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 "civil society" ...
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Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back
A sister and brother reporting team examine the history of deception and use of propaganda by the U.S. Government and "major corporate media outlets". "We also investigate violations of civil liberties, and international law, and interview people intimately involved in or affected by torture, the Iraq War, and the crackdown on political dissent. We conclude by interviewing creative resisters, both in the media, the military, the government and civil society."
Tags: www.democracynow.org; Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting; FAIR; Abu Ghraib; torture; CIA; President Geaorge W. Bush; New York Times; Washington Post; FEMA; dissent; propaganda; Eduardo Galeano; Cindy Crawford; Coleen Rowley; Arundhati Roy; Amira Hass; Mukhtar Mai; Robert Fisk; Allister Sparks; Alice Walker; Stephen Colbert; truthiness; Tony Lagouranis
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"Polygamy in Arizona"; "Bound by Fear: Polygamy in Arizona,"
A fundamentalist Mormon Church in Arizona has erected a separate society in which polygamy is openly encouraged and enforced, in violation of the Constitution of Arizona and Utah. The church, whose members own most, if not all of the property in town, is also able to tap into the state's welfare system in order to support their large families. In many cases, the brides are underage and are stripped of all civil rights and forced to marry. All property and jobs are all controlled by one "prophet," as well as the self-erected political system of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints.
Tags: polygamy; Mormon Church; fundamentalism; Arizona; Utah; Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints.
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American Indian Rule: Sovereignty Abused
An investigation by the Detroit News reveals "widespread civil rights abuses" on American Indian reservations in Michigan and across the country. "American Indians, our investigation revealed, often live in societies with no independent justice system, limited access to public records, restrictive election laws and scant protections against legislative misconduct. In addition, most Indians have little control over their tribe's finances and their tribal membership is subject to the whim of their leaders."
Tags: American Indians; reservations; Michigan; civil rights; abuses
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Democracy Inc.
Wilson Quarterly looks at "the democracy industry" built on the American ideological commitment to advancing the democratic cause in the world. The report questions the practice of international corps of observers certifying election results in foreign lands, and finds that "outsiders sometimes do more harm than good." The author points to the example of the 1998 elections in Cambodia where the government denied opposition parties access to radio and television, and marred the election with violence. The story reveals that some foreign observers "failed to report these problems or blithely dismissed all signs of trouble." It also looks at "a subtler form of damage" that the democracy industry did in Indonesia in 1998 by stealing "the spotlight from local groups."
Tags: politics; promotion; National Endowment for Democracy; Carter Center; Asia Foundation; nongovernmental organizations; foreign policy; corruption; civil society; National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI); voting
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Unwelcome Neighbors: How the Poor Bear the Burdens of America's Pollution
The Times-Picayune investigates the environmental justice movement, which has some roots in the New Orleans area. Members of the environmental justice movement question why minorities and the poor traditionally live closer to industrial areas with large amounts of pollution. "Unwelcome Neighbors" takes a look at both the movement in general and how it has affected the New Orleans area.
Tags: pollution; environmental justice; New Orleans; poverty; minorities; civil rights; politics; policy; society; culture
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Easter's End
Discover Magazine reports that "In just a few centuries, the people of Easter Island wiped out their forest, drove their plants and animals to extinction, and saw their complex society spiral into chaos and cannibalism. Are we about to follow their lead? Among the most riveting mysteries of human history are those posed by vanished civilizations..."