Michael Luo and Griff Palmer of The New York Times report that nearly 3,000 donations to Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama’s campaign have been in the name of fake donors. While some of the campaign contributions had been refunded, Times analysis found about $40,000 in questionable donations had not. Mr. Obama has raised approximately $450…
Read MoreA $100,000 grant from the McCormick Foundation will allow us to continue and expand our Ethnic Media Watchdog program. The funding will support a series of regional workshops that will bring low-cost, high-quality training on local, regional and national topics to journalists working in small- to medium-sized ethnic media organizations in areas throughout the U.S.…
Read MoreA report by Michael de Yoanna and Bill Gertz of The Washington Times reveals that the relocation of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) from Cheyenne Mountain to office space at nearby Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. could undermine national security. “According to military and defense sources familiar with the missions…
Read MoreIan Urbina of The New York Times reports that elections officials removed or blocked tens of thousands of eligible voters from voter registration rolls in at least six swing states and that elections workers misused Social Security databases. The actions, revealed in a Times review of state and Social Security records, appear to violate federal…
Read MoreJoaquin Sapien of ProPublica reports that the CDC’s original report on the safety of FEMA trailers dispensed to Hurricane Katrina victims was fundamentally flawed. While an agency standard states that formaldehyde exposure for two-weeks or more at levels measuring 30 parts per billion (ppb) can lead to health problems — the FEMA trailers all measured…
Read MoreProPublica’s Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, in conjunction with The Los Angeles Times, have found over 115 cases in which the state of California did not seek to restrict or revoke nursing licenses until the nurses had three or more convictions. Twenty-four of the nurses had five convictions, and crimes ranged from Medicare fraud and…
Read MoreAn investigation by D.L. Bennett, Cameron McWhirter, Heather Vogell and data analysts Megan Clarke and John Perry of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found that the apathy and negligence of workers at the Fulton County 911 call center endangered the lives of emergency workers and of those seeking emergency help. The reporters, who reviewed nearly five…
Read MoreAmes Alexander and David Ingram of The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported that North Carolina Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry has collected at least half of her campaign contributions from executives and managers of companies that have been inspected by her department. The newspaper’s analysis also found that while the Labor Department routinely reduces fines for workplace…
Read More“State senators may be violating a Texas Constitution ban on using taxpayer money for bonuses to government workers by approving temporary end-of-year raises to give staffers thousands of dollars in extra pay,” reported Matt Stiles of the Houston Chronicle. An analysis of a state payroll database obtained through the Texas Public Information Act showed a…
Read MoreIt’s time to apply for the Philip Meyer Award! Established in 2005, the award was created to honor Philip Meyer’s pioneering efforts to utilize social science research methods to foster better journalism. The contest recognizes stories that incorporate social science tools — from probabilities to survey research — in creative ways that lead to journalism…
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