IRE News
Covering the repurchase market and shadow banking
Veteran journalist Mary Fricker has put together a guide for the Reynolds Business Journalism Center on how to cover the repurchase market and shadow banking, which she says is “inherently unstable. It triggered the financial crisis in 2007 and 2008. It’s a key reason that our recovery is weak. Yet in 2008, when the financial…
Read MoreIRE welcomes new Google Journalism Fellow
IRE is gaining a new summer fellow as part of the first ever Google Journalism Fellowship. Nicole Pasulka of New York University will spend 8 weeks with IRE, as well as a week with Google and a week with the Knight Foundation. Pasulka is currently getting an M.A. in journalism at NYU in the Literary Reportage program.…
Read MoreLast week to apply for free Total Newsroom Training
Time is running out for your chance to get free investigative training for your newsroom. The deadline to apply for Total Newsroom Training from IRE is by the end of the day on Friday, Feb. 22. TNT is meant to reach organizations that are hungry for customized investigative training but can’t afford it. Training is…
Read MoreSeven IRE members honored with Polk awards
Seven IRE members were among winners of the 64th annual George Polk Awards in Journalism, announced today by Long Island University. The annual George Polk Awards in Journalism were established in 1949 by Long Island University to commemorate George Polk, a CBS Correspondent murdered in 1948 while reporting on the civil war in Greece. The…
Read MoreThis Valentine’s Day, background your date using public records
Don’t let love get in the way of investigating. The old saying in journalism goes something like “if your mother says she loves you, check it out,” and if that’s true for your mother then it’s certainly true for your Valentine’s Day date. So let’s begin our walk through of how to make use of…
Read MoreBehind the Story: How the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel learned about an ATF sting gone wrong
Credit: Lou Saldivar, Journal Sentinel Graphics Editor John Diedrich and Raquel Rutledge of the Journal Sentinel had an opportunity to gain rare insight into an undercover government operation in 2012. Their watchdog reporting on the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ sting operation in Milwaukee revealed the operation may have done more harm…
Read MoreBehind the Story: Tackling the unusual, problematic ‘contract for deed’ housing deal
Minneapolis Star Tribune photoRon Folger of Minneapolis lost his rental license last year city and began selling properties to low-income families on a plan known as a contract-for-deed transaction. In January, Jeffrey Meitrodt, Investigations Editor at the Star Tribune, reported on problematic contract-for-deed sales of homes in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. The sales are frequently used…
Read MoreEight newsrooms awarded grants for data projects
IRE is pleased to announce that eight newsrooms will be awarded grants thanks to the $50,000 donation from Google Ideas. The grants will support data-driven investigations by providing journalists with access to data, new tools and necessary training. The fund’s two broad priorities were to support specific investigative projects and to better equip news organizations…
Read MoreBehind the Story: Questionable border patrol shootings
In December, Tim Steller, a reporter and now columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, reported on the increasing number of shootings occurring between Border Patrol and illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. The victims in some cases appear to have been unarmed. This fact and the lack of transparency in the investigations has cast doubt…
Read MoreMoney trail for Sandy begins as Congress approves $51 billion in disaster aid
On Monday Congress approved $51 billion in disaster aid for victims of Hurricane Sandy, three months after the storm that killed more than 130 people and caused billions in damage to the Atlantic coast. Follow the money with IRE’s coverage page, Hurricane Sandy: Covering the Aftermath The spending was heavily debated and at a time sparked bipartisan…
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