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Water tainted with mercury ignored by government
Abandoned mercury mines in California are contaminating many of the state’s waterways, reports Jason Dearen. An investigation by the Associated Press found that “the federal government has tried to clean up fewer than a dozen of the hundreds of mines – and most cleanups have failed to stem the contamination.”
Read More“The Informant!” opens tonight
The movie “The Informant!,” which opens at theaters tonight, is based upon the IRE-honored book by Kurt Eichenwald. The book was a finalist in the book category in the 2000 IRE Awards.
Read MoreWashington Redskins: The Toughest Ticket in Town
For more than 70 years, the Washington Redskins have boasted that they have sold out every game. Seats are so scarce that the waiting list for general admission season tickets has 160,000 names on it. But James Grimaldi of The Washington Post reports that the reality is that the team has sold thousands of general…
Read MoreArmy ends practice of profiling journalists covering war efforts
Stars and Stripes (Washington, D.C.) reporter Kevin Baron reports that less than a week after the paper first revealed that the Pentagon was routinely profiling journalists, the Army decided to cancel the program. “The U.S. military is canceling its contract with a controversial private firm that was producing background profiles of journalists seeking to cover…
Read MoreAtlanta schools under scrutiny for how cheating is handled
A story by Heather Vogell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution raises questions about whether Atlanta is doing enough to probe allegations of cheating on state tests at its schools. Vogell used the state’s Open Records Law to obtain more than 2,400 pages of internal investigations into testing misconduct at six large metro school districts.
Read MoreDetails revealed about deaths at Memorial Medical Center after Katrina
An investigation by Sheri Fink of ProPublica reveals “what really happened to some of the patients who died at New Orleans’ Memorial Medical Center in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.” Among her findings, Fink reports that more patients than had been previously reported were given lethal injections, and some of those patients were near death…
Read MoreGovernor’s former staff skirt law through indirect lobbying
Jeremy Finley of WSMV-Nashville, Tenn. tracked the former staff of the governor’s office and found many of them active in “indirect lobbying” for special interests. A state law says no members of the governor’s staff can lobby for a year after they leave office.
Read MoreCompensation for those wrongly convicted slow, unequal
Clark Merrefield, along with fellow CUNY graduate students, analyzed New York state’s compensation program for those found to be wrongfully convicted. Their findings showed that it takes years for recipients to receive their compensation, and the payment rates are wildly uneven despite promises to the contrary.
Read MoreSeries explores decline of investigative reporting in America
Laura Frank, reporting for Exposé, explores the state of investigative reporting in a series entitled “The Withering Watchdog.” In an era of shrinking newsrooms, “investigative reporting is often the first target. Investigative journalism takes more time and more experienced journalists to produce, and it often involves legal battles. It’s generally the most expensive work the…
Read MoreLaw school admitted unqualified applicants for a price
In its on-going watchdog series “Clout Goes To College,” the Chicago Tribune reveals a “jobs-for-entry scheme” at the University of Illinois’ law school. Internal emails “show for the first time efforts to seek favors — in this case, jobs — for admissions, the most troubling evidence yet of how Illinois’ entrenched system of patronage crept…
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