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 "families" ...
-
Grandma can’t accept your call: Inmates disconnected by phone costs
This series of stories started with a simple question. Why does it cost so much for inmates to make calls from the Cook County Jail? In the course of my reporting on criminal and legal affairs for WBEZ, the public radio station in Chicago, I had heard numerous people complain about the high cost of phone calls. Some digging confirmed that the price could be as high as $15.00 for 15 minute calls. Three or four calls a week at that price gets expensive even for financially stable middle class folks, but the people paying these fees were mostly the poorest residents in Chicago. That’s because most of the people in the Cook County Jail are there because they and their families couldn’t afford to post bond of a couple thousand, or sometimes even just hundreds of dollars to secure their freedom while awaiting trial. They are the people who are least able to afford such expensive phone calls. A few FOIA requests revealed the scheme (and scheme is the right word… I just looked it up: a crafty or secret plan of action). Cook County gave an exclusive phone contract to a company called Securus Technologies. Securus charged inflated phone rates and their exclusive deal in the jail meant inmates wanting to talk to their families or arrange their defense had no choice but to pay the rates. Securus then paid back to the county 57½ percent of the revenue from the calls. It netted the county about $4 million a year. Securus wouldn’t tell us their take but I imagine they did alright too. All of the money was coming out of the pockets of the poorest residents in Cook County, people who couldn’t even afford to post bond for their freedom. (As an aside, this isn’t just an issue in Cook County. According to its website Securus provides the phone systems for 850,000 inmates in 2,200 jails and prisons across the country.) Our reporting shed public light on a hugely profitable contract that no one was paying attention to. We documented the lives of the impoverished people getting hammered by the policy and then turned the hammer on the local elected officials to ask them to explain how this was a good policy. The public officials responded in a way that once again proved the genius of democracy. Our efforts and the results are detailed in subsequent answers below.
Tags: prison inmates; phone calls; fees
-
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
-
Revolution to Riches
In a tense year of political transition in China, the Bloomberg News series "Revolution to Riches" was the first to expose the huge wealth amassed by the top families of senior leaders. Bloomberg also revealed the origin of the system of hereditary privilege that has become a lightning rod for popular discontent and threatens to undermine the ruling Communist Party.
Tags: Chinese politicians; China's senior leaders; business dealings; Communist Party
-
New York Times: Princelings
The “Princelings” series looked at the business dealings of the relatives of China’s senior leaders, and how they were able, in some cases, to amass billions of dollars worth of shares in public and private companies. The Times gave a detailed account of the wealth accumulated by the family of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and the relatives of former Central Bank chief Dai Xianglong. The investigation found that much of the wealth was hidden behind layers of private companies, suggesting the wealth was intentionally disguised or hidden from the public. No media outlet had ever offered such a detailed account of the wealth of a family of a senior leader. The Times also found evidence that the family of the prime minister and the former Central Banker received pre-IPO shares of Ping An Insurance after those two senior officials were aggressively lobbied by executives at Ping An and their bankers. The lobbyists had sought special approval or licenses for Ping. The departments the two officials oversaw eventually gave the approval, The Times found.
Tags: Chinese politicians; China's senior leaders; business dealings
-
War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City
The hour-long documentary War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City takes an unprecedented look at the impact of corruption on the East St. Louis, Illinois area, one of the poorest and most violent communities in America. The program was broadcast twice during prime time; Tuesday night at 8 pm on August 28, and the following Saturday night at 7 pm. This project was the result of an ongoing decade-long probe of government waste, corruption, police misconduct, and violence in East St. Louis and the surrounding villages by investigative reporter Craig Cheatham. Our documentary begins with a detailed look at police misconduct and corruption, how it has contributed to the breakdown of public safety in the East St. Louis area, and why local politicians tolerated such outrageous behavior by their officers. The second part of our documentary focuses on the impact of derelict and vacant housing, the slumlords who own the property and the people who live in some of the worst housing in the metro area. Our investigation also uncovered new connections between politicians and legendary slumlord Ed Sieron, who was business partners with a longtime mayor. In addition, KMOV revealed that of the 500 mostly rundown properties that Sieron owns in East St. Louis, only 13 were cited for code violations. That lack of accountability for the notorious slumlord, empowered him and made the people living in his homes feel powerless. War Zone also exposes the way East St. Louis communities have sold their economy to vice-driven businesses like strip clubs, liquor stores, a casino, and convenience marts that had a long history of selling illegal synthetic drugs. Our investigation found that nearly all of these businesses failed to employ a significant number of East St. Louis residents, even though they received millions of dollars in tax incentives that are paid by East St. Louis residents. At the same time East St. Louis is handing out tax breaks to wealthy out-of-town businessmen, it repeatedly refused to provide the same tax incentives for local residents who wanted to create family friendly businesses that would employ people living in the East St. Louis area.
Tags: government corruption; police misconduct; violence; politicians; community; local business
-
Poison in the Water
“Poison in the Water” is a WNCN investigation that exposes how state government failed to warn families that the water they were drinking could be killing them. Through six weeks of research and digging through hundreds of FOIA documents, WNCN uncovered the source of the contamination in a Wake Forest, N.C. community and revealed state regulators ignored their own evidence of the danger. “Poison in the Water” held the powerful accountable and sparked calls for state legislative change. As a result, national groundwater advocate, Erin Brockovich, visited the Wake Forest families.
Tags: water safety; government; water contamination; groundwater
-
Investigating the Fire
After three people were killed in a fire set by the Colorado State Forest Service, KMGH-TV uncovered governmental mistakes and communication failures that killed people and destroyed homes. Our coverage spurred legislative change that will ultimately help the victims of the Lower North Fork Fire (LNFF) rebuild their lives and protect future fire victims. The LNFF was started in March 2012 by a state forest service prescribed burn that went out of control, killing three people and destroying more than 20 homes. KMGH-TV's six-week investigation uncovered multiple government failures that turned a supposedly controlled burn into an uncontrolled wildfire. Despite heading into a busy ratings period, KMGH-TV dedicated two reporters -- Amanda Kost and Marshall Zelinger -- full-time to investigate the fire. The station produced more than two dozen investigative reports over 40 days. On top of the daily reports, KMGH-TV produced a 30-minute special of original content in six days. Our investigations sparked a legislative inquiry into the fire and prompted Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to sign a law lifting liability limits that protected the state agency responsible for the blaze. Lawmakers, fire victims and community residents all agreed that without KMGH-TV's extensive investigation of government failures and mistakes, the families of people who died and people who lost homes would never be adequately compensated for their losses. Our investigation forced the state to reevaluate how it sets future prescribed burns to make sure the fires are safer for the community.
-
Finding Fernanda
The book sheds a light on the extremely politicized landscape of Guatemala's adoption industry, a multi-million dollar trade that was highly profitable and barely regulated. In this corrupt system, children have been stolen, sold, and placed as orphans in well-intentioned Western families since international adoption began there in the 1980s. Yet the governments of Guatemala and the US proved to be unwilling to regulate the illegal baby trade.
Tags: adoption; Guatemala; baby trade
-
Terrorists in Love
The book profiles six radical Muslim men from Pakistan, Afhganistan and Saudi Arabia and reveals their mystical dreams and visions, sexual repression and crumbling family structures.
Tags: terrorism; Islam; Pakistan; Afghanistan; Saudi Arabia
-
The Champions
The series examines the relationship between seven members of Congress and the industries or causes that they have taken up as champions, looking at how their advocacy not only helps their own political careers, in many cases, but frequently generates a personal financial benefit for the lawmaker or members of their family.
Tags: Congress; causes; industries; finance; family