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 "Washington Post" ...
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Voter Patrol
The NEWS4 I-Team dug through more than 600 phone and email tips to break three major election stories before, during and immediately after the presidential election. About two weeks before the election, we asked viewers to tell us when they saw problems when they voted. The response was immediate. Our two-man team went through every tip and beat out the AP, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and other local stations on the biggest election stories in our area. Our first story revealed absentee ballots sent out in Maryland were missing their second page, which contained the most contested ballot initiatives including legalized gambling, same-sex marriage and the DREAM Act. This story was picked up across the nation and led to statements made by the Maryland Governor and the various interest groups involved in the ballot issues.
Tags: Elections; presidential elections; votes; presidential reporting; ballot issues
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D.C. Tax Office Scandal
The District of Columbia struck an unprecedented number of deals behind closed doors this year with prominent commercial property owners who had appealed their tax assessments, reducing the city's tax base by $2.6 billion. The settlements were kept from the public for months until The Washington Post started mining public records and filing FOIAs, which the city routinely denied until the newspaper's lawyers got involved. The Post also learned that city leaders had kept critical internal audits about the tax office in "draft" format to prevent their release under FOIA. Through sources, The Post obtained the undisclosed reports -- along with a dozen other audits that had been kept from public view -- and published the findings for the first time. The series prompted the City Council to change the law to require the tax office to immediately make public all of its reports -- bringing a new level of transparency to a once secretive agency. The Securities and Exchange Commission also launched a probe to see if the city had kept critical findings from audits used to determine bond ratings. The inquiry is ongoing.
Tags: tax fraud; taxes; taxpayers; tax office
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Solyndra Syndrome
In 2011, the Washington Post reported the facts about the Obama administration's green-energy focus. The promise of tens of thousands of new jobs to curb a near historic enemployment rate was unfufilled- the Post discovered that only 3,500 jobs had been created through a $38 billion energy-financing program.
Tags: Obama; Administration; Green Energy; Solyndra
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"Smithsonian Freedom of Information stories"
The implementation of a new "open-records policy" by the Smithsonian Institution arose after persistent reporting by Washington Post reporters, James V. Grimaldi and Jacqueline Trescott. The journalists revealed "accountability gaps" within the institution, and exposed the Smithsonian's somewhat murky adherence to the Freedom of Information Act.
Tags: FOIA; Smithsonian Institution; Lawrence Small; Richard Pullman; Charles E. Grassley; Shirley Ann Jackson; Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents
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A $191 Million Question
Waste, fraud and criminal activity plague the procurement budget, an expenditure that ballooned to $600 billion in 2007. The Post investigates the sources of the escalating costs and finds government and corporate ties to be appallingly mangled.
Tags: procurement; military; corporate; Washington; army; contracts; O'Harrow; contractor; technology program; manager; billion;
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Fatal Flights
The nation's medevac programs are dominated by private companies with stiff competition and widespread safety failings. The high rate of accidents in the medical helicopter field is due to entrenched complacency. The Post uproots the severe lack of safety in a field the public typically views as heroic.
Tags: medevac; helicopter; hospitals; safety; Washington Post; patient; rescue; Federal Aviation Administration; National Transportation Safety Board; deaths; crash; medical; flight; crew;
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The Cheaters
A 60-Minutes, Washington Post joint investigation found that a small group of people managed to cheat players out of more than 20 million dollars. And that no law enforcement agency in the world is pursing the case. Both playing and running an online gambling Web site is considered illegal in the United States. Than ban is almost impossible to enforce; the sites and the computers that run them are located offshore beyond U.S. jurisdiction.
Tags: internet gambling; poker; cheating; Absolute Poker; Mohawk nation; computer servers; scam; Ultimate Bet;
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Brian Ross Investigates: Disposable Heroes
In a joint investigation with The Washington Times, ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross revealed that mentally distressed veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan were being recruited by the Veterans Administration for tests on pharmaceutical drugs linked to suicide and other violent side effects.
Tags: Chantix; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; suicide; veterans; drug protocols; Pfizer; pharmaceutical drugs; violent side effects
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Forced Out
This series from the Washington Post investigates the corrupt practices of landlords driving tenants from their homes under the guise of refusing repairs or forcing families to live without heat, hot water or electricity. This was in response to a law meant to give tenants a voice in the city's redevelopment. In recent years, tenants had fled more than 200 rent-controlled apartment complexes without the chance to vote on redevelopment. With empty buildings, landlords quickly reaped $328 million in condominium sales and avoided $16 million in conversion fees.
Tags: housing; tenant laws; redevelopment; housing-code violations; building inspections; negligent landlords; H.R. Crawford
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Who Killed Chandra Levy
The Washington Post spent a year investigating the murder of Chandra Levy, a Washington intern who disappeared in May 2001. This series provides a rare look at an unsolved homicide case from the inside, following the twists and turns of an investigation that was filled with false hopes, false leads and false suspects.
Tags: law enforcement; homicide case; investigation; Gary Condit; Chandra Levy; unsolved cases; police department