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Mortgage Fraud Spawning New Scams
Mortgage fraud is a crime that cost an estimated $14 billion in 2009, prompting the FBI to assemble its largest ever team to fight it. But the tsunami of foreclosures is making classic scams easier and spawning new ones to boot. Reuters correspondent Nick Carey reports from Chicago.
Read MoreBrevard (FL) Students Frequently Held Back
Mackenzie Ryan reports that struggling students in Brevard’s public schools have a greater chance of repeating a grade than their peers in other parts of the state. In 2009, 7.1 percent of Brevard students were held back, compared with 4.6 percent statewide, a FLORIDA TODAY analysis of education data shows.
Read MoreSharpen your interviewing skills
By Doug Haddix, IRE training director Studies have shown that the actual words account for only about 7 percent of communication between two people, according to Amy Herdy of the University of Colorado. Body language makes up 55 percent of communication, with tone accounting for the other 38 percent, she told journalists during a recent…
Read MoreTrouble plagues N.C. State Bureau of Investigation
A 4-part series by The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) reveals deep trouble at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. The series finds an agency in line with prosecutors wishes, agents and analysts who ignore or twist the truth, and reliance on junk science. The director of the SBI was removed from her post…
Read MoreOneUnited bank was weakest to receive TARP support
A report on Bank Tracker, a project of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, shows that OneUnited Bank, the bank at the center of the allegations against Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was the weakest TARP bank at the time of its rescue. “When then Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced creation of the so-called “Capital…
Read MoreNo recalls on van despite cracking axles
Tim Darragh of The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) reports that Ford Windstars from 1999-2003 are under investigation due to rear axles breaking while the car is being driven at high speeds – but no recall has been ordered. Hundreds of drivers have already complained to the federal government, but recalls on older vehicles are hard…
Read MoreFall webinar lineup
By Jaimi Dowdell, IRE training director Tap in to practical training from your home or office with IRE’s online sessions. This fall we’re rolling out a series of webinars led by experienced journalists and IRE trainers. Topics include Broadcast investigations, Twitter for journalists, Doing great work with limited resources and Corral and analyze text with…
Read MoreMedicare billing fraud points to double-standard in care
The Dallas Morning News published a two-day installment in its ongoing investigation into allegations of Medicare billing fraud and poor patient care at one of the nation’s leading medical schools and its teaching hospital in Dallas. Among The News‘ findings: Faculty at UT Southwestern were letting resident doctors-in-training treat the hospital’s mostly poor, minority patients with little…
Read MoreSewage has polluted fishery for over a decade
A review of state and federal environmental records by reporters Christopher Baxter, Patrick Lester and Jarrett Renshaw, of The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.), uncovered that for more than a decade, Allentown and other communities have allowed more than 33 million gallons of raw sewage into a prized local trout fishery. The pollution equates to someone…
Read More“The New Muckrakers” available from IRE
Be inspired by the greats who heralded in a new breed of watchdog journalism. “The New Muckrakers,” with an updated forward by author Leonard Downie, Jr., is now available from IRE. Downie’s classic examines a crucial era in the rich history of investigative reporting in America. His exploration of the “new muckrakers” includes insider anecdotes…
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