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“The Lansing (Mich.) State Journal spent more than two months gathering and reviewing public records to determine how city leaders in East Lansing handled construction of a downtown mixed-use building, not far from Michigan State University, after a portion of the unfinished building collapsed and it was discovered that the developer had started construction without…
Read MoreLisa Song, an InsideClimate News reporter, has analyzed a decade worth of federal data that shows that the general public has detected far more oil pipeline spills than leak detection technology.”
Read MoreThree IRE members were awarded Knight Foundation grants that will create online resources for journalists. The grants are part of six news innovations intended to improve access to information on local communities, air quality, elections, demographics and more that in total received $2.22 million as winners of Knight News Challenge: Data. The Knight Foundation said…
Read MoreEconomic issues have taken center stage during this year’s elections. Candidates for office are trying to tap into voters’ discontent about unemployment, government spending and housing. It’s easy for journalists and the public to get lost when politicians toss out economic statistics to score points. So IRE and the Sunlight Foundation have teamed up to…
Read More“Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press higher education reporter Brian McVicar used a decade’s worth of electronic grade reports to examine what classes at Grand Valley State University students struggle with the most, what academic areas students perform well in, and how grading at the university has changed over time.” “McVicar, an IRE CAR boot camp alum,…
Read MoreIf you’re plugged into the tech scene these days — or even, really, if you’re not — it’s almost impossible to escape the exuberance surrounding the ad hoc field known as data science. A combination of math, data munging, visualization and computer programming, data science experts are among the most in-demand hires in the tech…
Read More“Over two decades, the Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.”“A Los Angeles Times review of 1,600 confidential files dating from 1970 to 1991 has found that Scouting officials frequently urged admitted offenders to quietly resign — and helped many…
Read MoreThere are more than 1 million acres in Wisconsin open to the public through a forestry tax break program. Good news for hunters and hikers … if only they could find it. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Raquel Rutledge found while taxpayers pick up the tab, it can be nearly impossible for anyone other than the landowner to…
Read MoreThere are several ways that political funds can play a role in key states, especially during an election year. In IRE’s 2012 election coverage webinar from Derek Willis of The New York Times, you’ll see how to trace money that comes from outside sources to state-based political groups, and how to follow the path of…
Read MoreAn internal study obtained by the Los Angeles Times shows that Los Angeles Fire Department dispatchers waste valuable time getting 911 callers to start CPR on cardiac arrest victims, possibly leading to preventable deaths. In March, the Times reported that a Los Angeles mayoral candidate unwittingly exposed inaccurate reporting of response times by the fire department.…
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