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 "public officials" ...
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Mining the Private Parts of Public Officials
Ptacek provides tons of websites to utilize when digging into the private lives of public officials.
Tags: backgrounding; public officials
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Uncovering the private parts of public figures
This Powerpoint shows you what to look for when investigating a public official's private life.
Tags: backgrounding; public officials
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Fighting for Access to Open Records
Zansberg provides lots of websites to help you get the records you are entitled to. Sites include how to get 911 tapes, FOIA requests, and public official's calenders.
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Data State of Mind
Cochran and Webster discuss "Approaching story ideas with the mindset that you are going to quantify or measure something, rather than just getting the facts and all sides of the story. This requires that you analyze some data on your own, making you less dependent on public officials to give you the straight story and oftentimes giving you a story that wouldn’t have been possible without the analysis.
Tags: data; analysis; data sets; reporting; computer-assisted reporting; beat reporting
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Investigating Local Government
Jaquiss tipsheet covers tips for investigating local government. He stressed the importance of knowing your sources and their motivations and the understanding what documents you're looking for and what is available. Jaquiss says, "Your job in covering local government is to explain to readers how resources are being allocated. You work for your readers, not elected officials or your sources. Do not be a stenographer."
Tags: local government; sources; elected officials; public meetings; documents;
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Text Mining
Bones' tipsheet shows how he mined video for keywords used by 7 party leaders during 7 convention speakers. He used excel and access to analyze the data, and determine the words used most commonly by each of the party leaders.
Tags: text mining; computer-assisted reporting; word clouds; visualization; infographics
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Chapter 44-14 WAC Public Records Act - Model Rules
This is a guide from the office of the Attorney General of Washington about public records. It covers each part of the law, and how public officials are supposed to respond to requests.
Tags: public records; open records; freedom of information; state government
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FOIA Tip Sheet
Scott Reeder, a 2005 IRE Award Winner, provides a list of tips for reporters who are working on projects in which FOI requests are necessary. He gives advice on how to know what you're asking for, how to deal with uncooperative officials and more. Reeder also includes his major investigation of teacher tenure in Illinois, in which he filed 1,500 FOI requests with almost 900 governmental entities and gained 100% compliance.
Tags: freedom of information; Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); public records; requesting documents; investigative methods; gaining access to public information
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Tip Sheet for Investigating Local Government
Quinlivan provides seven tips for broadcasters who are investigating their local government. She gives guidelines for good investigations, tips on how to plan for follow-ups and advice on how to deal with documents.
Tags: broadcast; investigating government; public officials; elected officials; investigative techniques
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Public Access: It's Really Quite Simple
This tipsheet begins with 13 tips for asking officials for public records. The tipsheet then continues with a list of seven potential obstacles to your request, and advice about overcoming them. The last two pages of the tipsheet are sample public records requests, and a script for objecting to courtroom closure.
Tags: FOIA; public records; open meetings; backgrounding; sourcing; Freedom of Information; Sunshine Law