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 "municipal budgets" ...
-
Organizing a multizone investigative project
Carroll's tipsheet offers a primer on how a newsroom can coordinate a project that includes the various "zoned" editions of a newspaper. It discusses FOIA technique, manpower allocation and organization. The stories explored how much of a budget liability the practice of "sick time buybacks" for retiring teachers and municipal workers had become.
Tags: zones; FOIA; "sick time buybacks"
-
Yes, You CAN Get These in Connecticut
Reitz lists key documents that are public information and can provide journalists with useful details and facts.
Tags: cell phones; motor vehicles; dog licenses; city employees salaries; records of delinquencies; municipal and education budgets; health inspections; police dispatch and incident stats; FOI
-
Government Reporting: Tips to build a great career
Before tackling city hall, come prepared with knowledge of municipal budgets and the community. McIntosh offers tips that instantly season any cub reporter.
Tags: budgets; schedules; news briefs; beat; documents; practice
-
Red Flags in the Local Budget
A tipsheet that discusses how "...Let's be honest. Local government budgets are about as much fun to read as life insurance policies. (But) the bankruptcy of the nation's fifth largest county in late 1994 is proof that even the biggest, wealthiest jurisdictions can fall apart in a matter of days..." Rules for analyzing local budgets, a stress test to see how responsive the budget is to desperate times and discussion of troubled spending areas.
-
CAR on the City Hall Beat
Brief overview explaining functions of City Hall employees and legal/municipal terms. Includes pertinent questions to ask about City Hall, story ideas and suggestions of how to employ computer-assisted reporting, and examples of past stories done by Detroit Free Press. Audio tape is available for purchase from the IRE Resource Center. Contact us at (573) 882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org
Tags: Budgets Council City Clerk Finance Public Works Police Economic Development City Attorney
-
The Electronic Newsroom
Handout lists utilities available to beat reporters (rather than projects reporters only) to make their everyday reporting more effective and give it more depth; includes census data, municipal budget databases, weights and measure converters, distance databases and cost of living adjusters.
Tags: 2 pages CAR CAJ