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 "confidential sources" ...
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'Perversion files' show locals helped cover up
On June 14, 2012, following a civil trial, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that decades of the Boy Scouts’ confidential files would be made public. They would first need to allow the Scouts and plaintiffs’ attorneys time to redact the files of sensitive information. Given a months-long head start, editor Terry Petty and reporter Nigel Duara began the process of negotiating the unredacted files from a longtime source. The negotiations took two months and required the guarantee of an embargo. In August, they received a CD with 20,000 pages of perversion files. Duara and Petty combed through the files, looking for patterns. The Scouts’ concealment of the abuse has been reported before, beginning with an exhaustive series in the early 1990s from the Washington Times. But the AP team found something else: Locals helped. County attorneys, newspaper editors, mayors and police officers were all detailed in the files helping keep the Scouts’ name out of charging documents and off the front page. Indeed, a local county attorney proudly reported to Scouts leaders that he quashed an investigation in which a man confessed to sexually abusing two brothers “to protect the name of Scouting.”
Tags: Boy scouts; abuse; record
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Fallout: The True Story of the CIA's Secret War on Nuclear Trafficking
Using confidential documents from government sources and dozens of interviews with key players, the authors revealed how for more than a quarter of a century, while the Central Intelligence Agency turned a dismissive eye, a globe-straddling network run by Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan sold the equipment and expertise to make nuclear weapons to a rogues' gallery of nations.
Tags: government sources; Central Intelligence Agency; Pakistan; CIA; Tehran; nuclear weapon
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Fallen Angel: Joe Gustafson lives above the law in North Minneapolis
Using public documents, confidential sources and internal information from law enforcement, the reporter told the secret history of one of North Minneapolis' organized crime rings.
Tags: Hell's Angel; bondsman; Big Joe; Little Joe; Beat-Down Posse; kidnapping; drug ring
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The Hidden Life of Guns
The investigation details the way guns move through society, from retail sales to street crimes. The Post set out to break the secrecy imposed by Congress and an examination of how gunes are used in crimes. Their investigation included creating a database of more than 35,000 guns traced to crimes; a comprehensive database of 511 police officers killed by firearms; lists from confidential sources of the top 12 gun dealers who have sold the most weapons trace from Mexican crime scenes over the past two years.
Tags: guns; gun laws; crime; gun dealer; illegal gun trade; Mexico; criminal statistics; Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; National Shooting Sports Foundation; Tiahrt Amendment;
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This is work release?
Fox 6 found that Milwaukee County had lax oversight and monitoring of "felony inmates who'd been granted community access for work, school, or treatment."
Tags: prison; felony; work release; confidential sources; hidden camera; job; drugs; alcohol; murder; Wisconsin
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Hidden in Plain Sight
This investigation uncovered a confidential report of a state police investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of juveniles by administrators at a state-run youth lockup in West Texas. The agency managed to keep the scandal buried for almost two years. Since the scandal took place, people involved have gone unpunished and are even still working with children.
Tags: abuse; sexual offender; state government; confidential sources; FOIA; correctional facility; sexual abuse; Texas government
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John Geoghan: Abuser, Inmate, Victim
"John Geoghan was the face of the sex-abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church in 2002. The defrocked priest's record of molesting nearly 150 children over the course of three decades came to symbolize the church's unwillingness to confront the misdeeds of pedophile clerics. Yet the horror surrounding Geoghan took a shocking new turn when he was murdered in his prison cell." Boston Globe reporter Thomas Farragher "set out to investigate how such a thing could have happened to one of the most conspicuous inmates ever to enter the state prison system." Although almost no records were disclosed about Geoghan's death by the Department of Corrections, and despite a warning put out by the prison that any correctional officer who spoke to the media would be fired, Farragher was able to obtain Geoghan's complete disciplinary records, confidential reports on his murder, and even some personal prison correspondence. He also developed sources both inside and outside the prison, including Geoghan's own family members, to construct a portrait of the former priest and the events leading up to his death.
Tags: molest; molestation; abuse; abuser; priest; catholic church; prison; crime; murder; FOI; corrections; guard; inmate; prisoner; scandal; children; child; parish
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Border Camera Breakdown
An investigation by KIRO-TV revealed that "a new high-tech security camera system, protecting the Northern U.S. Border, fails to work on a regular basis. (KIRO-TV) obtained classified documents and used multiple confidential sources to verify something the Border Patrol wanted badly to keep secret. In addition (KIRO-TV) discovered that tax money spent on the border camera system is making its way back to the family of a U.S. Congressman.
Tags: homeland security; September 11; U.S. Borders; Canada; Border Patrol; TAPE; TRANSCRIPT
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Smallpox
"A six-month investigation by 60 Minutes determined that the smallpox virus, which caused devastating epidemics throughout history and was finally eradicated after a massive worldwide campaign, has returned as a threat. The Soviet Union turned smallpox into a weapon, and after the collapse of the USSR, the 20-ton stock of the virus was no longer secure. We determined, based on confidential intelligence sources, that Iraq has acquired some of that stock by purchasing or getting it from a rogue Russian scientist."
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Pilot Pressure
CBS News found that oftentimes airlines pressure their pilots to fly long hours. "Confidential sources have told us pilots fear disciplinary action if they get a reputation for refusing flights due to fatigue, weather or other factors."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; aviation; planes; pilots; airlines; safety