Search results for:
Congressional campaign committees peddling access to conventions
Ken Dilanian, of USA TODAY, reports members of the Congressional campaign committees are selling access to this summer’s political conventions in return for campaign contributions. This exploits a loophole in the ethics law meant to reduce special interests’ influence on members of Congress. “House Democrats are offering a ‘premier package’ at the Aug. 25-28 Denver…
Read MoreA con-artist’s trail of deception
An investigative narrative by Justin Fenton of The Baltimore Sun explores the life and crimes of Cindy McKay who “was convicted in April 2008 of secretly stealing thousands of dollars from her boyfriend and stabbing him to death before his body was found burning along an Anne Arundel County road.” A career criminal, McKay stole…
Read MoreRevisiting Willow Island
The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette published a two-day package marking the 30th anniversary of the Willow Island Disaster, the largest construction accident in U.S. history. Fifty-one construction workers died on April 27, 1978, when a scaffold collapsed during construction of a coal-fired power plant along the Ohio River. The Gazette examines the disaster’s causes, interviews survivors…
Read MoreThe global food crisis
A series by The Washington Post explores the causes and implications of the current global food crisis, the likes of which have not been seen since the 1970s. “A complex combination of poor harvests, competition with biofuels, higher energy prices, surging demand in China and India, and a blockage in global trade is driving food…
Read MoreExploits of rural prostitution ring exposed
A two-week series by The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, explores a human trafficking and prostitution ring that flourished in the small towns of eastern Iowa. “By poring over hundreds of court records and reports, and through more than two dozen interviews, The Gazette has pieced together over the last year and a half the…
Read MoreHigh price of diplomacy with China
The first of two investigative reports from the Center for Investigative Reporting’s James Sandler examines the Bush administration’s efforts to squelch legal proceedings against two high ranking Chinese officials accused of torturing members of religious groups, including Fulan Gong. The two accused officials are former trade minister Bo Xilai and Beijing
Read MoreSuicides in D.C. jail point to problems within Department of Corrections
Brendan Smith of the Washington City Paper reports on two suicides in the Washington D.C. jail that revealed widespread misconduct and inadequate mental-health monitoring by corrections personnel. For ten months, the Director of the Department of Corrections fought a FOIA request for the reports from the internal-affairs investigations into the suicides. The reports showed that…
Read MorePentagon emerges as puppeteer of favorable wartime coverage
A report by David Barstow of The New York Times reveals how the Pentagon has used a cadre of retired military officers to “generate favorable news coverage of the [Bush] administration
Read MoreSafety issues ignored despite marked increase in nail gun injuries
A Sacramento Bee investigation into the dangers associated with nail guns reveals a dramatic increase in injuries over the last decade. Andrew McIntosh reports that despite an increase in injuries — some resulting in death — the Consumer Product Safety Commission has done little to address safety issues. While many accidents go unreported, an April…
Read MoreObama’s fundraising linked to law lobbyists
Despite claims that he hasn’t taken money from lobbyists, Senator Barack Obama’s fundraising efforts have been linked to Washington lobbyists according to USA TODAY’s analysis of campaign finance data. Ken Dilanian reports that his fundraising team include “38 members of law firms that were paid $138 million last year to lobby the federal government, records…
Read More