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 "news editor" ...
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Fraud on the Job
KING 5 dedicated nearly a year to dig into the complex world of the federal minority contracting program. The program is intended to remedy past and current discrimination against minority and women-owned contracting businesses who want a shot at working on federal highway projects. But instead of fostering equal opportunity, KING found staggering fraud and abuse in the taxpayer-funded program. The investigative series titled “Fraud on the Job" was born. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is responsible for administering the program. WSDOT contracts with a small state agency, the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE) to certify which contractors qualify as "disadvantaged business enterprises" or DBEs. They also make sure that once in, the companies aren’t cheating or becoming too big to qualify. The state’s share of billions of federal highway funds comes with some strings attached, including a requirement that a certain percentage of money spent on transportation projects be reserved for minority-owned firms. The results of the “Fraud on the Job” series were swift and extraordinary. Two days after the first story aired, the governor ordered the Washington State Patrol to conduct a criminal fraud investigation. She also ordered a top-to- bottom review of OMWBE. Two weeks later, the governor asked the director of OMWBE to resign. Another top manager quit and another was fired. Two of the companies KING exposed as defrauding the government were removed from the DBE program by the state. State and federal legislation is now being drafted to stop the cheating. And now the FBI and the Inspector General of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation are investigating.
Tags: fraud; government; tax; taxpayer; fund
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Money to Burn
A 5-month investigation by the Environmental Health News reveals that the chemical industry spent at least $23.2 million over the past five years to lobby California officials and donate to campaigns in an effort to defeat bills that would have regulated flame retardants.
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Watchdog website and its web pages
The Oklahoman/NewsOK.com started this project in 2008 with the Right to Know page, a collection of databases developed internally to go along with stories and links to relevant public information. That site became part of the Watchdog page in 2009. In 2010, the staff continued to evolve the Watchdog page with "mini-sites" of investigative topics, such as a political corruption case at the Oklahoma Legislature; the staff's FOI fight over the birth dates of public employees; and allegations of bid-rigging with a married lawmaker and lobbyist for a private company seeking a state juvenile justice contract. Other "mini-sites" under Watchdog include ongoing coverage of the state Department of Human Services and the federal stimulus package.
Tags: continuous coverage; online; watchdog; bid-rigging; Department of Human Services; federal stimulus; FOI; Right to Know
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25 Democratic Consultants
Russ Baker, editor in chief for online site The Real News Project, investigated lobbying activities of 25 Democratic consultants.
Tags: lobbyists
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The Saha Case series
The George Washington Hatchet's senior news editor, David Ceasar, scooped other DC media outlets in publishing the name of the next president of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.
Tags: non-disclosure agreements; George Washington University Board of Trustees; presidential search
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Afflicting the Comfortable: Journalism and Politics in West Virginia
This book is a complete and accurate account of decades of political corruption and scandal in West Virginia. Stafford discusses how his role as the editor of the Raleigh Register put him in a unique position to critique the scandals and endorse honest politicians. Stafford also writes about how he was offered bribes and favors from candidates in return for an endorsement, and how ethical dilemma that this situation caused.
Tags: election; politicians; candidates; news paper; news editor; voting; voters; bribery; scandal; political fraud; editorials; campaign finances; strip-mining
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Along Martin Luther King: A Passage to Black America
Jonothan Tilove had been covering race for the Newhouse News Service for more than ten years when he approached an editor about this piece, one he had been envisioning for some time. Newhouse sent Tilove and a photographer across the country to visit the various Martin Luther King streets in different cities coast to coast. They found that if you map the nation's MLK streets, as Tilove writes, "you map a nation within a nation, a place where white America seldom goes and black America can be itself. It is a parallel universe with a different center of gravity and distinctive sensibilities, kinship at two or three degrees of separation, not six."
Tags: race; African American; ethnicity
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American dream turns fatal: Did Sept. 11 vengeance kill Milltown man?
Four days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, a Pakistani man from Milltown, N.J. was shot to death inside his grocery store in Dallas, Texas. The editor of the Home News Tribune sent Serrano to Dallas to investigate the murder that caught international attention and sparked a federal investigation. Police and FBI investigators have not yet found Waqar Hasan's murderer, but do believe the crime was hate-motivated, as the killer took nothing from Hasan's store after he killed him. The story examines Hasan's flight from the streets of Karachi to the crime ridden neighborhood of Dallas where his store was located.
Tags: Sept. 11; murder; hate crimes
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Rideau Revisited
In a three-part series the Times of Acadiana examines the "long and peculiar career" of Wilbert Rideau, a local prisoner who was arrested and tried for the murder of Julia Ferguson in 1961. Rideau, a slender black boy at the time of his arrest has since then become an award-winning journalist and editor of the prison news magazine. In 2001 he is now facing a fourth trial. The problem is that most witnesses of the crime are dead and the murder weapons are missing, the Times reports. The series depicts the political and social climate of Louisiana in 1961 and Rideau's efforts toward rehabilitation.
Tags: crime; murder; robbery; corrections; capital punishment; death row; Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola; courts; judges; justice
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Click Here for Britney
Washington Monthly looks at the efforts of AOL to muscle its way into online journalism. "Chances are ... that AOL's definition of the public interest does not quite jibe with that of consumer advocates," reports the magazine. The story addresses concerns that the company may not be "committed to a clear separation between editorial and advertorial content", may not provide "unbiased coverage of its own financial interests", or may be unable to strike a balance between the vital and the trivial in the news.
Tags: advertisement; commerce; Gerald Levin; Jonathan Sacks; Time Warner; editors; reporters; Internet; entertainment; business; objectivity