Resource Center

Stories

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 "New York state" ...

  • Questionable Coverage

    “Questionable Coverage” was a hidden camera investigative report about systematic health insurance scams affecting victims in nearly every state. As a direct result of our reporting, two companies ceased operations, a third has been sanctioned, and insurance regulators in Georgia and New York have launched their own investigations into the fraud.

    Tags: health insurance; scams; fraud; hidden cameras

    By Dan Slepian, Colin Dow, Chris Hansen

    NBC News

    2012

  • The Lobbies at the Top

    The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics documents spending on lobbying statewide, as reported by the entities seeking influence and the lobbyists they hire. In 2011, companies, advocacy groups and unions spent $220 million on lobbying in the state, a record high. One in four of those dollars targeted New York City officials. This project examines the biggest-spending lobbying clients and the most active lobbying firms and shows what they sought to win — and who actually came out ahead.

    Tags: Lobbying; lobbyists; advocacy groups; New York City

    By Alice Brennan; Sam Guzik; Alyssa Katz; Michael Sullivan; Susan McGregor; Curtis Skinner; Sasha Chavkin; Alexander Hotz; Yolanne Almanzar; Matt Drange; Michael Keller

    The New York World

    2012

  • Who Can Vote? Comprehensive Database of U.S. Voter Fraud Uncovers No Evidence That Photo ID Is Needed

    “Who Can Vote?” is the 2012 project of News21, a multimedia investigative reporting initiative funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and headquartered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Twenty-four students from 11 universities across the country worked on the project under the direction of journalism professionals. The project, launched just before the 2012 political conventions, consists of more than 20 in-depth reports and rich multimedia content that includes interactive databases and data visualizations, video profiles and photo galleries. Student reporters conducted an exhaustive public records search and built a comprehensive data base of voter fraud cases that revealed: • Since 2000, while fraud has occurred, the number of cases is infinitesimal. • In-person voter impersonation on Election Day, which prompted 37 state legislatures to enact or consider tough voter ID laws, is virtually non-existent. Only 10 such cases over more than a decade were reported. • There is more fraud in absentee ballots and voter registration than any other category. The analysis shows 329 cases of absentee ballot fraud and 364 cases of registration fraud. A required photo ID at the polls would not have prevented these cases. • Voters make a lot of mistakes, from people accidentally voting twice to voting in the wrong precinct. However, few cases reveal a coordinated effort to change election results. • Election officials make a lot of mistakes, giving voters ballots when they’ve already voted, for instance. Election workers are often confused about voters’ eligibility requirements.

    Tags: elections; fraud; public records; voters; ballot

    By Natasha Khan; Corbin Carson

    News 21 (Phoenix, Ariz.)

    2012

  • Abused & Used

    The series focused on the treatment and care of the developmentally disabled in New York state, which spend far more than any other state on the developmentally disabled. The series comes nearly four decades after abuses were uncovered at Willowbrook, a state facility on Staten Island, a scandal that touched off a wave of deinstitutionalization nationwide.

    Tags: developmentally disabled; new york; new york state; abuse; willowbrook; institutionalized

    By Danny Hakim, Russell Brether

    The New York Times

    2011

  • Prescription Drug

    An investigation into the prescription drug epidemic on New York's Long Island. Newsday exposes the failure by the region's doctors to use a state database that identifies patients going to multiple doctors and pharmacies to get pills.

    Tags: prescription; drug; pharmacy; doctors; pills; New York

    By Ridgely Ochs, Will VanSant, Sandra Peddle, Robert Lewis, Carol Polsky, Robert Kessler

    Newsday (New York)

    2011

  • CBS News Investigates: Veterans

    The story tackled the tough subject of military veterans who commit crimes when they come back from war. New York state judges were the first to create Veteran's Courts as a way to give men and women who suffered the trauma of war a second chance. This is not a get out of jail free card, but a helping hand for military veterans who are willing to go through rehab.

    Tags: military; rehab; veteran; war; Veteran's Courts

    By Rick Kaplen; Katie Couric; Ward Sloane; David Martin; Mary Welsh

    CBS News

    2010

  • "Physicians on Pharma's Payroll: Educators or Marketers?"

    This story focuses on doctors as industry speakers and their relationship with pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical companies claim to choose speakers based on expertise, but further investigation shows that many of the hired physicians have "serious transgressions on their state records." They also tend to be "high prescribers" of the company's products.

    Tags: pharmacy; prescriptions; Geodon; Pfizer; antipsychotic drugs; pharmaceutical companies; Department of Health; New York; Food and Drug Administration

    By Ailsa Chang; Gisele Regatao

    WNYC

    2010

  • Stimulus Coverage

    This series demonstrates how the stimulus money is really being spent. Instead of using the money to “jump-start the economy” and create a number of jobs, New York used the money for a number of unnecessary projects. Some of these projects include making pamphlets describing pollution cleanup, promotional road signs, and in doubt research projects. The money needed to be used on projects such as pollution cleanup and road construction to help the community facilitate the economy.

    Tags: budget; spending; federal; government; dollars; costs; states; programs

    By Michelle Breidenbach; Mark Weiner

    Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.)

    2009

  • "Court ignores NY rules on filing documents"

    Public access to court documents has been hampered in some areas of New York state. Instead of submitting documents to be formally filed, lawyers passed them "directly to judges' chambers." Consequently, the files never made it to the proper place to be accessible to the public.

    Tags: Monroe County; Office of Court Administration; Monroe County Clerk; Monroe Country Courts

    By David Andreatta

    Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.)

    2009

  • "Wrongful Conviction, Unequal Compensation"

    New York states says it has a "moral obligation" to tend to those who are wrongfully convicted. Once released, however, those who were wrongfully put behind bars often spend years waiting on compensation, while others never receive any payment at all. Reporters for the New York City News Service take a look at what happens after the prisoner's release and find several flaws in the state's system.

    Tags: New York State law; wrongfully convicted; wrongful conviction compensation law; John Scott; Isidore Zimmerman

    By Clark Merrefield; Steven Bronner; Joshua Cinelli; Dan Macht; Rosaleen Ortiz; Matt Townsend

    New York City News Service

    2009