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IRE Board of Directors calls for Wisconsin lawmakers to halt action against Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Since its launch four years ago, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has distinguished itself as a vital public-interest voice, producing original, hard-hitting reporting that has been published in more than 230 news outlets reaching more than 25 million people.  It is an extraordinary accomplishment for a small, non-profit newsroom created to revitalize in-depth reporting…

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Lawmakers take aim at home for Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, which operates the WisconsinWatch.org website, faces a threat from the state legislature that could kick the nonprofit organization out of its home at the University of Wisconsin. The center, a pioneering effort in regional nonprofit investigative reporting, is run by longtime IRE member Andy Hall, and has conducted more…

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Behind the Story: Tax forms and FEC filings reveal nonprofit’s political activity

Learning about sources of political spending can be “like unpacking a Russian nesting doll,” says Michael Beckel, a politics reporter for the Center for Public Integrity. Using tax filings as his primary source, Beckel investigated the third most politically-active nonprofit in 2012 as part of the Center for Public Integrity’s Consider the Source project.  “In…

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Investigating charities calling for disaster relief money

In the wake of Sandy’s destruction, countless efforts will be made to help victims. Already, ABC/Disney has designated a “Day of giving,” the National Football League and it’s players association has pledged $1 million to the Red Cross and iTunes is directly accepting donations. Countless calls will be made for the public to donate to charities large and…

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Document Cloud, Overview help AP investigate vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s record

Jack Gillum of The Associated Press recently published a story showing that vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan has relied on many of the programs he’s criticized and suggested cutting. The report wouldn’t have been possible without tools like DocumentCloud and Overview, Gillum said in a post on the Overview project’s website. DocumentCloud enabled Gillum to analyze, annotate…

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State of New Jersey sues itself over release of records

Mark Lagerkvist of New Jersey Watchdog reports that the State of New Jersey is suing itself over a possible release of records to the website. Lagerkvist reports that on Oct. 15, the state attorney general filed a motion seeking to stop the state Government Records Council from reviewing files, which on Aug. 31 had ordered state…

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Behind 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…

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University of New Orleans WWNO newsroom, The Lens announce revised collaboration

The University of New Orleans announced Thursday revised plans for a multimedia news collaboration between NPR affiliate WWNO-FM and the independent nonprofit news site, The Lens. The partnership moves WWNO away from the creation of its new platform, neworleansreporter.org. The university-operated WWNO will instead produce content under the existing brand of The Lens.  “In this way, we will be…

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Using documents to cover religious organizations

Covering religious organizations can be difficult, because it can be tough to get public documents. Kansas City Star reporter Judy Thomas, spoke at an IRE training session for McClatchy journalists and offers the following tips: Get to know your subjects inside out. Subscribe to newsletters, magazines and other publications of the organizations you cover. Get…

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