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Investigative Reporters and Editors has joined the Society of Professional Journalists and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in asking administrators at Tarleton State University to stop barring instructors from assigning journalism students to request public records from the school. The University, part of the Texas A&M System, is enforcing a policy that…
Read MoreOver the past year, severe weather in the Washington D.C. area has led to frequent power outages, and called attention to the service of utility provider Pepco. “One of Pepco’s standard explanations for the frequency and duration of its outages — dense tree cover — does not hold up under scrutiny, a three-month Washington Post…
Read MoreA six-month Associated Press investigation uncovered massive problems with a popular State Department program designed to foster cultural understanding. Reporters Bert Mohr, Mitch Weiss and Mike Baker found that foreign students pay recruiters thousands to help find employment, then don’t get work or wind up making little or no money at menial jobs. Labor recruiters…
Read MoreReuters correspondent Scot Paltrow reports on Lender Processing Services, a Florida company that handles half of all foreclosures in the United States. A Reuters investigation shows the company’s legal woes are more serious than previously disclosed. “Public records reveal that the company’s LPS Default Solutions unit produced documents of dubious authenticity in far larger quantities…
Read MoreAn investigation by Isaac Wolf, national reporter for Scripps Howard News Service, found that fracking, a widespread method of extracting natural gas by shooting chemical-laced water underground, is a growing threat to water supplies in 28 states, according to scientists, landowners and environmentalists. Plus, Wolf reported, overwhelmed, understaffed state inspectors aren’t keeping up with the exploding number of…
Read MoreIn an ongoing investigation into problems at Parkland Hospital, Brooks Egerston of The Dallas Morning News reports on a botched knee surgery that ultimately led to an amputation. The surgery was performed by a doctor in training. According to a patient safety report by the hospital, these outcomes aren’t uncommon. “‘We harm two patients a…
Read MoreThe Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.) spent months going through individual case files at the Charleston County Probate Court to learn what was happening to the savings of elderly incapacitated persons. Reporter Doug Pardue discovered a court that was set up to protect vulnerable elderly persons but often helped drain their estates throught court-approved fees…
Read MoreThis month, new American Community Survey data for census tracts will be released. This will be the first detailed demographic data at the neighborhood level from the U.S. Census Bureau since the 2000 “long form.” To help you make sense of the treasure trove of story ideas at the local level, IRE has produced a…
Read MoreIt’s that time of year again – time to consider entering your best work into the IRE Awards. Among the most prestigious in journalism, the IRE Awards recognize outstanding investigative reporting across all media. Eligible entries must have been published or aired between January 1 and December 31, 2010. The postmark deadline for submissions is…
Read MoreIn The Washington Post‘s continuing investigation, The Hidden Life of Guns, reporter Cheryl W. Thompson offers the first comprehensive analysis of how cop-killers got their guns. “Legal purchase was the leading source of weapons used to kill police officers. In 107 slayings, the killers acquired their firearms legally. In 170 deaths, The Post could not…
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