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 "libel" ...
-
Barry Minkow 2.0
The LA Weekly found that Barry Minkow was duping investors for the second time, while the media looked the other way. Using thousands of pages of court documents, public companies' financial reports, and real estate records, the Weekly discovered a pattern of Minkow shortening stocks his Fraud Discovery Institute was about to issue critical reports on, sending the stocks plummeting.
Tags: Barry Minkow; fraud; extortion; libel; SEC
-
After dust settles, workers pay with their lives
The reporters investigated genuine concerns over the effect of asbestos exposure at a now defunct factory that produced asbestos cement pipe. Of the fewer than 300 workers that worked there over the factory's existence, 11 died of mesothelioma, five of lung cancer, and eight more died after suffering with severe asbestosis. Most died in their 50's or early 60's. At least 4 more are fighting for their lives and dozens more are suffering with asbestosis. Alabama state laws require workers seeking compensation to file their claims within two years of exposure,although asbestosis usually takes several years to show up. Reporters also examined the problems of workers at other companies that protected themselves by declaring bankruptcy or moving out of state, leaving the victims with little hope of legal redress.
Tags: asbestos; legal liability; acute respiratory illness; Capco; cement-asbestos pipe; mesothelioma; libel; FOIA; industrial safety; health
-
Responsible Journalism: a practical guide for working and aspiring journalists
This book is a primer for journalists to help them be more responsible and "stay out of trouble." Being a responsible journalist means, in part, taking the audience and those affected by the story into consideration as you report. This practical guide is filled with questions and answers to many tough ethical questions.
Tags: BOOK; responsible journalism; libel; press freedom; interviewing
-
If This Ain't Libel
Brill's Content looks at a libel case involving the Drudge Report, "the popular website of conservative cybergossip Matt Drudge." The story describes how Drudge has reported that Sidney Blumenthal, a former journalist and an assistant to the president in the Clinton's administration, "has spousal abuse past that has been effectively covered up..." The article focuses on the negative emotions that Jacqueline Blumenthal, Sidney's wife, has experienced because of the defamatory report. "It should not be acceptable for an Internet publisher - or any other publisher - to fact-check reputaion-damaging gossip by disseminating it, then issue a retraction only if and when it becomes apparent that the victim is going to sue," the Brill's Content concludes.
Tags: politics; Matt Drudge; defamation; reputation; public figures; AOL; spousal abuse; White House; journalistic standards; ethics; litigation; courts
-
Tabloid turncoat
The Editor & Publisher investigation told the story of how a reporter for the Globe supermarket tabloid was asked to use illegal news-gathering techniques by the tabloid's editors for the JonBenet Ramsey story.
Tags: tabloids ethics libel blackmail extortion editorial process sources
-
Smoke in the Eye
Frontline investigates the war between network news and the tobacco industry in the wake of the potential $10 billion libel suit against ABC and the controversial decision by CBS not to allow 60 minutes to air an explosive interview with a tobacco company whistle-blower. This documentary addresses the following question -- As media companies increasingly come under the control of large corporations, will their newsrooms continue to aggressively report on corporate America? -- an looks for answers through interviews with CBS News executives, Walter Cronkite, tobacco company officials, lawyers, and Jeffery Wigand. The story reveals how two US networks put business interests before journalism on one of the major stories on the decade. (April 2, 1996)
-
No title (id: 13241)
After ABC News aired an investigative report on reconstituted tobacco in cigarettes, Philip Morris promptly sued for libel. The ABA Journal examines the ensuing discovery wars that rank among the most contentious ever fought.
Tags: Weinberg Hardball discovery Nicotine U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA R.J. Reynolds
-
No title (id: 13067)
This paper examines and compares enterprise and investigative reporting in three metropolitan papers in 1980 and 1995. Results suggested news managers may still value in-depth stories, but investigative reporting may not carry the prestige it held in the 1970's. (July 11, 1996)
-
The Airbus Story
In 1988 the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industrie beat out its competitor Boeing of Seattle and sold 34 A320 jets to Air Canada, then a government-owned airline, for 1.8 billion dollars. It was the largest purchase in Canadian history and for years rumours circulated that the deal was tainted by secret kickbacks. A Der SPIEGEL and CBC investigation found there were millions of dollars in secret commissions paid to a mysterious company in Europe. (Mar. 20, 28, April 3, Oct. 16, Nov. 13, 14, 27, 28 & Dec. 18, 1995) ***NOTE*** PENDING LIBEL SUIT
-
No title (id: 10905)
"Shattered Image: Is The Body Shop Too Good to Be True?" exposed the arrogance and hypocrisy of the company widely regarded as the model, socially responsible business. The founder of the Body Shop cosmetic company, Anita Roddick, has been praised as the icon of progressive business and a feminist role model. Roddick has been featured in hundreds of newspapers and magazines and has been given dozens of awards for her supposedly progressive business practices. This investigation broke through the veil of company propaganda to tell the remarkable story of a myth built on fabrications and exaggerations and sustained by libel threats and the cult-like blindness of a public desperate for heroes. The article suggests a troubling thesis: green consumerism is baby boom agitprop propagated by and for a generation filled with illusion of its own moral destiny - and eager to make money. The misleading hype surrounding "cause related marketing" appears so broad and calculated, and has required the silent complicity of so many social activists, fair trade groups, environmentalists, and progressive business leaders as to raise doubts about the ethics of the entire movement for social responsibility. (September 1, 1994)
Tags: Entine Shattered image: is the body shop too good to be true