The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "AOL" ...
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The Mark Foley Investigation
Almost a year after the media received the first emails Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) sent to underage Congressional pages, ABCNews.com's investigative team went online with the story. Using the interactive function of their website, former pages forwarded to ABC more email exchanges they’d had with Foley, some of which were sexually explicit. After the first posting, Foley staffers claimed the pages "misunderstood", and that political opponents were smearing Foley. When the more explicit emails were read back to Foley, he tried to bargain with the investigative team: he would resign if the site didn't post the emails. ABC said no deal, and Foley resigned the next day. The issue morphed into "who knew" and why Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert had done nothing before to stop Foley's behavior. The story sparked an investigation by the FBI's Cyber Division, and criminal charges were filed against Foley in Florida. This series includes interviews with Brian Ross on breaking the story, and other media stories about the ABCNews.com coverage.
Tags: Capitol Hill Page; Congressional Pages; Page Alumni Association; House Ethics Committee; sexually explicit messages to minors; Congressman Mark Foley; email messages; AOL Instant Messenger; Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert; FBI investigation; FBI's Cyber Division; House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children; Department of Justice; pedophile; Wired Safety
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Fools rush in: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the unmaking of AOL Time Warner
This book examines the aftermath of the AOL Time Warner merger, once hailed as "the deal of the century": $200 billion lost in shareholder value, investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department, shareholder lawsuits against the company, and the "civil war" that broke out inside the company, "complete with backstabbing and personal betrayals."
Tags: BOOK; AOL; America Online; Time Warner; corporate mergers; Steve Case; Jerry Levin; Bob Pittman; Ted Turner
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How to stop it from stalking you
The report explains why spam is so widespread, why is so difficult to trace and what really works to block it. Consumer Reports tested and rated 11 major spam-blocking software and found that ebst software filtered 90 percent of the spam.
Tags: spam; e-mail; AOL; CAN-Spam Act
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Power Failure
After having choreographed the grandest media dance in corporate history, AOL and Time Warner have developed insensate feet. A merger charted by the likes of AOL head Steve Case and Time Warner's Jerry Levin became bitter after stock prices crashed by more than 70%. Employee morale at the companies is in its depths and accusations are flying across from either side. No wonder then, that AOL Time Warner's new heads- new C.E.O Richard Parsons, chariman Steve Case , and C.O.O Bob Pittman are scrambling to get the show together, again.
Tags: AOL; Time Warner; Merger; Acquisition; Media; Corporate
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The Deal Makers
An investigation by the Washington Post revealed that America Online "was using a series of unconventional transactions to sustain the appearance of breakneck growth in ad revenue" -- even after the Internet boom subsided and it merged with Time Warner. " Time Warner executives were "mesmerized by the hundreds of millions of dollars in online advertising pouring into AOL ... (and) even when the bubble popped and dot-coms collapsed, AOL continued to report record-breaking growth in ad revenue, reinforcing its image as the medium of the future and overwhelming any second thoughts from Time Warner shareholders and employees." What Time Warner didn't know was that, "among other things, AOL turned legal disputes into ad deals, converted long-term contracts into one-time balloon payments, shifted revenue from one division to another, bartered ads for computer equipment and sold ads on behalf of eBay while booking all the sales as its own... (The) stories immediately prompted two federal investigations of AOL Time Warner."
Tags: America Online; AOL; Time Warner; AOL Time Warner; Enron; advertising revenue; merger; balloon payments; contracts; Internet boom; dot-coms
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If This Ain't Libel
Brill's Content looks at a libel case involving the Drudge Report, "the popular website of conservative cybergossip Matt Drudge." The story describes how Drudge has reported that Sidney Blumenthal, a former journalist and an assistant to the president in the Clinton's administration, "has spousal abuse past that has been effectively covered up..." The article focuses on the negative emotions that Jacqueline Blumenthal, Sidney's wife, has experienced because of the defamatory report. "It should not be acceptable for an Internet publisher - or any other publisher - to fact-check reputaion-damaging gossip by disseminating it, then issue a retraction only if and when it becomes apparent that the victim is going to sue," the Brill's Content concludes.
Tags: politics; Matt Drudge; defamation; reputation; public figures; AOL; spousal abuse; White House; journalistic standards; ethics; litigation; courts
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Losing Signal
"..the advent of the information economy has turned the FCC from a minor D.C. player into one of the government's most powerful agencies. As the de facto czar of the nation's communications infrastructure, the commission now makes daily decisions affecting America's technological destiny-reviewing megamergers like AOL Time Warner union, evaluating the Baby Bells' expansion plans, determining whether cable companies should decide what Web content their Internet customers can view. And no one appreciates the FCC's newfound authority better than the communications industry, whose lobbying expenses now stand at roughly $125 million, more than twice the amount spent by defense firms."
Tags: FCC; lobbying; telecommunications; "Big Media; " broadband; Internet; cable; telephone; radio; broadcast licenses; deregulation; digital transition; telcos; CFIC; Dingell; Tauzin; McCain; Lott; open access; First Amendment; location-based services (LBS); privacy; Digital Democracy; National Association of Broadcasters; NAB; analog spectrum; consolidation; government auction
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Click Here for Britney
Washington Monthly looks at the efforts of AOL to muscle its way into online journalism. "Chances are ... that AOL's definition of the public interest does not quite jibe with that of consumer advocates," reports the magazine. The story addresses concerns that the company may not be "committed to a clear separation between editorial and advertorial content", may not provide "unbiased coverage of its own financial interests", or may be unable to strike a balance between the vital and the trivial in the news.
Tags: advertisement; commerce; Gerald Levin; Jonathan Sacks; Time Warner; editors; reporters; Internet; entertainment; business; objectivity
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The Big Telecom Disconnect
The Wall Street Journal investigates the reasons for the rising prices of telephone and cable services. The story packet finds that five years after the Telecommunications Reform Act was passed in 1996, "business customers have been the only beneficiaries." Among the main findings is that "the Baby bells and the cable-TV operators have the country pretty much to themselves, enjoying lucrative monopolies in most areas."
Tags: technology; Federal Communication Commission; SBC Communications; AT&T Corp.; AOL Time Warner; Verizon communications; Winstar Communications; competition; wireless; long-distance; Internet access
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Scandal Surrounds Net Typo Firm
An MSNBC.com investigation describes the fraud tactics of a network of Internet firms. The story focuses on a "small Internet company," which "steals from Yahoo. Microsoft, AOL, and a host of other big name Web sites; it creates top-50 Web sites out of thin air, cheats advertisers by getting them to pay for useless advertising, and uses its position to artificially inflate penny stocks." The reporter reveals that "now charges of fraud and stock manipulation are hovering around the firm, and the FBI is investigating."
Tags: CD ROM; SEC; FBI; Internet; stocks; advertising; Microsoft; Yahoo; AOL; Quantum Leap Media; Powerclick