Three major investigative reports that used social science research methods as key parts of their probes were named today as winners of the 2008 Philip Meyer Journalism Award. Scripps Howard News Service took top honors for “Saving Babies: Exposing Sudden Infant Death.” Reporters Thomas Hargrove, Lee Bowman and Lisa Hoffman found administrative inconsistencies in the…
Read MorePresident Barack Obama has wasted no time in taking a strong stand in favor of openness and transparency in the federal government. “All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA and to usher in a new era of open government,” President…
Read MoreSupporters from Barack Obama’s home state held a celebration this week that was paid for, in part, by the same lobbying firms the president-elect banned from donating to his campaign and inaugural committee, Bloomberg’s Jonathan D. Salant and Kate Andersen report. Seven firms that earned a total of at least $30 million in lobbying fees…
Read MoreIn an interview with The Washington Post‘s Bob Woodward, the official overseeing U.S. military commissions confirmed that treatment of a Guantanamo Bay detainee qualified as torture. “The public record of the Guantánamo interrogation of the detainee, Mohammed al-Qahtani, has long included what officials labeled abusive techniques, including exposure to extreme temperatures and isolation, but the…
Read MoreA US Airways jet went down in the Hudson River this afternoon. There are no reports of fatalities as ferries rush to the scene to help rescue the passengers and crew. IRE and NICAR have compiled information to help in covering such aviation disasters. Please contact the IRE Resource Center (573-882-3364) or Database Library (573-884-7711)…
Read MoreThe deadline for submitting entries for the IRE Awards is this Friday, January 15. All entries must be postmarked midnight on Friday. As you review work from 2009, don’t forget that we have added a new category to the contest that honors breaking news investigations. It is open to all journalists, regardless of media platform.…
Read MoreInternal Food and Drug Administration documents indicate that an FDA official overruled agency scientists and approved the sale of an imaging device for breast cancer after receiving a phone call from a Connecticut congressman. The legislator’s call and its effect on what is supposed to be a science-based approval process is only one of many…
Read MoreA year-long investigation by the Center for Public Integrity details the steep environmental toll taken by the practice of longwall mining, a process employed to quickly and cheaply extract coal. The investigation found that longwall mining dramatically rearranges the earth’s landscape, depleting water resources and disrupting wildlife.
Read More“The chief executive of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which operates the coal-burning power plant responsible for an enormous flood of coal ash in East Tennessee late last month, acknowledged Thursday that the plant’s containment ponds had leaked two other times in the last five years but had not been adequately repaired,” according to a report…
Read MoreVoice of San Diego reporter Will Carless reports that the county of San Diego has kept secret the results of an investigation into a report of improprieties in a program that provides wheelchairs and other medical services to children with physical disabilities. The investigation lasted more than a year and led to disciplinary action and…
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