The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets 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. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "county government" ...
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Mining for Gold in County and State Government
Shipp provides useful tips for mining through your county and state government agencies, including how to deal with employees who aren't familiar dealing with reporters and what to know before you even talk to them.
Tags: mining; local; county; state; government agency
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Quick-hit watchdog stories: Where to find them
Sforza describes the documents to ask for so journalists can "an eye on those holding the public trust and how they’re spending our money." Making a habit of gathering this material will provide a constant stream of stories at your fingertips.
Tags: public trust; watchdog journalism; local government; public records; records requests; FOIA;
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Penetrating the underbelly of a government agency
Santana gives advice on effective coverage of government agencies. He stresses the importance of vigorous sourcing. He explains how to cultivate sources and get a full picture of the agencies you\\\'re covering
Tags: government; briefings; gate keepers; unions; public records;
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After Disaster Strikes: Be A Recovery Watchdog
Cervantes details how the Union-Tribune covered the wildfires that ravaged San Diego in October 2007. The city and county governments offered "free" demolition and debris removal for destroyed properties. "We got a tip contractors were charging outrageous rates, so we decided to investigate and analyze the public records and data to see what was being done with taxpayer money."
Tags: disaster; wildfire; Union-Tribune; FEMA; California Public Records Act; FOIA; demolition permit applications; RFP; requests for proposals; Governor's Office of Emergency Services; San Diego; GIS mapping; mapping
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Resources for Covering California's State Capitol
Joseph created a list of resources when covering the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. His list includes a brief description of what information is available through each resource, along with the pertinent links.
Tags: California government; capitol reporting; state senates; Cal-Access; California Legislature; Cal Channel; Capitol Morning Report; Legislative Analyst's Office; LAO; Department of Personnel Administration; California Fair Political Practices Commission; Leginfo; California Election History
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Glossary of Common Capitol Terms
Joseph compiled a glossary of terms and acronyms often encountered when covering the Capitol beat.
Tags: government; glossary; budget; Capitol beat;
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Downloading Campaign Finance Reports from Cal-Access
Campbell goes step-by-step through the process of downloading campaign finance data from the CA Secretary of State site. He uses screen shots to illustrate his instructions.
Tags: campaign finance; government data; data analysis; online sources; election
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Digging into Nonprofits: IRS Form 990
Campbell goes over every detail of the IRS 990 form. He discusses the basics (who is required to submit a form, etc), as well as the important sections on each page of the form. He lists individual lines of the form, and explains what information you can find in each one.
Tags: 990; IRS; nonprofit; Guidestar; government information
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Investigating Business: From profit to non-profit
This tipsheet is a good guide to backgrounding businesses. The authors list local sources, government sources, data sources, online sources, regulators and trade groups that will be helpful for any business reporter. Each source has a short explanation of why it is helpful.
Tags: business; backgrounding; SEC; Wall Street; bankruptcy; Secretary of State; Pacer
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Neighborhood basics
"10 steps to figure out which areas of your community are thriving and getting their fair shares of resources -- and which aren't."
Tags: beat reporting; city government; county government; government; neighborhoods; funding;