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Bill Bowman and Paul D’Ambrosio of Gannett New Jersey newspapers navigated the details of school district contracts to show that “in districts around the state, it is not uncommon for boards of education to grant tens of thousands of dollars in extra pay to their chief administrators through complex contract deals that keep the true…
Read MoreThe National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, a joint program of IRE and the Missouri School of Journalism; the Knight Chair in Journalism at Arizona State University; and IRE are proud to introduce the Philip Meyer Journalism Award, a contest to recognize the best journalism done using social science research methods. The awards are in honor…
Read MoreSarah Okeson of the Peoria, Ill., Journal Star mapped tornado sirens and looked at how much of the county they cover, as well as geocoding the county’s schools and nursing homes and looking for gaps in the coverage. “The National Weather Service thinks Peoria is adequately prepared for a tornado or other disaster.” Okeson describes…
Read MoreFrank Bass and Dirk Lammers of The Associated Press examined nearly $5 billion in loans granted by the Small Business Administration as Sept. 11 recovery aid, and found that many went to businesses “that didn’t need terror relief — or even know they were getting it.” The SBA said it first learned of the problems…
Read MoreDan Stockman of The (Fort Wayne, Ind.) Journal Gazette used business and property records to show that an Indiana foundation set up to benefit children and schools “has been used to buy a luxury vacation home in an exclusive neighborhood where an advertisement says ‘the fortunate few’ will ‘live where everybody wants to play.’” Directors…
Read MoreChris Casteel of The Oklahoman used rarely-scrutinized records detailing congressional office expenses, finding that “Rep. John Sullivan is leasing a sport utility vehicle in his congressional district for $1,242 a month at taxpayer expense. Rep. Frank Lucas rented a car in December in Oklahoma City and paid more than $1,500 for it out of his…
Read MoreJohn Blake of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution used public tax and property records to show how Bishop Eddie Long, leader of the 25,000-member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, received more than $3 million in salary and property over four years from a tax-exempt charity that he founded in 1996. The charity’s compensation for Long was nearly…
Read MoreJeremy Kohler of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that St. Louis police have failed to file official reports on many sex crimes over the past 20 years, instead writing informal memos on cases that would not be counted in the city’s crime statistics. “The Post-Dispatch analyzed many of these cases and found police often discounted…
Read MoreSamuel P. Nitze and Beth Reinhard of The Miami Herald used local property data to show that “under a 1959 state law intended to preserve agriculture, developers reap huge property tax breaks by herding cows or raising crops in the most unlikely settings. Some pay less in annual property taxes than the average homeowner on…
Read MoreSanjay Bhatt of The Seattle Times used achievement and growth data from Seattle Public Schools to examine “high-performing” schools. Bhatt explains: “I used Excel’s pivot table feature to do a neat 3 x 3 table that gave readers new insight on looking at test scores. I triangulated two different types of data — achievement and…
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