Search results for:
Chemical Safety Board investigations languish
The Center for Public Integrity reports that the U.S. Chemical Safety Board operates with a sluggish investigative pace and short attention span. A former board member told CPI that the agency is “grossly mismanaged.” “The number of board accident reports, case studies and safety bulletins has fallen precipitously since 2006,” according to an analysis by…
Read MoreDavid Dietz Fellowship for 2013 IRE Conference
In 2012 IRE added a new fellowship in remembrance of longtime IRE member and supporter David Dietz. The fellowship honors his memory and legacy by helping a journalist who has demonstrated an interest in financial investigative journalism and who has fewer than 10 years professional experience. This fellowship covers IRE conference registration fees, provides $750 in…
Read MoreBehind the Story: How Gannett Wisconsin Media gathered salary data from cities, counties and state agencies
In the wake of the budget reforms proposed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in 2011, known as Wisconsin Act 10, Eric Litke of the Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team felt the public debate over salary was all rhetoric with little factual backing. In February, Litke tried to change the public dialog by publishing the salary data…
Read MoreBoating accident data updated in NICAR database library
Now that it’s just warm enough to get in a boat, the NICAR database library has updated the Coast Guard’s U.S. Recreational Boat Accident Database. WHAT’S IN IT?The updated data has accident reports from 1995 through 2011. Accidents involving vessel damage of more than $2,000 or disappearance of a person under circumstances that indicate death…
Read MoreFDA let drugs approved by fraudulent research stay on market
ProPublica reports that in 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced years’ worth of studies from a major drug research lab were potentially worthless. Those studies were part of the bases for about 100 drugs that made it to the U.S. market. According to ProPublica, the FDA let those drugs stay on pharmacy shelves…
Read MoreJournalism organizations call for greater transparency
Last week, The Association of Health Care Journalists, along with IRE and five other journalism and open-government groups, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture calling for the release of public information about the country’s food stamp program. From the AHCJ blog: Currently, the USDA refuses to reveal how much money individual retailers…
Read MoreIRE boot camp attendee shares Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
InsideClimate News became the third, and smallest, web-based organization to win a Pulitzer Prize, placing first on Monday in National Reporting for “The Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Oil Spill You’ve Never Heard Of.” Months ago, reporter Lisa Song brought a database of pipeline spills to and IRE/NICAR boot camp and began learning to work…
Read MoreHow the Sun Sentinel reported its Pulitzer Prize winning coverage of off-duty cops
The Sun Sentinel won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service on Monday for its “well documented investigation of off-duty police officers who recklessly speed and endanger the lives of citizens, leading to disciplinary action and other steps to curtail a deadly hazard.” Investigative Reporter Sally Kestin and Database Editor John Maines wrote a piece…
Read MoreSeveral IRE members recognized in 2013 Pulitzer Prizes
Fourteen members of Investigative Reporters and Editors were among journalists recognized in the 2013 Pulitzer Prizes on Monday. Members Sally Kestin and John Maines were part of a Sun Sentinel team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, for its “well documented investigation of off-duty police officers who recklessly speed and endanger the lives…
Read MoreThe Curse of Fertilizer
“Runaway nitrogen is suffocating wildlife in lakes and estuaries, contaminating groundwater, and even warming the globe’s climate. As a hungry world looks ahead to billions more mouths needing nitrogen-rich protein, how much clean water and air will survive our demand for fertile fields?” Read National Geographic’s full investigation here.
Read More