business by Wal-Mart superstores and employees who are prohibited from unionizing don't make enough to support a family, even when working forty hours a week. Wal-Mart managers use illegal tactics to keep employees from joining unions and sometimes coerce employers to work overtime without being paid for it.
Tags: corporations; labor unions; wages; retailers; business; workers
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Remington Rifles
CBS News investigates a defect in the trigger system design if the Remington model 700 rifles, which allows the rifle to fire on safety even when the trigger is not touched. The segment tells the tragic story of an American family whose son died of a Remington accident. The report also reveals that, according to a 1979 internal memo, Remington determined that one percent of the two million early Model 700s could be "tricked" into firing. However, the company did nothing to fix the problem. "Thanks to a strong lobby firearms are one of the few products in America which have no government design and safety standards," CBS reports.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; consumer affairs; firearms safety; defective products; lobbying
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Dispensing with the Truth
Mundy tells how thousands of women fell ill and died after taking Fen-Phen, a popular diet-drug combination. The dieters suffered severe damages to their hearts and lungs. Those who survived were disabled for the rest of their lives. The book reveals that the manufacturer, Wyeth-Ayerst, a division of American Home Products, was well aware of the hazards of the product, but chose not to inform the public, the doctors and the regulators. The author looks at the tragic story of Mary Linnen, a healthy young woman who was the first to die from taking the dangerous medicine, and whose family was the first to file a wrongful death suit. The book depicts the avalanche of wrongful deaths and lawsuits that came in the years after the appearance of Fen-Phen in the market.
Tags: BOOK; heart disease; pulmonary hypertension; pneumonia; dieting; Food and Drug Administration (FDA); medicine; drug manufacturers
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Rollback: A Corporate Feeding Frenzy During Bush's Honeymoon
A Multinational Monitor investigative packet looks at the first hundred days for the George W. Bush administration, and finds that the cabinet has "aggressively carried forward the corporate agenda." The stories within the packet focus on the negative consequences to the environment, workers, public health, consumers, civil rights, mining, etc., resulting from the suspension or rescinding of important regulations. One of the articles sheds light on the new bankruptcy rules that favor the automobile industry and finance companies, while diminishing the chance of financially devastated low-income families to resume "lives as productive members of their community." A separate piece reveals the background and the corporate connections of vice-[president Dick Cheney. The packet includes profiles of the members of Bush's "corporate cabinet," and dissects some possible motives that might have inspired their actions in the first 100 days. The profiled officials are: Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, EPA Administrator Christine Whitman, Veteran Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Director Office of Management and Budget Mitch Daniels, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, Secretary of Transportation Norm Minetta, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Tags: politics; business; money and politics; Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); musculoskeletal disorders; cancer; drinking water; arsenic; ergonomic injuries; roads; forests; bankruptcy
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A Madness Called Meth
The Sacramento Bee, The Fresno Bee, and the Modesto Bee join together for a special report on methamphetamines, from the drug's history to it's current state, it's production, effects on the body, effects on families and communities, etc. Sections include narrative pieces about addicts, their lives and families, as well as pieces on criminal justice, legislation and the world-wide network of methamphetamines.
Tags: meth; methamphetamine