Posts by Alena Rehberger
IRE Preview: Learn to detect corporate fraud with tips from a crook and a sleuth
Leading up the IRE Conference, the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism will offer a free pre-conference workshop from 1:30-5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25. Attendees will learn the fundamental methods for inspecting public filings for corporate fraud. The information gained in this session will allow reporters to spot red flags in corporate disclosures and…
Read MoreCollege sports revenue goes up despite recession
Despite the economic downturn, which saw a 1.3 percent decrease in the median salary of American households, sports revenue at public colleges and universities increased by 32 percent between 2008 and 2013. Spending on coaches salaries increased by 45 percent. ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” took a look at the numbers and broke them down in a…
Read MoreInvestigating money in politics on foot and online
By George Varney Fredreka Schouten presented a campaign finance panel at the 2014 CAR Conference in Baltimore with fellow USA TODAY reporter Chris Schnaars and AP reporter Jack Gillum. The panel focused on different techniques for investigating political conventions and using online databases. Schouten gets to conventions two days early, before security shows up, to…
Read MoreIRE Preview: Hone your campus coverage skills with our lineup of pros
Screen shot from Walt Bogdanich’s New York Times story on a flawed rape case at Florida State University IRE is expanding its vast panel lineup for our national conference in San Francisco to include sessions specially-designed for student journalists and others who cover college campuses and higher education issues. The track will cover topics such…
Read MoreWhites getting more spots at top Chicago public high schools
More white students are walking the halls at Chicago’s top four public high schools. At Walter Payton College Prep on the Near North Side, more than 41 percent of freshmen admitted the past four years have been white, compared to 29 percent in 2009, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of Chicago Public Schools data has found.…
Read MoreBehind the Story: How KDNK investigated gas spills on private property
Photo courtesy of KDNK Oil and gas companies reported about 90 spills last year in heavily-drilled Garfield County, Colorado. Many of the leaks happened on private properties leased to drilling companies, said Ed Williams, a reporter at community radio station KDNK. But when unsafe levels of dangerous chemicals like arsenic and benzene contaminated the land,…
Read MoreTwo Small Business Administration databases updated at NICAR
The NICAR database library has updated data from two Small Business Administration loan programs: The 7a loans program provides loans to small business owners who can’t obtain financing through traditional channels. The database covers loans from 1950 – Sept. 30, 2013. See below for more details. The disaster loans program is the primary form of…
Read MoreVirginia paroling violent, mentally ill patients
But what happened in Apartment 433 was more than just another murder. It was a window into today’s mental health care: a system as dysfunctional as the clients it serves. So gutted it has little power to put away even the most dangerous for any real length of time – and almost nowhere to keep…
Read MoreFulton commissioners use on-duty police for rides to meetings, appearances
On-duty police officers routinely chauffeur Fulton County commissioners around town in apparent violation of the board’s own policy prohibiting the practice. Commissioners have asked officers to drive them to the airport, to concerts and to scores of other public events in recent years, even though county rules forbid using police officers to transport elected officials,…
Read MoreObamacare work in progress for Appalachian residents in Floyd County, KY
Four months after the Affordable Care Act took effect, a team of journalists from USA Today and The Courier-Journal has found that in Floyd County, Obamacare is a neither a train wreck nor a cure-all. It’s a work in progress; widely misrepresented and misunderstood, it’s helped some people and hurt others, while a handful seem…
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