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 "professional licenses" ...
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Borrowers Betrayed: Covering Business as a Crime Scene
This tipsheet details how a computer-assisted reporting investigation into toxic home loans turned into a crime story when in-depth analysis showed 10,000 people with criminal histories had been licensed as mortgage professionals.
Tags: mortgage; subprime; toxic loans; Florida; criminal justice; shoe-leather reporting; fraud; real estate; brokerage; stolen identity
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Exposing Dangerous Caregivers
Kauffman's tipsheet decribes how to use unemployment-benefit claims to track caregiver misconduct; using federal labor records to track caregivers also acting as employers; and quick hit stories that can be done with this information.
Tags: misconduct; medical professionals; unlicensed doctors; physicians; hospitals; licensing boards; HIPPA
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Backgrounding People and Businesses on the Web
Dowdell provides a helpful framework for all your backgrounding needs. Starting with a strategy and some basic questions, she provides suggested helpful links for finding information on people and businesses on the web.
Tags: backgrounding; background check; business; property records; court records; public records; criminal background check; campaign contributions; politicians; articles of incorporation; business license; professional license
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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Dowdell details sites that aid in organization; backgrounding of people and businesses; finding historical content; and discovering who/what is behind a web site.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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Ways to Trace Every Business
Campbell walks through the steps to investigate a business, outlining the paper trail that all businesses must create - from a business license to Uniform Commercial Code filings to liquor licenses. Litigation filings also provide a wealth of information about businesses.
Tags: backgrounding business; licenses; trademark; articles of incorporation; UCC; Uniform Commercial Code filing; credit reports; mortgages; liens; professional license; litigation; courts; EDGAR; Securities and Exchange Commission; SEC; Federal Trade Commission; FTC; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority; FINRA
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Backgrounding People
This tipsheet provides a list of resources to use when backgrounding individuals. Lyle's is careful to denote which resources are free vs. for a fee. Her list is broken down to include national resources (for the U.S.) and regional resources specific to New York state. She also gives phone service information for several international countries.
Tags: background; phone records; public records; business records; property records; New York; professional licenses; aviation administration; medical license; biographies; WhoIs; social networking; international phone records
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Conceiving the Investigation
The author lists and describes websites that could lead to investigative reports. The websites listed include: municipal advisory councils; costreprotdata.com; FDA warning letters database; professional licensing boards; and government performance reporting.
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Tips on Backgrounding People
Edds includes a list of resources to help reporters background their sources. She includes ways to find date of birth, telephone numbers, criminal records, driving history, financial information, education, and other miscellaneous facts.
Tags: backgrounding; deep web; professional license; criminal records; public records; online research
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Follow the Money: Blazing the Business Paper Trail
Campbell's tipsheet explains the various forms and records that businesses must fill out in order to establish themselves and do operate. He discusses how to find this information, validate it and seek out the stories hidden in all the paperwork. His advice is very detailed and covers all sorts of angles to approach a business investigation.
Tags: business; corporations; taxes; professional licenses; government contracts; stock offerings; banks; money; finance
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Policing the Police
Goldman explains how law enforcement officers are regulated by an agency typically called peace officer standards and training boards, or POSTs. This agency licenses law enforcement professionals and can revoke their licenses when necessary. He provides other standards, laws and grounds for revocation, suggests topics for journalists to consider when reporting on the subject, and also gives examples of some great news stories that have addressed the performance of the state POSTs agencies.
Tags: law enforcement; POSTs; peace officer standards and training boards; corrections officers; certification of law enforcement