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 "Supplier" ...
-
Fishy Business
Boston Globe reporters Jenn Abelson and Beth Daley captured the attention of consumers across the nation with their 2011 “Fishy Business” series, which revealed widespread mislabeling of seafood at restaurants. DNA testing commissioned by the Globe showed diners frequently – and unwittingly -- overpaid for less desirable species. In 2012, the Globe produced two more “Fishy Business” installments to expand and follow up on the initial investigation. First, Abelson spent several months examining how fish processors add water to seafood to increase profits. The Globe hired an independent lab to conduct an analysis of 43 fish samples collected from supermarkets across Massachusetts. The results, presented in a multimedia package in September 2012, showed consumers often pay for excess water when they buy scallops and frozen fish. About 1 in 5 of the samples weighed less than what was stated on packages. The testing also showed 66 percent of the fish from one supplier had too much ice. The Globe also wanted to verify restaurants and wholesalers had changed their ways following the newspaper’s 2011 investigation and resulting calls for reform. Daley and Abelson returned to 58 restaurants that served the wrong fish in 2011 to collect new samples. DNA tests showed 76 percent did not match what restaurants advertised on their menus. The resulting third installment of “Fishy Business,” published in December 2012, detailed these findings. In addition, Abelson and Daley explained how accountability is lost in the fish supply chain by investigating a major wholesaler that provided mislabeled fish to some of the region’s best-known restaurants.
-
iLied: Exposing Mike Daisey’s Fabrications of Apple’s Supply Chain in China
This two-part investigation exposed fabrications in American monologuist Mike Daisey’s narrative about the Chinese factory workers who make Apple products, and also gave a voice to the Chinese men and women who were at the center of the international debate about factory conditions. Daisey had gained a worldwide platform as Apple’s most prominent critic; Reporter Rob Schmitz’s investigation proved that the details on which Daisey had built his compelling story were fabricated. Schmitz’s investigation aired on Marketplace and This American Life on March 16, 2012 and made international headlines, sparking a debate about journalistic truth. Schmitz’s April 2012 follow-up stories broadcast the points-of-view of actual Chinese factory workers and their employers, and helped re-shape the narrative about working conditions at Apple suppliers. Schmitz’s investigation became the most downloaded story in each program’s history. Hundreds of media organizations covered the work, sparking thousands of news articles and commentaries about the findings and the issues it raised. Online components of the work – which included podcasts, photo, and video – demonstrated the reach and longevity of multimedia storytelling; a video Schmitz shot of an iPad assembly line went viral with more than 2 million views on Youtube. The work continues to be discussed in case study format at journalism schools around the U.S., including an ethics class at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Tags: journalism; journalism education; multimedia storytelling
-
"Mexico Drug Wars"
AP reporters investigate how repercussions of the Mexican drug wars have mowed over the border and have settled on U.S. soil. They also reveal that the U.S. is the biggest supplier of weapons to the "gangsters" and also offers drug lords a lucrative market.
Tags: Mexican border; drug violence; drug lord; Ciudad Juarez; Tijuana; drug cartels
-
Glock's Secret Path to Profits
The Austrian handgun, Glock, has become the largest handgun supplier to US law enforcement. This investigation revealed the hidden history behind the success and the troubling business dealings within the company. This story also reveals the difficulty US regulators have overseeing international businesses.
Tags: Handguns; Business; Law Enforcement; Pistols; Supplier; Gaston Glock; Police; Firearms; Guns; Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
-
The Federal Contractor Misconduct Database
The Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD) is a Web-based resource that tracks the civil, criminal, and administrative misconduct of the federal government's largest suppliers of goods and services. POGO created the FCMD to ensure that the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars the federal government awards every year in contracts (over $530 billion in fiscal year 2008) go to companies with solid records of responsibility, integrity and performance. POGO developed the FCMD because government contracting officers are required by law to award contracts to responsible vendors only but lack a centralized repository of information on vendors' misconduct histories. To make decisions that are in the best interest of the public and prevent fraud, wasted and abuse, the government must have as much information as possible reflecting the past performance and responsibility of prospective vendors. The FCMD provides this information free to the public in a concise and user-friendly format. The FCMD spotlights each of the top 100 federal contractors. It complies each contractor's instances of misconduct -- actual and alleged -- dating back to 1995. In addition to misconduct instances, the FCMD includes primary source documents and links to the contractors' Web sites, annual reports, SEC filings, and lobbying and campaign finance information. Search and sort features allow users to search the data for key words, or to organize the data in interesting ways. The FCMD is an evolving resource. POGO continually adds and updates instances and contractor information. POGO also periodically updates the contractor list to reflect the most current fiscal year ranking. Each year, the roster of contractors will change, but POGO will keep all old rankings on a special archive page so that eventually the FCMD will include hundreds of contractors.
Tags: government contracts; computer-assisted reporting; database work; government oversight; misconduct
-
Are you getting greased at Heartland Jiffy Lubes?
Heartland Automotive Jiffy Lubes were found to be selling two oils to customers for different prices. Yet when tested, the I-Team found that the oils had the same properties. ConocoPhillips, the supplier of the more expensive oil, said that Jiffy Lube had known this for sometime. In a later investigation the I-Team found that Heartland Jiffy Lubes sold washer fluid contained no methanol to prevent freezing, despite calling it their “winter blend.†It had simply been died blue by order of the Heartland.
Tags: Jiffy Lube; Heartland; oil; consumer; ConocoPhillips; washer fluid; fraud; deception
-
Omnicare
A lawsuit has targeted Omnicare, the "nation's largest supplier of drugs to senior citizens in nursing homes and assisted living facilities." Spurred by the whistle-blower's tip, the CBS Evening News investigates the lawsuit, which alleges that Omnicare CEO Joel Gemunder conspired to defraud Medicaid.
Tags: Omnicare; Medicaid; Medicare; fraud; Joel Gemunder; Total Pharmacy
-
Cybercrime, Inc.; Meth addicts' other habit: Online theft; Cyber safecrackers break into online accounts with ease; This little fob could foil a cyber bank robber; Net crooks con Americans into web of crime; Unprotected PCs can be hijacked in minutes; The rise of zombie computers -- Are hackers using your PC to spew spam and steal?; Tech industry has no unified defense system
These USA Today reporters set out to delineate the underlying economic drivers of cyber crime. On Sept. 8, 2004, Achohido and Swartz were the first to comprehensively describe how cyber crooks systematically took control of millions of home computers, turning them into zombies to carry out various fraud schemes. An accompanying cover story took big tech suppliers to task for placing an unfair burden on consumers for keeping the Internet safe. A November 30 story reported the results of a honey pot test -- designed and overseen by the reporters -- showing how simply connecting a new PC to the Internet triggers nonstop break-in attempts by intruders. They also outlined what readers can and should do to protect themselves. These findings were only the beginning of their investigation.
Tags: cyber fraud; Internet; online
-
DWP Files
This series of stories on LA's Department of Water and Power, the nations' largest municipal utility, follows up on Anderson's report last year about racial discrimination at the utility company. He reports on price gouging by suppliers; dysfunctional management and extortion by the unions; whistleblowers being fired; shoddy workmanship and cost overruns.
Tags: City government; mismanagement; power supply; electricity; unions; corruption; Los Angeles politics
-
Errant gun dealer, wary agents paved way for Beltway sniper tragedy
This story deals with the gun dealer that supplied John Muhammad, and Lee Boyd Malvo with the military weapon used in the sniper shootings. Law enforcement sources say Lee Boyd Malvo told investigators he shoplifted the gun from the Bulls Eye firing range. The store has no sales record, and can't produce records for scores of other missing guns. Bull's Eye's negligent operation and the government's timid enforcement of errant gun dealers contributed to the tragedy according to released documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and numerous interviews with current and former agency employees .
Tags: sniper; Bull's Eye's firing range; Lee Boyd Malvo; John Muhammad; Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms; gun supplier; ATF; ATF National Tracing Center; Bulls Eye Shooter Supply; Pacific Shooters Supply; 1968 Gun Control Act; Federal Firearms License; National Rifle Association