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Investigation leads to EPA re-examining lead factories
“The Environmental Protection Agency is re-examining more than 460 former lead factory sites across the USA for health hazards left by toxic fallout onto soil in nearby neighborhoods.” “The massive effort, a result of a USA TODAY investigation, involves locations in dozens of states and has already identified several sites needing further investigation and some…
Read MoreTransparency Watch: What journalists need to know about FOIAonline
Federal agencies have launched FOIAonline, a tool that journalists can use to file, track and appeal requests for documents and data under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. Here’s what you need to know about the service, which was announced just last week. Not all federal agencies are participating. Here’s who’s on board: Department of Commerce,…
Read MoreHundreds of reports from students trapped in elevators at UT-Arlington
“According to open records obtained by The Shorthorn’s Krista Torralva the University of Texas-Arlington has spent more than one million dollars on elevator upgrades yet students are still getting trapped.” “It has also been found that the campus is in violation of Texas law, which requires certificates of compliance to be posted either inside each…
Read MoreTransparency Watch: FOIA requests getting outsourced
In a follow-up to its story on the failure’s of Obama administration agencies to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests, Bloomberg News reports that at least 25 percent of FOIA requests are outsourced to contractors. “Since fiscal 2009, the year President Barack Obama took office, spending on FOIA-related contracts has jumped about 40 percent, leaving transparency advocates wondering…
Read MoreBehind the Story: Investigating a building collapse, creating an interactive timeline
A normal day on the local government beat became two months of investigating for Lansing State Journal reporter Lindsay VanHulle. After a portion of the residential St. Anne Lofts building collapsed in East Lansing, Mich., VanHulle discovered problems in the city’s building code and development programs. Prior to the building’s collapse, these problems allowed unpermitted…
Read MoreMembers of Congress found sponsoring legislation that benefits themselves and family
“According to a Washington Post analysis 73 members of Congress have sponsored or co-sponsored legislation in recent years that could have benefited businesses or industries in which either they or their family members are involved or invested in.” “The findings emerge from an examination by The Post of financial disclosure forms and public records for…
Read MoreSpreading computer-assisted reporting techniques in Latin America
By Mc Nelly Torres Víctor Hugo Michel is excited and overwhelmed. He hasn’t stopped thinking about all the stories he will be able to report and write using the data analysis and investigative tools he learned this past weekend at the IberoAmericana University in México City. “I never thought I could organize data, rank it and compare it…
Read MoreBehind the Story: Using tips from sources, data and documents to uncover inflated hospital prices
On Thursday, The Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer in Raleigh won bronze in the Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism, funded by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, for their series “Prognosis: Profits,” in which the reporters dissected the finances of large healthcare institutions and discovered inflated prices, lawsuits against thousands…
Read MoreIRE members among Barlett & Steele Awards winners
The New York Times, USA Today and a joint project by The Charlotte Observer and The Raleigh News & Observer were winners in the sixth annual Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism. The awards are funded by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and named for the investigative team of Don Barlett and Jim…
Read MoreBloomberg reporters find FOIA failures in Obama administration
Transparency Watch is an occasional series from IRE tracking the fight for open records. If you have a story about a quest for public records you’d like to share, email us at web@ire.org. By Danielle Ivory, Bloomberg President Barack Obama on his first full day in office ordered federal officials to “usher in a new era of open…
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