OCCRP reporters filed freedom of information requests to prison authorities across Eastern Europe. The interactive visualization is a compilation of the data received from each prison authority, organized to demonstrate similarities and differences between prison demographics and crime categories across the region. OCCRP journalists conducted dozens of interviews with convicted criminals throughout Eastern Europe. The…
Read MoreWith the Obama administration deporting illegal immigrants at a record pace, the president has said the government is going after “criminals, gang bangers, people who are hurting the community, not after students, not after folks who are here just because they’re trying to figure out how to feed their families.” But a New York Times…
Read MoreA private company that sells vehicle accident reports for $11 each to Georgians is making roughly $1 million a year off information that can by law be made available to drivers for less than a dollar. Each day, police officers statewide direct hundreds of drivers involved in wrecks to a website, Buycrash.com, that belongs to…
Read MoreCrop irrigation has boomed in Minnesota in the past few years, increasing land values and raising yields for corn, soybeans and other crops. But hundreds of Minnesota farmers appear to be irrigating cropland without the state permits required to use large volumes of public water, according to Minnesota Public Radio News. Of roughly 1,200 crop…
Read MoreThe IRE Conference offers an opportunity for in-depth, one-on-one coaching on investigative reporting. These private sessions allow attendees to seek advice on challenging stories or follow-up ideas. IRE pairs those who signed up with a mentor, and contact information is provided to both mentors and those who want to be mentored. Mentors and mentees can…
Read MoreIn the decade after 9/11, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs paid $200 million to nearly 1,000 families in wrongful death cases, according to VA data obtained by The Center for Investigative Reporting. In that time, CIR found the agency made wrongful death payments to nearly 1,000 grieving families, ranging from decorated Iraq War veterans…
Read MoreWhile many of our members work in the United States, hundreds of international journalists contribute to the IRE community. IRE membership stretches from Australia to Argentina. It includes journalists in more than 50 countries, including Pakistan, Kenya, India, Finland and Switzerland. We asked a few of our international members to tell us what they’ve been…
Read More[View the story “Hacks or Hackers? ” on Storify]
Read MoreThe Associated Press reports that the U.S. Agency for International Development was behind the creation of a “Cuban Twitter,” a social network designed to undermine the communist government and push Cubans toward dissent. The project – called ZunZuneo – drew tens of thousands of subscribers in the more than two years in operated. American contractors…
Read MoreThe winners of the 2013 IRE Awards provided unprecedented insight into the ways in which the government deploys technology in surveillance programs with a shockingly wide net. They used deep sourcing to overcome government roadblocks and uncover atrocities and corruption. They fought and won precedent-setting victories in open records battles to shine light on increasingly…
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