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A look at the extent of Chinese censorship
Every day, more than 100 million items are posted to Sina Weibo, the microblogging service sometimes called “China’s Twitter”. And every day, teams of censors comb through the posts in search of anything that changes what the government likes to call a “harmonious society.” For the past five months, ProPublica has been quietly watching the…
Read MoreBroken Bonds
When municipal officials want to build for the future, they have a powerful financial tool at their disposal: general obligation bonds that yield millions of borrowed dollars. The money is meant to let cities move forward on costly projects that will serve the community for decades. But in an unprecedented analysis of Chicago’s finances, a…
Read MoreUtility district manager’s retirement party cost customers thousands of dollars
Water customers at two Greene County utility districts helped throw a more than $6,400 retirement bash for the woman who helped lead the districts for many years, WJHL reports. Who authorized the expenses? According to the itemized receipts, Collins’ daughter, acting manager Kandie Jennings approved the expenses. Jennings is among the family members on unpaid…
Read MoreToo Much of Too Little
Millions have crossed through the fence from Mexico to America, both legally and illegally, making Hidalgo County, Texas, one of the fastest-growing places in America. “El Futuro” is what some residents have begun calling the area, and here the future is unfolding in a cycle of cascading extremes. The country’s hungriest region is also its most overweight,…
Read MoreTo expand Khamenei’s grip on the economy, Iran stretched its laws
A Reuters investigation into the Iranian supreme leader’s $95 billion economic empire—which was partly built on confiscating family property from ordinary citizens: Several other Iranians whose family properties were taken over by Setad described in interviews how men showed up and threatened to use violence if the owners didn’t leave the premises at once. One…
Read MoreThe Most Senseless Environmental Crime of the 20th Century
“Fifty years ago 180,000 whales disappeared from the oceans without a trace, and researchers are still trying to make sense of why.” The Pacific Standard investigates one of the most irrational environmental crimes of the century.
Read MoreMinnesota campaign finance regulators’ database isn’t adding up
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the online files from the Minnesota agency charged with tracking candidate and campaign fundraising are riddled with inaccuracies, leading to errors that total as much as $20 million over the past decade, according to an analysis. About 7,000 records of donations between Minnesota groups are incorrect — an error…
Read MoreSeattle school managers get questionable OT payments
A KIRO 7 investigation finds that some at Seattle’s schools may be violating the HR policy by paying overtime to select district managers who aren’t entitled to make extra money. A months-long investigation reveals a radio station supervisor is the exempt manager making the most OT, banking about $70,000 in the last 2 ½ years.…
Read MoreThe secret, dirty cost of Obama’s green power push
The ethanol era has proven far more damaging to the environment than politicians promised and much worse than the government admits today. Farmers have wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, destroyed habitat and contaminated water supplies, an Associated Press investigation found. Five million acres of land set aside for conservation have been converted.…
Read MoreBest practices for data journalism
Tune in here at 11 a.m. CST to view award winning data journalists Jennifer LaFleur, from the Center for Investigative Reporting, David Donald, of the Center for Public Integrity and Tom Hargrove of the Scripps-Howard News Service as they talk about their best practices for great data reporting. They’ll also be touching on the stories that won…
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