An investigation by Mc Nelly Torres, of ConsumerAffairs.com, found consumers complaining of illegal, abusive conduct as collectors defy federal and state enforcers. “There’s no doubt that the debt collection industry is thriving. You can’t get blood from a rock, but these guys are trying,” said Ira Rheingold, executive director and general counsel of the National…
Read MoreThe filing period has begun for those planning to run for the IRE Board of Directors. Seven seats on the 13-member board are up for election. The election will be held at our annual conference in Las Vegas, on June 12. To see candidate statements click here. The IRE Board serves as the governing body…
Read MoreBrian Joseph of The Orange County Register reports on how petitioners “tricked dozens of young Orange County voters into registering to vote as Republicans.” Written complaints have been filed with state election officials by at least 99 people who have been unwittingly registered to vote Republican. A similar fraud landed eight petitioners in jail in…
Read MoreAn investigation by Christina Jewett and Agustin Armendariz of California Watch shows that 232 nursing homes in California “either cut staff, paid lower wages or let caregiver levels slip below a state-mandated minimum” despite collecting about $236 million in additional funding intended to hire more caregivers and increase wages. “Many nursing homes appeared to use…
Read MoreThrough analysis of Clean Air Act data kept by the Environmental Protection agency, The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, Ind.) found government regulators have a list of more than 200 facilities in Indiana they say have broken air pollution laws in the past three years, yet little or nothing has been done to stop them. The…
Read MoreBy Doug Haddix, IRE Training Director When she gets e-mails and calls about controversial stories, Claudia Núñez of La Opinion in Los Angeles says some readers ask if she is working against Latinos, even though she herself is a Latina. Her curt reply: “No, I’m not. I’m a journalist.”[/caption] Often, immigrants expect ethnic media journalists to…
Read MoreLearn from many of the best journalists in the business at the IRE conference, June 10-13. The growing list of speakers includes, James Risen and Walt Bogdanich of The New York Times, Brian Ross of ABC News, Byron Pitts and Ira Rosen of 60 Minutes, Leonard Downie Jr. of The Washington Post and many more.…
Read MoreA report by Joshua Kors in The Nation explores the Army’s fraudulent use of personality disorder diagnoses to discharge soldiers, thus stripping them of their disability benefits and long term medical care. The article details the case of Chuck Luther who suffered a concussion during a mortar attack in May 2007. After reporting his symptoms,…
Read MoreAn investigation by Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein of ProPublica reveals how “the hedge fund Magnetar helped create mortgage-based securities, pushed for risky things to go inside them and then bet against the investments, resulting in billions in losses for investors and ultimately making the financial crisis worse.” The story can also be heard on…
Read MoreA collaboration by the five McClatchy newspapers in California examines how pension obligations are hurting local governments at a time of diminished resources throughout the state. “The initial logic of increasing retirement benefits to retain quality employees has been turned on its head: Paying for those benefits is forcing local governments to lay off employees…
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