The early bird deadline for 
The 2025 Freelance Fellowship Recipients
An investigation by Scott M. Reid and Dan Albano of The Orange County Register has revealed that photographs of unsuspecting high school athletes are being posted next to pornographic images on Internet sites. Investigators are tracking Web profiles and e-mail trails to determine the source of photos taken at water polo events. The discovery also…
Read MoreAfter tornadoes ripped through the southern part of the state earlier this month, Ben Poston of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that thousands of southeastern Wisconsin residents are out of range for tornado warning sirens. Using mapping software, Poston plotted nearly 75 siren locations in Milwaukee and Racine counties and then overlayed census data to…
Read MoreAn investigation by Grant Williams and Peter Panepento of The Chronicle of Philanthropy found that about half of the nation’s largest charities pay no taxes, even though they generate millions in unrelated business income. Some organizations are claiming a loss on their income — meaning that they are losing money on side ventures. A change…
Read MoreDetroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is under investigation after M.L. Elrick and Jim Schaefer of The Detroit Free Press obtained text messages that contradict the mayor’s testimony in a court case filed by a former deputy police chief, who claimed he was the victim of retaliatory firing. (See the chain of events in the case that…
Read MoreJason Riley of The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.) found that many inmates granted “shock probation” were being re-incarcerated in Jefferson County, Ky. The program releases offenders after only one to six months of their sentence and was developed for “first-time, nonviolent offenders who, after getting a taste of prison life, would be so ‘shocked’ by their…
Read MoreAndrea Jones and Megan Clarke of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution report that abuse of government purchasing cards cost the state approximately $370 million in 2007. An analysis of over four million transactions showed that the credit cards have been used to pay for such things as pornography, tattoos, concerts, and dating services. In addition to the…
Read MoreA report by Christine Young of the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, NY, in a special eight-page supplement and online multi-media presentation, suggests strongly that a New York City man who is borderline mentally retarded was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1989. Thanks to Young’s reporting—and a bizarre set of circumstances that thrust her into the…
Read MoreA two-part series in the Jacksonville Business Journal looked into the business behind the fight over a ballot initiative will determine how Florida grows. By building his own database, reporter Mark Szakonyi was able to determine who was funding each side and how the battle for paid petition gatherers was influencing the issue.
Read MoreFollowing the news of fugitive Norman Hsu fundraising for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, a Center for Investigative Reporting investigation for Politico finds new examples of presidential candidates relying on fundraisers with questionable backgrounds. A fundraiser for Mitt Romney was recently suspended from practicing law. A backer of Barack Obama defaulted on loans. A bundler for Rudy…
Read MoreA six-part series by Kevin Craver of the Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill.) looks into lawsuits facing two chemical companies after a cluster of brain cancer patients were discovered in a small town. Craver studied documents going back 30 years to investigate the site’s regulatory history, inspections, claims and counterclaims about pollutants and human exposure.…
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