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 "advertising image" ...
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The Deal Makers
An investigation by the Washington Post revealed that America Online "was using a series of unconventional transactions to sustain the appearance of breakneck growth in ad revenue" -- even after the Internet boom subsided and it merged with Time Warner. " Time Warner executives were "mesmerized by the hundreds of millions of dollars in online advertising pouring into AOL ... (and) even when the bubble popped and dot-coms collapsed, AOL continued to report record-breaking growth in ad revenue, reinforcing its image as the medium of the future and overwhelming any second thoughts from Time Warner shareholders and employees." What Time Warner didn't know was that, "among other things, AOL turned legal disputes into ad deals, converted long-term contracts into one-time balloon payments, shifted revenue from one division to another, bartered ads for computer equipment and sold ads on behalf of eBay while booking all the sales as its own... (The) stories immediately prompted two federal investigations of AOL Time Warner."
Tags: America Online; AOL; Time Warner; AOL Time Warner; Enron; advertising revenue; merger; balloon payments; contracts; Internet boom; dot-coms
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A Question of Intent: A Great American Battle with a Deadly Industry
Kessler's book depicts the investigation undertaken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) into the tobacco industry. The author, former FDA commissioner in the early 90s, uncovers "historical evidence that the tobacco companies orchestrated the greatest conspiracy ever undertaken to put the nation's health at risk." The book follows step by step the disclosure of scientific information and documents that proved the tobacco companies awareness that nicotine is an addictive drug. Kessler looks at the money and politics strings that tobacco industry has been controlling over the past decades.
Tags: cigarettes; nicotine; drugs; Phillip Morris; lobbying; public health; cancer; children; youth; schools; advertising image; tobacco regulations; Congress; legislature
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Does Crime Pay?
"For years, the hard-charging executive had run Avant! more like a sole proprietorship than a publicly traded company. His hand-picked board, which included a retired Park Ranger who is friends with his sister and a host of insiders with business deals with Avant!, okayed huge pay packages for Hsu and CEO-like salaries for a son with limited business experience and a former stewardess who was his top lieutenant. The story spelled out suspicious Avant! investments into entities win which Hsu holds a personal stake, the legal stalling tactics employed by Avant! to buy time of for the company, and a PR campaign to raise its image that included the creation of a foundation that has spent twice as much on advertising its good works as it has on actual charity." - excerpt from IRE contest entry form
Tags: business; computers; software; Silicon Valley; Avant!
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No title (id: 4559)
Philadelphia Inquirer peels away the glossy image of Robert Brennan's First Jersey Security Co., disclosing that nearly half the company's profits went into companies Brennan also owned, advertising claims were untrue, stock was illegally manipulated and the company was started on a loan from a known drug dealer, 1986.
Tags: PA