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 "crew" ...
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Wage Theft In the Fields
American farmworkers have often experienced egregious abuses, but nothing is more pervasive, nor harder to ferret out, than the wage theft that results from a practice called farm-labor contracting. Found in the fields of every handpicked crop in the country, farm-labor contractors not only provide growers with crews, but also handle wages and manage everything from verifying immigration status to providing workers' compensation. The problem is, the contractors systematically underpay the workers. “Farm labor contractors,” says writer Tracie McMillan, “give American produce growers what companies like China's Foxconn offer to Apple: a way to outsource a costly and complicated part of the business, often saving money in the process and creating a firewall between the brand and the working conditions under which its products are made.” And yet McMillan — a fellow with both the Knight-Wallace program at University of Michigan, and the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University — found that enforcement is rare: In 2008, inspectors visited only 1,499 of the more than 2 million farms nationwide; in 2011, California inspectors found just seven minimum wage violations on the state’s 86,000 farms. Fines are minimal: “It's cheaper to violate the law than to follow the law,” says one farmworker advocate. And wage theft is tedious to prove, requiring inspectors to interview workers, analyze time cards, and collect payroll records. That's why workers and their advocates in California are counting on a lawsuit brought earlier this year on behalf of two farmworkers against the contractors who hired them—as well as the growers who outsourced the work. The suit alleges that the contractors routinely undercounted the hours worked, failed to pay minimum wage or overtime, failed to provide safe or sanitary working conditions, and housed the workers in unsafe and unsanitary living quarters. The “collective action” suit—open to anyone who can prove he or she experienced the same treatment—may cover thousands of workers and deliver awards substantial enough to deter other employers from the same practices.
Tags: Labor; farms; working conditions; wage
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Addressing 911
It all started with a tip from people on the front lines, and quickly unraveled into a story that has sparked much needed oversight of Ingham County's new consolidated 911 center. The center merged two 911 dispatch centers into one back in June of 2012. In October, a group of first responders approached Reporter Ann Emmerich with alarming concerns about problems within the system. They believed at least two deaths could be connected to delayed response times because emergency crews were sent to the wrong address. They also believed county officials were trying to "cover up" the problems. Using the Freedom of Information Act, Ann Emmerich began digging into records from the 911 Dispatch Center. She obtained documented complaints from the Lansing Fire Department, call logs from the dispatch center, and time stamped recordings of 911 calls. Just days after Emmerich made those FOIA requests, Lansing's Mayor announced he would form a task force to investigate concerns with the County's 911 Center. At the time, there was no advisory board in place to oversee the center. Once officials went public with the formation of a task force, the original board that worked to establish the 911 center was brought back together to begin oversight.
Tags: broadcast; 911; FOIA; 911 center
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HBO Real Sports: Hockey's Darkest Day
In 2011 a plane carrying a Russian hockey team crashed shortly after takeoff--the deadliest accident in the history of professional sports. A five-month Real Sports investigation uncovered massive safety problems in the Russian hockey league. The league spent millions on player salaries but "a few bucks" on everything else--including travel. The plane that crashed was operated by a cheap, third-rate company that had been banned from flying to Europe because they had been cited so many times for major safety violations. The crew of the plane hadn't even completed their training. Our investigation showed that the lack of safety in the world’s second best hockey league—called the KHL—often extends to the ice where KHL team doctors use IV’s and drugs to get their players to perform better on the ice. One young star died after receiving an injection of banned drugs from team doctors. When it came to travel, the lack of safe conditions was nearly universal. Practically every team flew on a Soviet-era jet—jets that make up 3% of the world’s fleet but account for 42% of the world’s accidents. These jets are in such poor condition that most Russian airlines wont use them. Yet even after the crash the KHL continued to use these planes, a fact they initially denied. Shortly after we interviewed the KHL Vice President, the league changed its rules. Now teams fly strictly on modern equipment.
Tags: Russia; Russian hockey team; plane crash; the KHL;
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Councilmen on Tourism
The RBS-TV news crew followed city council members from seven Brazilian states as they attended 6 training courses over 40 days. They found that many of them enjoyed tourist day trips instead of the courses they were supposed to be attending. They also found that the politicians could purchase certificates of completion even when they did not attend the courses.
Tags: Brazil; city government; city council; fraud; tax dollars; abuse of power;
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Fatal Flights
The nation's medevac programs are dominated by private companies with stiff competition and widespread safety failings. The high rate of accidents in the medical helicopter field is due to entrenched complacency. The Post uproots the severe lack of safety in a field the public typically views as heroic.
Tags: medevac; helicopter; hospitals; safety; Washington Post; patient; rescue; Federal Aviation Administration; National Transportation Safety Board; deaths; crash; medical; flight; crew;
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My Battle for a Sales Job
Since unemployment has reached its highest level in decades, many laid-off professionals are turning to holiday retail sales jobs. To really see how tough a sales retail job could be, Anne Kadet applied for two dozen jobs. She finally got a job with J. Crew, where she endured unpredictable hours, daily bag checks, and meals in the grungy break room.
Tags: Unemployment; Retail; Holiday jobs; Sales; New York City; J Crew
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The Wasteland
CBS News found that when well-meaning American consumers give their electronics to so-called recyclers, the waste is often smuggled to China and other parts of the Third World, where it is broken down or melted for the precious metals inside. They investigated a major electronic waste recycler in the Denver area, Executive Recycling, and tracked a container that had been filled with cathode ray tubes at the company's loading docks. They followed this container from Denver, to the port of Tacoma, to Hong Kong, which is the main entryway to the part of southern China where electronic waste is broken down in the worst conditions. There, seven out of ten kids have dangerous levels of lead in their blood. Pregnancies are six times more likely to end in miscarriage. The reporters also went to China and found that wasteland, where workers were cooking circuit boards over open flames and separating the gold from other metals in acid baths on the edge of a river. While filming, the crew was attacked by a gang that protects this gray market enterprise. Back in Denver, CBS News confronted the CEO of Executive Recycling. He denied that his company had sent the CRTs overseas, but the evidence was all but irrefutable.
Tags: recycling; gray market; electronics; China; worker safety; pollution;
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A risky game
"Arizona State University performed emergency repairs to its Sun Devil Stadium to repair rusting beams that posed serious risks to fans. Crews worked 24 hours a day on a first round of repairs while the university did not disclose the risk to the public." The damage was not caused by the fans who spilled their drinks, but because the university had not waterproofed the stadium correctly.
Tags: sports arena; university; safety; hazards; repairs; construction; Arizona; Sun Devil Stadium
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Teens and Strangers
Children are taught to avoid strangers and dangerous situations, and should have these lessons ingrained by the time they are teenagers. The Early Show drove around in a van, attempting to lure teenagers - including students at Princeton University- into the car to find out just how well those lessons are learned, and how easy or difficult it would be to get a teenager to exhibit poor judgment. Using cover stories including being a film crew seeking young people for a commercial, and posing as a police officer, the show lured people into the van.
Tags: abduction; kidnapping; strangers; lure; The Early Show
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Fire Alarm
Long Island, the last densely-populated region of the country served almost exlusively by volunteer firefighters, is now paying as much for its small-town service as many U.S. cities do for fully paid departments. In their efforts to cope with waning volunteerism, fire departments here spend extraordinary sums on premium trucks and equipment,travel junkets, enormous firehouses and costly perks- and for paid staff who answer calls, but are hired under every title but firefighter. Despite all the spending, most volunteer fire departments are not getting fire crews to respond as fast as volunteer standards say they should.
Tags: firefighters; volunteer firefighters; response time; perks; fire department budgets