Using the Web for investigative stories and getting tips on quick-hit investigative pieces will be the heart of a one-day Watchdog Journalism seminar Sept. 26 at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Mark Horvit, executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors, will lead the seminar, which is being sponsored by the Mid-America Press Institute, the Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and…
Read MoreMichigan Governor Rick Snyder’s administration had preached transparency, according to the Lansing State Journal, but is charging exorbitant amounts for access to state contract records. The Lansing State Journal sought contracts from the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget, the repository for 1,200 contracts worth $32 billion between the state and outside vendors. The…
Read More“Despite their high prices and promises of good jobs, more than a dozen of the Bay Area’s most expensive trade schools graduate fewer than half of their students, report alarming rates of students defaulting on their loans — or both.”
Read More“In the late 1980s, state and local investigators probed widespread misconduct in Suffolk County, much of it criminal, in the district attorney’s office and county police department. The scrutiny culminated in a controversial 1989 report by the now-defunct State Commission of Investigation. The report presented a disturbing portrait of a broken county law enforcement system.…
Read More“Last week’s hearing on sexual assault allegations against three U.S. Naval Academy football players highlighted a little-known problem at the school: off-campus rental houses that violate academy regulations but have been the scene of alcohol-and sex-fueled parties for years. The Sun found that the houses, nestled in quiet suburban neighborhoods, have been the focus of…
Read More“At the end of a summer that saw significant increases in shootings and homicides, The Sun told the stories of seven Baltimoreans affected by the violence. They included a man whose wife was killed, a witness who fled the city, a cop on the beat and the leader of a neighborhood watch group.”
Read More“Legislators steered more than $170 million in the state’s capital budget toward special projects that largely sidestep public debate and detailed documentation. The list ranges from a college radio station to a monument commemorating a stranded ship.”
Read More“Managers of Homeless Recovery said they do not have the staff to inspect properties where the agency pays to house its clients. Brown is one of dozens of landlords they deal with. The managers said the agency does not refer clients to specific properties, and they’ve never gotten a complaint about Brown’s property. Neither is…
Read More“An extensive Victoria Advocate investigation reveals a program started to promote economic development has instead been riddled with poor record-keeping, questionable loan practices, missing documents and virtually no accountability.”
Read More“A Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting examination of state pharmacy board records showed that during the last ten years, 16 Maine pharmacists had their licenses revoked by the state for stealing drugs. Thirteen pharmacists during the same period were allowed by the board to practice pharmacy despite their history of drug abuse and theft.…
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