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 "internet" ...
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My favorite sites for digging up the dirt and getting things done
Dowdell details sites that aid in organization; backgrounding of people and businesses; finding historical content; and discovering who/what is behind a web site.
Tags: RSS feeds; Google docs; file sharing; backgrounding; domaintools.com; cache; Wayback Machine; MINERVA; business license; professional license; twitter search; sex offender registry
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Cutting-edge Internet tips and tricks
Lorek highlights various search sites - from the general (such as google and its advanced search functions) to the more specific (such as where to go to track stimulus funds). She also covers social networking sites, comprehensive resources, and other popular sites.
Tags: search engines; internet; social networking;
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Beyond Google: From better searches to the invisible Web
William's tipsheet provides a vast list of very useful websites for searching the web, broken down into different categories. Categories include: search engines & subject searches; documents; data & statistics; databases; public records; disclosure reports; flight tracking
Tags: invisible web; Google; data; statistics; public records; documents; disclosure reports; flight tracking; internet
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Getting Your Investigations Online...And Giving them Punch
The author offers advice for transitioning your story from a broadcast piece to a more in-depth online investigation. Thompson discusses web exclusives, as well as ways to lure readers to the website. Finally, the tipsheet lists successful web investigations from around the country.
Tags: online publishing; web reporting; internet presence; multimedia reporting; website
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Investigations into Health Care
Schulte offers a list of websites that can "help reportres understand complex health care fraud and abuse issues or get information on doctors and the health care industry."
Tags: internet research; web sources; health care; beat reporting; hospitals
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Investigating Fraud: Schemes, Scondrels and Scams
The authors discuss how to uncover and report on fraud. The tipsheet offers suggestions for documenting fraud, such as finding a paper trail or videotaping the scheme. Then, the tipsheet discusses how to turn your findings into a well-organized, effective investigative piece. Finally, the tipsheet includes useful websites for finding court records, consumer information, corporations, property records, regulators and more.
Tags: internet sources; undercover investigations; visual story-telling; story ideas; consumer investigations; crime; fraud
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Mortgage Meltdown: Resources for Fast-Paced Investigations in your Region
The author offers advice for reporters looking into trends in foreclosure and subprime loans. She discusses sources like Dataquick, RealtyTrac, Policymap and loanperformance.com, which collect and analyze home sales records.
Tags: mortgage; internet resource; housing market; finance; business beat; real estate; census
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Muckety: Exploring the paths of power and influence
The author offers a guided tour of the muckety.com social network analysis website. The tipsheet is full of screenshots to show the step-by-step process of using the website. The tipsheet goes in to great detail about how to create maps of social networks on Muckety.com. It also explains the various features and tools of the website.
Tags: social network analysis; social networking; web research; internet; backgrounding
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Watchdog/ Internet 101: Getting the Most from the Internet
Reisner's tipsheet reviews some useful sites for internet research. He discusses government sites, WHOIS, demographic sites, public records sites, international sites, people finders, and Google.
Tags: backgrounding; internet research; web; people finders; sources
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Navigating the Social Network Minefield
This PowerPoint presentation discusses how social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and Linkedin can be valuable to an investigation. The authors discuss the ethical implications of using material found on the web, and offer suggestions to make sure everything is legally alright. The tipsheet also includes many examples of stories that have successfully utilized social networks to enhance their investigations.
Tags: social networks; Facebook; Flickr; Twitter; internet research; journalism ethics; sources; broadcast reporting