The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
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Sarah Cohen discusses data visualization in reporting
Steve Myers of Poynter interviewed Sarah Cohen, database editor for The Washington Post‘s investigative team, on her use of data visualization as part of exploratory reporting. Cohen spoke on the topic at the 2009 CAR Conference in Indianapolis. Download the tipsheet from her presentation here (pdf).
Read MoreReal estate scheme dupes straw buyers
A three-month investigation by voiceofsandiego.org examined a real estate scheme involving three condo projects. According to the article written by Kelly Bennett and Will Carless, “The buyers were straw buyers, individuals who agreed to rent out their identities and good credit scores to a Bay Area man named Jim McConville, whose team obtained mortgages in…
Read MoreRecession impacts diabetics’ health
An Associated Press investigation found that many diabetics are reducing or forgoing doctor visits, medications and testing due to financial pressures. Business writer Linda A. Johnson reports that, “People with other health problems also are cutting back on care amid the recession, but diabetics who don’t closely monitor and control the chronic disease risk particularly…
Read MoreOfficials withhold ticket contract information
Elise Young of northjersey.com reports that state officials refuse to provide complete public contracts with Ticketmaster. According to the article, the “arrangements give the state millions of dollars from seat sales and the non-refundable ‘convenience’ fees and other charges to fans.” In contracts obtained by The Record, the state’s take in transaction fees was removed.
Read MoreSpeeding tickets quadruple in Florida county
An analysis by The Villages (Fla.) Daily Sun found that a driver’s likelihood of getting a speeding ticket in Sumter County increased nearly 400 percent since 2003. According to the article written by Matt Dixon, “In 2007, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office doled out 4,794 speeding tickets, or a 391 percent increase over the 975…
Read MoreHousing program fails to aid low-income families
A story by William Heisel of the Los Angeles Times focuses on the failures of the federal government’s efforts to revitalize the housing market and to increase affordable housing. For a decade, the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has been giving local governments homes to refurbish and resell to low-income buyers. The story…
Read MoreU.S citizens mistakenly detained in immigration sweeps
A story by Andrew Becker and Patrick J. McDonnell of the Los Angeles Times has found that U.S. citizens are increasingly being mistakenly included in immigration sweeps. Reports of “mistaken detentions are drawing increased attention as immigration officials mount workplace roundups and jailhouse sweeps in search of undocumented immigrants. Immigration raids of factories and other…
Read MoreSurveillance camera use questioned
The Indianapolis Star reporter Brendan O’Shaughnessy examined the effectiveness of the city’s police surveillance cameras. According to the article, “Police say they have made a handful of arrests thanks to the cameras, including a homicide last year. But without hard data, it’s hard to tell whether the cameras are worth the money.” Each camera costs…
Read MoreBuffett benefits from bailout
Charles Piller of The Sacramento Bee reports that billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway “owns more than $13 billion of stock in the top recipients of TARP funds – including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., US Bancorp, American Express Co. and Bank of America Corp., all considered by analysts to be in deep trouble before the federal…
Read MoreAnalysis shows Boeing 737 cockpit alarm often ignored by pilots
An “analysis of NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) has revealed that pilots flying Boeing 737s, the world’s most widely deployed passenger aircraft, have frequently been ignoring an onboard alarm horn designed to warn of a critical loss of pressure, and thus a lack of oxygen, in the cockpit,” reports Michael Fabey for Travel Weekly. …
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