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NYU campus crime reports are misleading
A report by Marc Beja and Adam Playford of Washington Square News (at New York University) brings to light issues with NYU’s reporting of campus crime statistics. Due to how the school defines campus addresses, only three of NYU’s 21 undergraduate dorms qualify as on-campus. “The tightly confined Clery map covers the buildings immediately around…
Read MoreIRE Board statement on the death of Armando Rodriguez
The members of the Board of Directors of Investigative Reporters and Editors would like to express our regret and indignation over the murder of veteran crime reporter Armando Rodriguez. His complete coverage of more than 1,300 murders in Ciudad Juarez this year provided key information to all of us about the changing nature of the…
Read MoreWeb provides outlet for watchdog reporting
Watchdog journalism and investigative reporting are finding an outlet on the Internet, according to a report by Richard Pérez-Peña of The New York Times. “As America’s newspapers shrink and shed staff, and broadcast news outlets sink in the ratings, a new kind of Web-based news operation has arisen in several cities, forcing the papers to…
Read MoreSome hospitals fail to contain MRSA outbreaks
The Seattle Times published the first part of a series revealing failures by Washington hospitals to control the spread of drug-resistant staph infections known as MRSA. Washington state hospitals are not obligated to track infection rates, but The Times analysis of millions of documents “revealed 672 previously undisclosed deaths attributable to the infection.” State and…
Read MoreBPA leached from microwave-safe products when heated
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Susanne Rust and Meg Kissinger, as part of their ongoing series Chemical Fallout, found that products labeled as “microwave safe” release toxic doses of the chemical bisphenol A when heated. The newspaper had a University of Missouri laboratory test 10 products to see if the chemical bisphenol A leached out of containers when…
Read MoreCost of Army aviation accidents top $16 billion
An analysis of data from the Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center revealed that aviation accidents and incidents have cost the U.S. Army approximately $16.2 billion over the past 12 years, according to Michael Fabey of Aviation Week. The most expensive single-event accident cost the Army about $62.4 million, but the average cost per accident or incident…
Read MoreNatural gas drilling may be harming U.S. drinking water supply
Abrahm Lustgarten of ProPublica reports that natural gas drilling in the United States may be endangering water supplies. A sample of water from a well in Sublette County, Wyo. found benzene — a chemical linked to aplastic anemia and leukemia — at a level 1,500 times higher than what is safe for human consumption. “Sublette…
Read MoreBundlers land top spots in Obama’s transition
“Though they worked behind the scenes in Barack Obama’s campaign for president, bundlers who raised millions of dollars for his White House bid are starting to land significant posts on his transition team,” according to a report by Washington Post reporter Matthew Mosk. While critics claim fundraising skills have trumped qualifications for top advisory positions,…
Read MoreAbuse of power a problem with some air marshals
An investigation by ProPublica has found that over a dozen air marshals have been charged with crimes since 9/11, and hundreds more have been cited for misconduct. The scope of the charges range from drunken driving to participating in a human trafficking ring. “The Federal Air Marshal Service presents the image of an elite undercover…
Read MoreMurdered: Armando Rodriguez, crime reporter
Today in Ciudad Juarez, Armando Rodriguez, the crime reporter at the Diario de Juarez, was murdered in front of his own home this morning as he got in his car to drive his daughter to school. Rodriguez has covered nearly every murder in the unprecedented wave of violence in Ciudad Juarez — which is right…
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