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 "consumers affairs" ...
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Misleading Milk Marketing
"This investigative series was the first to report on the misleading health claims made by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, which spends millions of dollars annually to promote dairy products throughout Wisconsin and nationwide."
Tags: milk marketing board; health; dairy; consumer affairs
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Protect Yourself Online
Package of stories: "Protect Yourself Online", "7 Online Blunders", "ID Leaks", and "Security Software." These stories investigate the current state of Internet safety, including its impact on the public, as well as highlighting the newest threats and what is being done to fight them. The package of articles found that American consumers lose about $8.5 billion to e-mail scams, that such scams remain a serious threat, and analyzed recent ID breaches.
Tags: online security; ID breaches; e-mail scams; consumer affairs; consumer advocacy
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Lost Among the Ruins
With at least 100,000 apartment units and more than 500,000 people, "the D.C. Attorney general's office "has prosecuted only four landlords for housing-code violations since 2001, or less than one case per year." In addition, the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs "had no agency-wide process for collecting fines and is owed more than $8.8 million in outstanding fines and penalties in more than 22,000 housing-violation cases." The Legal Times touches on these issues, as well as the story of convicted slumlord David Nuyen, "who is still renting apartment units in D.C. despite a court order for him to get out of the rental business."
Tags: Slumlords; Washington, D.C. Attorney general; D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs; David Nuyen
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Leading to the Dell Battery Recall
Dell Computers initiated the largest recall of electronic goods in history, possibly influenced partly by this story. Consumer Affairs looked into a report from a woodsman in rural Arizona who said a Dell computer "engulfed his truck." His 1966 Ford F-250 exploded in a fire caused by the laptop, a situation which became even more dangerous thanks to the bullets in the gentleman's glove compartment, sending bystanders diving behind boulders. The man, Thomas Forqueran, provided photos and documents to verify his story. Following the battery recall, Consumer Affiars further reported that Dell may have been aware of the potential problems.
Tags: Laptop battery recall; laptop battery instability; burned computers
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Recalled Trucks Burn as Ford Fiddles
In recent years, Ford Trucks have been the target of a massive recall. Yet some of the models - including some not on the recall list - continue to catch fire and burn. Consumer Affairs first started examining fires in Ford trucks and SUVs in 2003, "citing instance after instance of trucks spontaneously bursting into flame, often while parked and unattended." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered a recall of an estimated 3.8 million Ford trucks from the 1994-2002 models, but the recall moved slowly as Ford cited delays in getting replacement parts. And as trucks continued to catch fire, so did consumer complaints, which were "stonewalled" by Ford. In addition, some people's 2003 models were prone to fire, but when their trucks burst into flame and were ruined, they were informed that there is no recall protocol for 2003 models.
Tags: Ford; Ford trucks; Ford F-150; Ford Expidition; Lincoln Navigator; Ford Bronco; recall; trucks prone to spontaneous bursting into flame
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"Karmelin Investigation"
A consumer affairs story about Web cameras and the dangers they pose to children took a dramatic turn when an assistant state attorney was caught on a Web cam exposing himself to and propositioning who he believed was a 13-year-old girl. WFTV immediately notified police. The man was suspended and later resigned, though prosecutors declined to press charges.
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"Cashing In"
This Dateline hidden camera investigation revealed that companies which sell privately owned ATM machines perform few, if any, background checks on the people who buy the machines. As a result, crooks have been able to buy their own ATM machines and rig them to copy the account information and personal identification numbers off of unsuspecting users. The crooks then use the information to make bogus ATM cards and withdraw money out of the users' accounts.
Tags: ATMs; automatic teller machines; consumer affairs; banking
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Profoting From Fine Print With Wall Street's Help
The Times reports on questionable approaches used by First Alliance, a national home-equity lender. The story looks at the complaints of hundreds of consumers that the "company has used a deceptive sales pitch, delivered by loan officers recruited from big auto dealerships, to lure homeowners into high-cost loans that expose them to the threat of foreclosure and financial ruin."
Tags: finances; mortgages; consumers affairs; lawsuits; investment banks; homeownership; fraud
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Firefighters Foundation Investigation
News 12 reports on a firefighters foundation in New Jersey that ostensibly raised money to help the families of firefighters and police officers who died while on duty. In fact, most of the donations went to out-of-state telemarketers, as the public did not know that the foundation's founder was under investigation in Florida for questionable fund-raising practices. The findings were based on electronic data form the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; NJ Open Records Law; nonprofits; fund-raising; databases
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First. tell no one
This series are an investigation into how the state's medical licensing and discipline agency works in tandem with the private Medical Society of New Jersey to keep impaired and incompetent doctors in practice, and much of their history secret.
Tags: corruption; Consumer Affairs; drug abuse; alcohol abuse; discipline; Board of Medical Examiners; doctors; medical malpractice; CAR