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 "promoter" ...
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Murder, Money and Politics
A $54.5 million program touted by Illiinois Gov. Pat Quinn to reduce violence consisted of teens handing out fliers to promote inner peace, take field trips to museums, march in a parade with the governor and even attend a yoga class to reduce stress. Two years after the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative began, the murder rate was nearly 20 percent in Chicago.
Tags: broadcast; violence; stress; neighborhood; murder rate
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Wal-Mart Abroad: How a Retail Giant Fueled Growth With Bribes
Part One revealed how Wal-Mart’s highest executives shut down an internal investigation that had uncovered strong evidence of systemic bribery by Wal-Mart’s largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico. As a result, authorities were never notified and no one was punished. Instead, the executive identified as the driving force behind years of bribery was promoted to vice chairman of Wal-Mart. Part Two offered an in depth examination of precisely how Wal-Mart de Mexico used bribes to accelerate its growth. The article described Wal-Mart as “an aggressive and creative corruptor” in Mexico, and it focused on how Wal-Mart paid more than $200,000 in bribes to build a single supermarket in the town of Teotihuacán, not far from two ancient pyramids.
Tags: Wal-Mart; bribery; corruption
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America's War Within
America's War Within, led by the Center for Investigative Reporting, deeply examined the first 10 years of the war on terror. There were several findings stemming from work conducted throughout the year. First, a little-known but costly intelligence arm of the Department of Homeland Security did not meaningfully contribute to the war on terror and instead generated reams of "intelligence spam." Second, a private counterterrorism team at the Mall of America ensnared innocent shoppers by reporting them to authorities for "suspicious activity," part of a national initiative promoted by the federal government to college and analyze threat intelligence, much of which has dubious value. Third, local police around the country have stockpiled combat-style equipment with the help of some $34 billion in federal homeland security grants contributing to a "militarization" of law enforcement, even though violent crime is dropping and terrorist attacks are rare.
Tags: terrorism; violence; grants; Department of Homeland Security
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Fire Academy Diversity
WBAL-TV exposed the fact that the Baltimore City Fire Department had abandoned its policy regarding recruitment designed to make the agency more diverse. The department has a history of overlooking minorities in recruiting and promotions. 63.2% of Bailtimore is African-American, but out of a 45 class of cadets, only 5 were African-American and 3 were women.
Tags: Fire Academy; Diversity
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Deceptive Nonprofit
Investigation of "Stop Child Trafficking Now" nonprofit. Despite bold claims at its fundraising events, the investigation found SCTNow was not living up to its promoted message of taking child predators off the streets. In fact, the organization could not point to one case anywhere in the country where information gathered by "special operatives" had lead to an arrest or prosecution. It did not seem like much of a return on a $400,000 investment- the annual amount used to fund "special operative" teams.
Tags: Child Trafficking; Nonprofits
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TIFs in Chicago
This investigation looks into Chicago's tax-increment financing (TIF) program, designed to promote economic development in blighted ares. However, what they found was that the TIF money was rarely being used the way it was intended.
Tags: TIF; Chicago; multimedia
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Misleading Milk Marketing
"This investigative series was the first to report on the misleading health claims made by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, which spends millions of dollars annually to promote dairy products throughout Wisconsin and nationwide."
Tags: milk marketing board; health; dairy; consumer affairs
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Up in Smoke: The Chris Bartkowicz story"
After KUSA aired promotions for a story taking viewers inside a medical marijuana grow house, the Drug Enforcement Agency immediately raided the grower's home. Protests outside the KUSA studios followed, along with a discussion of states' rights versus federal law regarding medical marijuana.
Tags: medical marijuana; pot; DEA; states' rights; marijuana
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"Breach of Trust"
Soldiers on all levels of the U.S. Armed Forces used fake college diplomas to increase chances of "promotions and pay raises." WHNT-TV revealed that several AMCOM employees had also presented "fake degrees" to the "Department of the Army." The investigation spurred a reconstruction of HR Specialist training, as the command's "ability to detect" to false diplomas was severely flawed.
Tags: U.S. Army; National Guard; Army Reserve; Department of the Army; U.S. Army and Department of Defense; General David Grange; Major General Jim Pillsbury; Army Aviation and Missile Command; U.S. Army Human Resource Command
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Stimulus Coverage
This series demonstrates how the stimulus money is really being spent. Instead of using the money to “jump-start the economy” and create a number of jobs, New York used the money for a number of unnecessary projects. Some of these projects include making pamphlets describing pollution cleanup, promotional road signs, and in doubt research projects. The money needed to be used on projects such as pollution cleanup and road construction to help the community facilitate the economy.
Tags: budget; spending; federal; government; dollars; costs; states; programs