BusinessWeek‘s Brian Grow, Keith Epstein and Robert Berner detail efforts by the banking industry and its lobbyists in Washington to delay, dilute and obstruct attempts to rescue homeowners. The story describes how those efforts continue, and tracks campaign contributions by financial institutions and large lobbying expenditures by TARP recipients.
Read MoreJennifer LaFleur and Ed Timms at The Dallas Morning News have found that, despite legislation to reform homeowner insurance coverage, many Texans pay some of the country’s highest premiums but receive below-average coverage. The story also includes an explanation of the computer-assisted reporting for the piece. This is the fourth and final installment in the…
Read MoreOnly a local news organization can hold institutions and individuals in a community accountable, so journalists need to be equipped for the job, says Rob Dean, managing editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican. That’s why the newspaper sponsored custom IRE training for its staff in early February. “In the last three days, I think…
Read MoreLeaders of the Santa Fe New Mexican are moving quickly to build on three days of custom IRE training for their newsroom. Among their follow-up plans: an intranet for their newsroom and additional spreadsheet training for the staff. Read the full report in the new ‘IRE On the Road’ blog by training directors Jaimi Dowdell…
Read More“A two month I-Team investigation into Office Depot and its lucrative contracts with local governments and schools, is prompting swift action by Missouri’s Attorney General,” reports Leisa Zigman of KDSK-St. Louis. The investigation revealed deceptive pricing and over-charging on products outlined in the contracts. Former Office Depot senior sales account manager David Sherwin stated, “The…
Read MoreIn these difficult times, IRE is making a special offer to our members: If your membership renewal has come due and you are out of work, we will provide you with a complimentary one-year renewal so that you can continue to use IRE’s resources and services. This offer is retroactive for all of those who…
Read MoreIn a third installment of the series “Cashing in on Kids,” Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that the state of Wisconsin has overpaid parents and child care providers more than $13 million in recent years – including millions of dollars for bogus child care. But the state has a poor record of…
Read MoreThis extraordinary investigation exposes a pattern of cover-up, altered records, and secrecy surrounding a series of deaths inside a state-run mental hospital. KIRO-Seattle’s Team 7 Investigators dug into 29 recent cases of suicide or attempted suicide and found mentally ill patients repeatedly had access to the means to kill themselves without proper monitoring by state…
Read More“In what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave, Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City and over 370 cases last year alone,” according to a report by Brian Ross, Richard Esposito and Asa Eslocker…
Read More