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Because of the archival nature of this list, some links may have changed or be otherwise unavailable.
The Dallas Morning News
Reporters Steve McGonigle, Holly Becka, Jennifer LaFleur and Tim Wyatt found that prosecutors and defense attorneys in Dallas County exclude jurors on the basis of race, despite Supreme Court bans on discrimination in jury selection. The findings were based on an analysis of information from juror cards, transcripts of juror questioning, court records and interviews with more than 100 current and former prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, jury consultants, social scientists, jury scholars, law professors, jurors and prospective jurors and community activists. The package, continuing through Tuesday, includes Supreme Court decisions and trial transcripts, as well as the paper's methodology.
The (Toledo) Blade
Joe Mahr and Mitch Weiss reviewed thousands of documents and interviewed dozens to find that Toledo-area police helped the local Catholic diocese hide cases of sexual abuse by priests. "Beyond past revelations that the diocese quietly moved pedophile priests from parish to parish, The Blade investigation shows that at least once a decade - and often more - priests suspected of rape and molestation have been allowed by local authorities to escape the law." Some alleged abusers were never investigated, while officials prevented the release of case files for other investigations. "The cover-up has been confirmed by former police officers and the diocese's former spokesman, Jim Richards, who said church leaders 'knew who to call in the police department' to keep cases quiet."
The Washington Post
Gilbert M. Gaul of The Washington Post reports in a three-part series that Medicare policies often pay hospitals to practice medicine poorly. "In a four-year period, 106 heart patients at Palm Beach Gardens developed infections after surgery, according to lawsuits and government records." In part-two of the series, the Post looks at the nonprofit that oversees the evaluation of hospitals. The nonprofit charges hospitals "thousands of dollars for coaching on how to pass its reviews." The last part in the series details how some are finding it very difficult to access records because of privatized groups under contract by Medicare.
The New York Times
Clifford J. Levy and Michael Luo of The New York Times used state Medicaid data to find that "the program has been misspending billions of dollars annually because of fraud, waste and profiteering. A computer analysis of several million records obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law revealed numerous indications of fraud and abuse that the state had never looked into." Examples of the potential fraud include a dentist who billed for as many as 991 procedures a day and a Buffalo school that sent more than 4,000 students "into speech therapy in a single day without talking to them or reviewing their records." Medicaid fraud has turned into a $44.5 billion target and the Times investigation uncovered "numerous indications of fraud and abuse that the state had never looked into."
The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise
Jim Miller and Ben Goad of The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise use mapping software to plot thousands of new home permits issued since the 2003 Southern California fires and then compared the points to state maps showing fire threat. "In the 18 months after the firestorms of 2003, Inland cities and counties issued permits for more than 2,500 homes in areas the state identifies as facing 'very high' or 'extreme' fire danger." (Editor's note: IRE and NICAR offer resources for covering wildfires)
The Oregonian
Maxine Bernstein and Brent Walth of The Oregonian investigated Portland's police and firefighter disability progam, finding that "the city's system is an open checkbook, with rules that allow injured police and firefighters to collect checks until they retire, even if they can earn a living in another job." One in nine Portland police officers and firefighters is on disability and half of those have been receiving benefits for more than 10 years. "A claim for lost wages in Portland costs $37,390 a year on average — seven times that of police and firefighters statewide.' Trustees of the program sued to prevent the paper from obtaining certain financial records.
The Seattle Times
Susan Kelleher and Duff Wilson interviewed more than 160 doctors, patients, medical analysts, regulatory officials and other experts for a Seattle Times series about the health care industry and the influence of the pharmaceutical industry. "Suddenly Sick" reveals that perviously healthy people go to the doctor only to be diagnosed with an illness because the definitions of disease have changed. Among the Times' findings: "Pharmaceutical firms have commandeered the process by which diseases are defined. ... Some diseases have been radically redefined without a strong basis in medical evidence. The drug industry has bolstered its position by marketing directly to the health-conscious consumer, leading younger and healthier people to consider themselves at risk and to start taking medications." The series includes a sidebar about sources used in the story. (Duff Wilson reported and wrote this story while working for The Seattle Times. He now reports for The New York Times.)
The Charlotte Observer
Liz Chandler, Peter Smolowitz, Melissa Manware and CAR specialist Adam Bell from The Charlotte Observer report on their findings that more crime in being committed in Charlotte schools than is being reported by the school district. The investigation found "1,473 crimes reported to police at schools, 631 of them violent or threatening." Compare that to "12,681 suspensions of students for violent or threatening acts. That includes 11,378 for "aggressive physical or verbal actions," ranging from verbal confrontations to serious assaults." An Observer investigation found that "CMS relies heavily on suspensions, which soared to a record 52,648 in 2004."
The Washington Post
Lyndsey Layton and Jo Becker of The Washington Post obtained and reviewed documents and data on the performance of the DC-area subway system, finding that "trains break down 64 percent more often than they did three years ago, and the number of daily delays has nearly doubled since 2000. Although the vast majority of trains are on time, more than 14,400 subway riders a day are inconvenienced by a delay or a mechanical problem that forces them off broken trains." The second piece of a four-part series revealed that "time and again, records show, the public transit agency has disregarded the advice of experts and failed to address safety issues."
St. Petersburg Times
In a two-part series, Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite of the St. Petersburg Times report on the destruction of Florida wetlands. The Times analyzed satellite imagery to determine the acres of wetlands lost to urban development. Their investigation uncovered that the federal agency primarily responsible for regulating wetland in Florida failed to keep records on how many acres they were allowing to be destroyed and doesn't track projects they were requiring to make up for the destruction. "... since the policy took effect in 1990, at least 84,000 acres of Florida wetlands have disappeared..." The Times found a system that creates the illusion of environmental protection while doing little to stem the destruction. "The corps approves more permits to destroy wetlands in Florida than any other state, and allows a higher percentage of destruction in Florida than nationally." The series includes interactive graphics and a complete methodology on how the series was done and tracks how pressure from Congress is used.
The Charlotte Observer
Ames Alexander of The Charlotte Observer, working with database editor Ted Mellnik, investigated the relationship between lawyers and judges in the North Carolina's judicial district that is most lenient on drinking and driving. "District judges there acquitted suspects in more than 87 percent of the DWI trials in which they rendered a verdict. Statewide, the acquittal rate is 39 percent, state courts data show." One lawyer, John Nobles won 203 straight DWI trials from 2000 to mid-2004. The story also links to in-depth information on the judges, the lawyers and information on how and why the data was analyzed.
Hampton Daily Press
Kimball Payne and Bob Evans of the Hampton Daily Press uses a large number of documents, maps and thousands of e-mails to investigate a federal highway project that is projected to be completed two years past the original completion date and have an added cost of twice what the Virginia Department of Transportation had projected. "E.V. Williams has already been paid $25.9 million more than its original bid of $64.7 million. By the end, VDOT estimates the added costs will double, creating a 77 percent overrun." The series is divided into eight sections: Money, Design, Delays, Infighting, Contract, Bridge, Magruder and Next. A timeline detailing "The roadmap to chaos" is also included with the piece.
The Center for Public Integrity
M. Asif Ismail of The Center for Public Integrity reviewed lobbying records to report on the "deep-pocketed pharmaceutical and health products industry", which "has lobbied on more than 1,400 congressional bills since 1998 and spent a whopping $759 million during that period ..." The story includes detailed graphics, as well as data seperated into categories ranging from lobbying firm donations to issues lobbied by the pharmaceutical and health product industry.
San Francisco Chronicle
Erin McCormick of the San Francisco Chronicle investigated Medicare scams dealing with elderly immigrants. What the Chronicle discovered were two scams: the first was a sleep clinic, which billed Medicare for tests that were over-billed and unnecessary. The second scam, the electronic wheelchair scam, dealt with Medicare recipients receiving free motorized scooters. In both scams the Medicare recipients were given $100 for going to the clinics and recruiters were given $50 for each person they brought with them to the clinics. The story breaks down each scam, how they worked, and provides examples of what was going on. The second installment in the series explores the ability of the government to crack down on the fraud. The Chronicle found that the scams growth is far outpacing the crackdown, as scammers are becoming more cunning.
Associated Press
Larry Margasak and Sharon Theimer of the Associated Press reviewed federal campaign filings to find that "dozens of lawmakers have hired their spouses and children to work for their campaigns and political groups, paying them with contributions they've collected from special interests and other donors." The AP identified about 50 House members who pay their spouses or children to work on campaigns and raise money for them. Similarly, Richard Simon, Chuck Neubauer and Rone Tempest of the Los Angeles Times found that "at least 39 members of Congress have engaged in the controversial practice of paying their spouses, children or other relatives out of campaign funds." Both stories were possible because House members file electronic reports; senators do not.
The Washington Post
Cheryl W. Thompson of The Washington Post studied medical board records from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, finding that "scores of physicians in the area and across the country have been given repeated chances to practice, despite well-documented drug and alcohol problems." In addition, sanctions in such cases can take months or years and rarely result in a loss of the license to practice. "The District and Maryland boards do not permanently revoke doctors' licenses. In Virginia, where a license can be permanently taken away only with a doctor's agreement, just one was revoked for substance abuse from 1999 to 2004, records show." Maryland and Virginia punish their physicians nearly twice as often as D.C. does.
The (Baltimore) Sun
Jamie Smith Hopkins of The (Baltimore) Sun used data on home sales to find "clear signs that proximity to D.C. is driving the boom in Baltimore and its five surrounding counties, over and above what extraordinarily low mortgage interest rates have achieved nationwide. This region's fastest appreciation came in Howard, Anne Arundel and Carroll counties, which border the traditional edge of Washington's reach. Prices there jumped 75 percent combined during the past five years - compared with 41 percent nationally. Together, the average price in those counties rose to about $340,000 last year." The paper included a searchable database of area home sales from 1999 to 2004 and several charts detailing the growth in home prices.The Seattle Times
Reporters Sharon Pian Chan and David Heath of The Seattle Times used unsealed documents successfully won in state and federal lawsuits to investigate Infospace's rise and downfall. At its peak, Infospace was worth over $31 million, but a bad investment on a Canadian wireless investment and questionable business dealings led to the eventual collapse of the dot com giant. They interviewed 100 people, ranging from former employees, investors, experts and regulatory officials. The three-part series details who the winners and loser were, how company insiders fled, dumping their stocks, making millions and the series will feature the aftermath of the downfall March 8. Emails, voicemails and documents are also included in the series, as well as a piece about how the series was done. The Seattle Times Executive Editor Mike Fancher wrote a column discussing the series.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Lise Olsen, Lewis Kamb and Mike Barber of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer have a 10-part series on missing persons cases in Washington state. The paper concludes that "police statewide routinely botch or ignore missing-person cases, even when there are ample indications of foul play. As a result, families have been left with unanswered questions, countless dead have been buried without a name and killers have been allowed to roam free." Included is a database of more than 700 people who had been missing for at least a year as of December 2002.
Newsday
Among several fast investigations, Newsday reports that the Columbia shuttle orbiter destroyed Saturday suffered extensive tile damage during a 1997 mission when chunks of a new foam insulation designed to meet environmental standards broke away from the external fuel tank, according to a computer slide show by Lockheed engineer Charles Williams that was reviewed by Newsday.
The Washington Post
Through an INS database and interviews, The Washington Post found that language schools, operating with virtually no oversight, issue documents allowing foreign students to stay in the United States for as long as four years, even though classes generally last six months or less.
Seattle Times
A Seattle Times report questioning the authenticity of items that were sold as Chinese antiques has prompted an investigation by the Washington state attorney general's office. The Times purchased two 'antique' ceramics at Thesaurus Fine Arts store and sent them to be authenticated by world experts, who found the items to be less than 100 years old, maybe even new.
Salt Lake Tribune
Though drivers usually worry about being hit by a drunken driver or crashing in bad weather, a Salt Lake Tribune review of fatal accident reports filed in 2002 found that a majority of automobile accident victims died in single-vehicle crashes on clear roads. The IRE and NICAR Database Library can provide data covering fatal accidents in the United States, 1975-2001. The database, maintained by the U.S. Department of Transportation, includes details on the location, potential causes, vehicles, drivers and passengers.
The Seattle Times, The Boston Globe
The Seattle Times analyzed 1.7 million traffic stops over 27 months and concluded that while state troopers pull over minority motorists as often as whites, minorities are searched more than two times as often as whites. The Boston Globe published a two-part series on citations in Massachusetts that leads with a similar conclusion: minority drivers are much more likely to have their cars searched than are white drivers.
The New York Times, Frontline, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
McWane Inc., one of America's largest privately owned corporations, is one of the most dangerous employers in America, according to a nine-month investigation by The New York Times, Frontline, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Since 1995, at least 4,600 injuries have been documented, hundreds of them serious, and nine workers have been killed.
Los Angeles Times
This series examines the flawed Marine Corps Harrier jet and its problems that led to the loss of a third of its fleet and 45 officers. The report, stunningly presented on the newspaper's Web site, entailed analysis of investigation reports, the Naval Safety Center's aviation database and scores of interviews.
The Providence Journal
Mike Stanton of The Providence Journal recently finished a seven-part series, "Vice and Virtue," on the life and exceedingly controversial times of Mayor Buddy Cianci, currently serving a five-year prison term for racketeering.
Time
Time magazine found that the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is riddled with loopholes, poorly written, discriminatory and subject to conflicting interpretations, creating great opportunity for corruption and fraud. The more wealthy tribes involved with casinos exert political power at the state and federal level.
The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal
The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal examined criminal court files dating to 1983 and found that human error, antiquated record keeping and scheduling lapses have allowed at least 200 people charged with felonies to escape prosecution.
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report reveals that as many as 2,000 jihadists from America have gone overseas to fight in Islamic holy wars, and that no one in the U.S. government has monitored them.
Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader
The Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader launches Stewardship Ozarks, an occasional series about the region's environmental health. This installment examines the effect of development and pollution on the area's lifeblood: tourism. Investigative story from a medium-sized newspaper.
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times series, "The Terrorist Within," is the tale of Ahmed Ressam, the young Algerian terrorist caught at the U.S./Canadian Border in Washington with a trunkful of explosives bound for L.A. International Airport.
Philadelphia Inquirer
There are four parts to "Loaded for Trouble" with online data including an interactive map showing worst spots for alcohol-related accidents and highest concentrations of liquor outlets. The map included a geocoding of the liquor licenses and a spatial density analysis using Arcview Spatial Analyst.
Center for Public Integrity, the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in State Politics
An unprecedented study finds that Democratic and Republican state party committees raised $570 million, with 46 percent comprised of soft money transfers from national party organizations. The analysis was carried out by the Center for Public Integrity, the Center for Responsive Politics, and the National Institute on Money in State Politics. The report and a searchable database are online.
Chicago Tribune
"Unhealthy Hospitals" examines the epidemic of life-threatening infections stalking America's hospitals. Deaths linked to hospital infections represent the fourth leading cause of mortality among Americans, behind heart disease, cancer and strokes. These infections kill more people each year than car accidents, fires and drowning combined.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The system that picks people for jury duty in Allegheny County consistently overlooks blacks and favors whites, a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review investigation has found. Though jurors are supposed to be selected at random, people living in white neighborhoods are more than twice as likely to be called for jury service as residents of black neighborhoods, according to a Trib analysis of thousands of people recently summoned for criminal jury duty.
Peoria Journal-Star
CrimeStoppers in Peoria spends 55 percent of its budget on fundraising - far more than what's recommended by the Better Business Bureau, the Illinois Attorney General or other experts on fundraising. It only spends 13 percent of its budget on rewards to tipsters.
Sun-Sentinel
Florida's child welfare system has been unable to locate more than 500 children under its care, some of them missing for a decade or more. But a Sun-Sentinel search for 24 South Florida children on the missing list turned up nine -- two in less than three hours.
USA Today
In a two-part series, USA Today reconstructs how the unprecedented order to clear the skies on Sept. 11 played out and the role of the air traffic control system.
Miami Herald
A Miami Herald investigation found at least 183 employees of the Florida Department of Children & Families have been convicted of felonies ranging from child abuse to drug dealing to welfare fraud against DCF itself.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution examined more than 2,500 documents in its investigation of Georgia-Pacific and asbestos, finding that the company told consumers its asbestos products were safe even as the federal government was moving to ban the products, frequently violated federal asbestos safety regulations in its manufacturing plants and kept selling asbestos products despite growing evidence of the health hazards of asbestos.
Philadelphia Inquirer
Prompted by a Philadelphia Inquirer investigation, New Jersey prison officials have told hundreds of inmates they are infected with the potentially deadly hepatitis C virus. According to a just-released medical audit, more than 400 prisoners were recently informed about their disease. The action came in response to the Inquirer investigation published in July. New Jersey prisons are not currently treating any inmate for hepatitis, the newspaper found.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch examined court cases, death certificates and physician evaluations, found that nursing home patients are dying from causes like malnutrition, dehydration and bedsores -- causes that could be prevented with proper care. But such cases are rarely investigated or prosecuted, and advocates say the suffering won't end without an outcry for reform. The series examines deaths in nursing homes, staffing in nursing homes, why officials are reluctant to pursue criminal neglect cases, discusses new laws about nursing home neglect and abuse and profiles two nursing homes that have raised the level of care. The series includes a guide for finding a nursing home and many related links.
Center for Investigative Reporting, American Radio Works and Frontline/World
Reporter Rick Young follows the trail of an arrested arms smuggler and investigates allegations of Ukrainian government involvement in the illicit trade, illustrating the connections between the global trade in small arms for profit with the misery suffered by innocents trapped in civil war. The report examines the illegal trade in small arms around the world in a collaboration between the Center for Investigative Reporting, American Radio Works and Frontline/World.
Center for Public Integrity and U.S. News & World Report
An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity found a trend among governments to hire "private military companies." For many of these companies, their national or corporate affiliation is kept secret. The investigation found some of these connections included criminal syndicates in the United States, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The U.S. News & World Report article(http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/021104/usnews/4contractors.htm), done in conjunction with CPI, examines civilian contractors hired to help during military operations such as in Bosnia and Operation Desert Storm.
The Kansas City Star
An investigation by The Kansas City Star found one-fourth of the city's vehicles were being used by city employees to commute to and from work and often not for emergencies. In a time of municipal budget crunches, it's worth looking at your own community's practices and policies on public vehicles.
Miami Herald
After more than two years of scrutiny from South Florida media, the chief of the Miami Police Department resigned. Please see The Miami Herald's recent series and read the Miami Daily Business Review series that was a 2001 IRE Award finalist. (http://www.ire.org/resourcecenter/view.php?number=18522)
