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ATF storefront sting led to thousands of dollars stolen and a machine gun on the streets
In an attempt to bust criminal operations in Milwaukee by purchasing drugs and guns from felons the ATF set up a storefront sting. However, “the effort to date has not snared any major dealers or taken down a gang. Instead, it resulted in a string of mistakes and failures, including an ATF military-style machine gun…
Read MoreOne-on-One Mentoring available at CAR Conference
IRE’s Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference offers an opportunity for in-depth, one-on-one coaching on data-driven investigative reporting techniques, news applications and tools. These private sessions allow attendees to seek advice on challenging projects or followup ideas and professional development. These sessions are not for job seekers; they are designed for teaching and sharing information. You must have…
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…
Read MoreAnother free pass for Ivan the Incorrigible
“This long-running spree of crime has led US immigration officials to try, at least three times in the past 12 years, to detain and deport Vaclavik. But each time he has challenged the effort with a lawsuit — and each time immigration has backed off and set him free,” according to The Boston Globe’s story.
Read MoreBehind the Story: Post-Dispatch mapping finds ‘hot spots’ of pedestrian railroad deaths
Photo courtesy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Photo courtesy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In December, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch released Death on the Rails, a special report on the surprising number of pedestrian deaths that have occurred on railways. Reporter Todd Frankel explains how he cross-referenced databases and resources to build his own map…
Read More“Star” El Diario reporter’s murder case remains unsolved
“Choco was the first journalist to fall victim to the turf war between the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels that engulfed the state of Chihuahua from 2007 to 2011. He was not the last. In July, the special prosecutor for crimes against journalists in Mexico testified that 67 journalists had been killed in that country since 2006.…
Read MoreDeadspin reporting of Manti Te’o girlfriend hoax highlights need for backgrounding story subjects
The ability to background a person is an essential tool for journalists regardless of beat, as shown by news of Lennay Kekua, the deceased girlfriend of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o who never existed but became one of the prominent storylines in sports this year. The fact that Kekua was a complete fabrication is a…
Read MoreNew measure drops Pennsylvania charter school ratings
Analyzing state education data, The Morning Call found that only 28 percent of Pennsylvania charter schools met an adequate yearly progress rating, compared to 49 percent using a more lenient calculation implemented by the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education and later rejected by the U.S. Department of Education.
Read MoreUsing DocumentCloud, FOIA Project to track requests, responses by agency
The FOIA Project has documented more evidence of what its staff calls apparent failure of the Obama administration to fulfill transparency promises, and an upcoming expansion of the project could be a step toward establishing definitive evidence regarding the administration’s level of transparency. At the end of December, the DocumentCloud-powered venture from the Transactional…
Read MoreGun laws, state by state
“President Obama has indicated a move towards strengthening federal gun control measures, but the reality is that the majority of gun legislation in the US is enacted at the state level. That has brought broad variations across the country, with states taking different approaches to issues ranging from sales, permits, licensing, self-defense and carry laws.”…
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