The early bird deadline for 
The 2025 Freelance Fellowship Recipients
Mike McIntire of The New York Times analyzed state campaign finance data to show that “one of the world's largest insurance companies has skirted [state] limits in giving almost 20 times that amount to some of New York's most prominent politicians.” New York law limits corporate contributions to $5,000 annually. AIG avoided these limits by…
Read MoreChitra Ragavan, Chief Legal Correspondent for U.S.News & World Report, has written “Capitol Crime,” a detailed piece about MZM, a defense contractor implicated in the Rep. “Duke” Cunningham briberies. “Based on a review of hundreds of pages of court documents, private internal MZM records, and detailed interviews with a dozen key officials, shows how [Mitchell]…
Read MoreHolly Becka, Gregg Jones, Jennifer LaFleur, and Steve McGonigle of The Dallas Morning News obtained and analyzed federal and state truck inspection and investigation records, accident reports and court records to show that trucking companies rarely take blame in fatal crashes. “They hire illegal immigrants who struggle to read road signs and communicate in English…
Read MoreAlison Young of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed awards recieved by the employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to show that the most frequent large cash awards and performance bonuses are recieved not by scientists, but mostly budget analysts, accountants, computer experts and other administrative managers. “The 72 CDC employees who received…
Read MoreMike McAndrew of The Post-Standard used Empire Zone records obtained through Freedom of Information Law requests to show that New York’s program to attract new business spent $84 million in recent years on out-of-state power companies with old and dirty facilities and little or no job growth. For instance, taxpayers paid $22 million to NRG…
Read MoreCharles Robinson and Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports conducted an eight-month investigation and reported that <a href=http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=ys-bushprobe&prov=yhoo&type=lgns&league=top"“Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush and his family appear to have accepted financial benefits worth more than $100,000 from marketing agents while Bush was playing at the University of Southern California. The story cites hotel records and credit…
Read MoreDave Kaplan kicked off his new Bad Guys blog on USNews.com this week with two entries on what the Mafia’s been up to since 9/11. Part One reveals its involvement in a new “Pizza Connection” case that links up the Sicilian and American mobs. Part Two reports on how the Mafia remains active in a…
Read MoreThe most recent Pentagon contract data show more payments for logistics, support and ground vehicles and less money for aviation programs, compared to a year ago. “One year of wartime operations equals about four years’ worth during peacetime, analysts say. In Iraq, with the harsh environment, the ratio has been more like one to five.”…
Read MoreMick Hinton, Randy Krehbiel and Curtis Killman of the Tulsa World used state campaign finance data to find the top donors to Oklahoma elections during the current cycle. Enid attorney Stephen Jones led the list with $73,600 in contributions this year, followed by energy and real estate executives. The reporters also noted, “Several of those…
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