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 "Media criticism" ...
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Social network analysis of high-ranking officials in S. Korean government
It is a social network analysis-based investigative reporting on high ranking public officials in the Lee Myung-bak administration and his presidential office. Since its launch in 2008, the Lee administration has been criticized for the dark side of spoils system or cronyism in personnel affairs. The JoongAng Ilbo investigated on the "chain of relationships" among 944 high-ranking officials and President Lee for the last four years. We also used text-mining methodology on social media, such as Internet blogs and twitter, which showed the public's sentiments toward the cronyism of the Lee government.
Tags: Social network; public officials; presidential office; cronyism
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iLied: Exposing Mike Daisey’s Fabrications of Apple’s Supply Chain in China
This two-part investigation exposed fabrications in American monologuist Mike Daisey’s narrative about the Chinese factory workers who make Apple products, and also gave a voice to the Chinese men and women who were at the center of the international debate about factory conditions. Daisey had gained a worldwide platform as Apple’s most prominent critic; Reporter Rob Schmitz’s investigation proved that the details on which Daisey had built his compelling story were fabricated. Schmitz’s investigation aired on Marketplace and This American Life on March 16, 2012 and made international headlines, sparking a debate about journalistic truth. Schmitz’s April 2012 follow-up stories broadcast the points-of-view of actual Chinese factory workers and their employers, and helped re-shape the narrative about working conditions at Apple suppliers. Schmitz’s investigation became the most downloaded story in each program’s history. Hundreds of media organizations covered the work, sparking thousands of news articles and commentaries about the findings and the issues it raised. Online components of the work – which included podcasts, photo, and video – demonstrated the reach and longevity of multimedia storytelling; a video Schmitz shot of an iPad assembly line went viral with more than 2 million views on Youtube. The work continues to be discussed in case study format at journalism schools around the U.S., including an ethics class at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Tags: journalism; journalism education; multimedia storytelling
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Barry Minkow 2.0
The LA Weekly found that Barry Minkow was duping investors for the second time, while the media looked the other way. Using thousands of pages of court documents, public companies' financial reports, and real estate records, the Weekly discovered a pattern of Minkow shortening stocks his Fraud Discovery Institute was about to issue critical reports on, sending the stocks plummeting.
Tags: Barry Minkow; fraud; extortion; libel; SEC
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Sexual assault at Mifflin High School
When news first broke that a developmentally disabled girl said she had been sexually assaulted in a high-school auditorium, it seemed to be the story of a tragic crime. But digging by Bill Bush and other Dispatch reporters revealed a much more troubling story--school officials had resisted calling police because they feared that would attract attention of the media. Further reporting found critics suggesting that this was a pattern within Columbus Public Schools.
Tags: Columbus Public Schools; sexual abuse; sexual assault; Mifflin High School
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Lost in the System
For the first time, a media organization showed how citizens get lost in the system when it comes to calling for help for emergencies. The investigation found thousands of times a year calls are placed to 911 and the screen information dispatchers rely on for address has NO address, or the wrong one. The program glitch means dispatchers have no idea from where the call is being placed. WHDH-TV found emergency crews sent to the wrong address, and critical time wasted while people wait for help.
Tags: Tape; transcript; 911; emergency calls; dispatchers
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The Last Dom
School district planning director Dominic Shambra faced allegations he mishandled the construction of an expensive new high school. Shambra's critics, particularly the media, were skewered at his lavish retirement party and roast.
Tags: None
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Testing Consumer Reports
Brill's Content reports that "when it comes to deciding which products and services to buy, there's no more trusted source of information than this 63-year-old magazine, (Consumer Reports.) But the self-proclaimed bastion of unbiased testing may not be as fair or conflict-free as it claims...companies and trade groups are challenging (the magazine's) methods and alleging that the ad-free institution pursues agendas it doesn't always disclose."
Tags: Media criticism; objectivity; agenda-setting
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Are U.S. Students Behind?
The conventional wisdom in countless media stories is that American students can't compete with their peers in other nations. Global comparisons show no such thing. American students look better in international tests than the critics would have us believe. The story suggest that dubious research motivated much of the negative media coverage, and that this coverage may have slighted more positive findings.
Tags: None
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ABC and Tobacco: The Anatomy of a Network News Mistake
Weiser dissects how ABC reporters and researchers led by Walt Bogdanich, a Pulitzer-Prize winning former writer for the Wall Street Journal, concluded that cigarette manufacturers manipulated the levels of nicotine in cigarettes. The revelation was aired in a story called "Smoke Screen" for the newsmagazine Day One. Philip Morris sued ABC News after the story appeared -- and sparked tumultuous discussion about regulating tobacco. ABC News formally apologized for the story, but the reporters on the segment refused. Weiser suggests that the reporters had "led" sources for the story to make incriminating statements and had not assembled enough solid evidence to prove that cigarette manufacturers manipulated nicotine levels.
Tags: CIGARETTES; TOBACCO INDUSTRY; MEDIA CRITICISM; DAY ONE; "SMOKE SCREEN"; ABC NEWS; PHILIP MORRIS
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No title (id: 13892)
The Chain Gang is a critical study of the nation's largest newspaper chain, the Gannett Company. The book reveals that in its rise to the top of the newspaper industry Gannett has been convicted of fraud, price-fixing and breach of contract. (July 1, 1996)