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Posts by Alena Rehberger
Judge blocks Alabama newspaper from printing information obtained through open records request
A state court judge has temporarily blocked the Montgomery Advertiser from publishing information about a utility company’s plan for gas line safety, information obtained through an open records request. Alagasco says the Distribution Integrity Management Plan, released to the newspaper by the Alabama Public Service Commission, contains proprietary and safety-related information that could jeopardize public…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | The dark side of the oil & gas boom
Think oil and gas stories are just for reporters in a few key states? Think again. There are more than 1.1 million active oil and gas wells in 36 states. On this podcast we’ll explore the dark side of the oil and gas boom with journalists who have investigated elements of the industry. Here’s the…
Read MoreBehind the Story: How Chicago Magazine exposed the truth about the city’s crime rates
Chicago Magazine | June 2014 A story that helped change the way Chicagoans digest crime stats started with suspicion. Immersed in a different crime-related piece, Chicago Magazine Features Editor David Bernstein and Contributing Writer Noah Isackson noticed something amiss with the statistics. When their trusted police sources voiced skepticism, the early trappings of an idea…
Read MoreMississippi town could make text messages readily available
A town in Mississippi could soon become the first in the state to archive and make available the text messages of public officials, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. The pending policy comes in response to a Mississippi Ethic Commission ruling against Tupelo, after the city had denied the Daily Journal text messages between…
Read MoreAUDIO: The data-driven story from start to finish
New to data reporting? Anthony Cormier, Sarasota Herald-Tribune; Jaeah Lee, Mother Jones; Rob O’Dell, The Arizona Republic; and Shawn McIntosh, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution walked journalists through their tips at the 2014 IRE Conference. Make it your job to develop good reporting habits. Keep track of data in relation to your reporting, like bankruptcy filings for…
Read MoreAppeals court upholds denial of FOIA request for detainee’s photo
A U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a Freedom of Information Act request denial to grant photos and other materials showing Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mohammed al-Qahtani to the Center for Constitutional Rights. Al-Qahtani is the alleged would-be 20th hijacker on 9/11 and one of the highest profile U.S. detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The panel ruled that…
Read MoreIRE Radio Podcast | Scrutinizing your schools
This week we bring you an education-themed podcast in two acts. First we’ll talk about campus coverage, specifically investigations into Title IX and sexual assault. In Act II we’ll turn to K-12 education with a piece on school segregation. Here’s the lineup: Paula Lavigne and Nicole Noren of ESPN talk about their investigation into Title…
Read MoreNPR releases militarization data ahead of White House analysis
NPR has released analyzed data that shows every military item shipped to local, state and federal agencies from 2006 through April 23, 2014, as a part of the 1033 program. The items from the Pentagon’s Law Enforcement Support Office include mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs) and assault rifles, among other things. NPR’s analysis also identifies the…
Read MoreIRE remembers CNN photojournalist Sarmad Qaseera
2012 IRE Awards video IRE is saddened to hear about the passing of Sarmad Qaseera, a photojournalist to whom we’d awarded an IRE Medal for his 2012 work in Benghazi. The 42-year-old was a longtime member of CNN’s Baghdad bureau. Qaseera was hired by CNN to cover the war in his home country of Iraq…
Read MoreFive databases at NICAR now offered for free to members
Among some other changes happening at the NICAR Data Library (go here to read more about them), we are now providing five databases for free to IRE members: Federal Election Commission’s Federal Campaign Contributions, updated weekly, contains campaign contribution information for all candidates seeking federal office and all federal political action committees. The individual contributions table includes…
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