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 "TAPE" ...
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They Failed to Act
The nation's largest commuter railroad system failed to address a major public safety hazard that it had known about for years. Through tenacious shoe-leather reporting, the staff of Newsday documented a danger long ignored by the Long Island Railroad and by state and federal regulators. Armed with Stanley tape measures, they found dangerous gaps between the platform and trains at the railroad's busiest stations, holes large enough for passengers to fall through.
Tags: railroad system; public safety; injuries; gap injuries; repairs; Federal Railroad Administration; Public Service Pulitzer finalist
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Who Killed Brad Will?
"Brad Will, a freelance reporter and videographer, was shot and killed Oaxaca, Mexico by gunmen affiliated with the government. He was shot in broad daylight, with dozens of witnesses - and in a wrenching twist, he actually videotaped his own murder. The tape clearly shows four shooters, yet none of the killers have been charged with the crime."
Tags: reporter; journalists; murder; unsolved; government; murder investigation; Mexico
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Money, Truth and Spin
Former Canada Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and middleman Karlheinz Schreiber had a secret that lasted more than a decade. The pair had met in North American hotels three times, with Schreiber handing Mulroney envelopes totaling $300,000 in cash, money from a secret Swiss bank account. The scandal centered around "the steering of an Air Canada aircraft order to a firm for which Schreiber acted as promoter." Mulroney denied accepting a bribe.
Tags: Brian Mulroney; Karlheinz Schreiber; bribery; Air Canada
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Luck of the Draw
This is the story of 82-year-old Bob Edmonds, "who had his ticket stolen and then had to fight the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation for years to get his winnings back." This story also details other issues with the lottery in Ontario, Canada, like the fact clerks "selling lottery tickets were stealing from their customers."
Tags: Lottery; lottery winners; lost lottery tickets; Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
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Blowing In The Wind
Two whistle blowers share the story of how State Farm Insurance "was systematically defrauding its loyal customers" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Sisters Cori and Sherri Rigsby are State Farm insurance adjusters who told ABC News about how State Farm employees "were instructed to fraudulently alter customers' claim forms and even shred documents so the famous insurance company could avoid paying benefits to families who lost everything in the hurricane."
Tags: Hurricane Katrina; State Farm insurance; Cori Rigsby; Sherri Rigsby; whistle blowers
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A Trustworthy Lie Detector?
The Computer Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA) is a lie detector "said to be able to determine truth or deception by tone of voice or stress level." The machine has "been sold to hundreds of police departments and the U.S. military," with these organizations using it to put people in jail and interrogate terror suspects even though "not a single scientific study has been done to show the CSVA actually works." The Pentagon has now banned use of the machine. An ABC News investigation discovered that while the machine is sold for $10,000 apiece with claims of 98 percent accuracy, some of its convictions have been overturned. In addition, CSVA creator and National Institute for Truth Verification CEO Dr. Charles Humble is "not a medical doctor and does not have a PHD from an accredited university. Instead, he was awarded a Dr. of Psychology after taking a few hours of bible studies at a bible college which was located in an Indiana strip mall."
Tags: Computer Voice Stress Analyzer; Dr. Charles Humble; prisoner interrogation; Institute for Truth Verification; diploma mills
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Why Aren't We Safer?
Five years later, ABC News examines the question of how much safer we are after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The report mentioned how easy it remains to acquire ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which is used in explosive devices. The investigation found that customers paying cash can get the substance at local agricultural supply stores and "move it to a storage warehouse a few miles from the White House, undetected."
Tags: September 11, 2001; terrorism; ammonium nitrate; fertilizer bombs; improvised explosive devices
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No Place for a Child
Thanks to a ruling by the Indiana Supreme Court, MSNBC and Calamari Productions "gain legal access to go where cameras are forbidden to go and track five children through their painful ordeal" in America's child welfare system. The goal was to examine why some children are placed in relative care and others are sent to foster care, and continue to compile research as the Indiana Department of Child Services pushes for legislators to help these children.
Tags: Cild welfare; foster care; relative care; Indiana Supreme Court; Indiana Department of Child Services
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Moonlighting City Workers
Fox news in Philadelphia reports as two employees of the Philadephia Board of Revision of Taxes were found to have been "working private jobs while on city time." One of the workers was a licensed funeral director, caught "attending funerals and meeting grieving families in the middle of his city work day." The other "was caught on tape working in his bar and shopping for beer and supplies" while on the city of Philadelphia's clock. Their timesheets indicated they had each claimed the time out at other jobs as time spent working for the city. In the end, the funeral director resigned, and the bar owner was fired by the city.
Tags: Employment; moonlighting; falsified timecards; undercover surveillance
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Wine Tasting Investigation
Inside Edition went to Santa Ynez, California - site of the movie "Sideways" - to look into the possibility that excessive wine tasting can render a person inebriated. While wine tasting is usually done in 1-ounce or slightly more portions, "local law enforcement officials told (Inside Edition) that wine tasters leaving the wineries late in the day to travel along the small two-lane roads create a huge risk to themselves and other drivers." The show found out about a fatal accident that occurred between the wineries and the main highway, with the reporters discovering that "the group had been wine tasting all day, and the driver was three times over the legal limit." Inside Edition "instituted teams to follow wine tasters throughout the day to see how much wine they were drinking before getting back in their cars." They saw one driver who had "nearly 30 tastes, or the equivalent of a bottle and a half of wine, in just five hours" attempt to drive home.
Tags: wine tasting; winery; driving under the influence; DUI; drunk driving; wine consumption