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 "damage" ...
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Buying the Election
“Never Mind the Super PACs: How Big Business Is Buying the Election” investigates previously unreported ways that businesses have taken advantage of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which overturned a century of campaign finance law and allowed corporations to spend directly on behalf of candidates. The piece debunks a common misperception that businesses have taken advantage of their new political spending powers primarily through so-called Super PACs. In fact, most Super PAC donations have come from extremely wealthy individuals, not corporations. The investigation shows how corporations have instead used a variety of 501(c) nonprofits, primarily 501(c)(6) “trade associations,” to direct substantial corporate money on federal elections. As one prominent advisor to GOP candidates as well as corporations points out, "many corporations will not risk running ads on their own," for fear of the reputational damage, but the trade groups make these ad buys nearly anonymous. In 2010, 501(c)(6) trade associations and 501(c)(4) issue-advocacy groups outspent Super PACs $141 million to $65 million. The investigation shows that the growth of trade association political spending has had a number of significant ramifications, such as increased leverage during beltway lobbying campaigns. Most troublingly, legal loopholes allow foreign interests to use trade associations to directly influence American elections. One of the most significant revelations in the piece was that the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association for the oil and gas industry, had funneled corporate cash to groups that had run hard-hitting campaign ads while being led in part by a lobbyist for the Saudi Arabian government, Tofiq Al-Gabsani. As an API board member, Al-Gabsani was part of the team that directed these efforts, which helped defeat candidates who supported legislation that would move American energy policy away from its focus on fossil fuels. Federal law prevents Al-Gabsani, as a foreign national, from leading a political action committee, or PAC. But nothing in the law stopped him from leading a trade group that made campaign expenditures just as a PAC would.
Tags: Elections; campaign finance; corporations; Super PACs
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The Long Island Power Authority
Superstorm Sandy struck the Northeast in late October, leaving much of Long Island damaged by the most severe flooding in memory and wind gusts reaching 96 miles an hour. A total of 90 percent of the Long Island Power Authority’s 1.1 million customers lost electricity -- tens of thousands of them for weeks.
Tags: Superstorm Sandy; Long Island; electricity; New York
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HBO: NCAA Head Games
Five years into football’s concussions crisis, one group of athletes may be in more danger than any other: college football players. That’s because while leagues from the NFL down to Pop Warner have sharply reduced contact in practice to limit the amount of hits to the head, the NCAA has yet to mandate any rules. A six-month Real Sports investigation found that, over the course of a year, the average college football player is exposed to 70% more hits to the head than an NFL player. All these hits can add up and make it harder for the brain to function and do the work of being a student. In other words, young men going to college purportedly to improve their minds are often doing precisely the opposite—they are damaging them. Once these athletes leave college they’re on their own to deal with the potential consequences. The NFL provides long-term medical care for its football players. The NCAA does not.
Tags: broadcast; college football; athletes; concussions; health; NFL; NCAA; medical care
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Critical Delays: Dallas County’s Response to the West Nile Epidemic
In the summer of 2012, Dallas County became the epicenter of the worst West Nile virus outbreak in American history. This investigation revealed critical delays in Dallas County’s response contributed to the health epidemic, where 15 people died and more than 150 others were left with long-term disabilities including brain damage, and muscle paralysis in Dallas County alone.
Tags: Health; West Nile virus; epidemic; Dallas
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A Damaged District
For more than a year, Zahira Torres overcame obstacle after obstacle to document one of the worst school cheating scandals in the nation's history. Where other cheating scandals involved altering accountability tests, the El Paso Independent School District gamed the state and federal accountability systems by targeting Mexican immigrant students. In a number of cases, district officials refused to enroll students or pushed out students already enrolled -- denying countless students their constitutional right to an education. In other cases, they arbitrarily reclassified grade levels or altered transcripts, all in an attempt to keep students out of the testing pool. Torres' reporting sparked numerous results. The superintendent who masterminded the scheme went to federal prison. The state education agency removed the school board. And when Torres' reporting documented that the state was aware of details of the cheating in 2010 and cleared the district anyway, the new education commissioner ordered an independent investigation of how the agency missed the cheating.
Tags: schools; scandals; education; school board
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Prognosis: Profits
In their quest for growth and profits, large nonprofit hospitals in North Carolina have pushed up healthcare costs, paid executives millions and left thousands with bills they struggle to pay. In a joint investigation, the Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer of Raleigh found that urban hospitals in North Carolina have generated some of the nation’s largest profit margins and have amassed billions of dollars in reserves. Hospitals in the Charlotte area have sued thousands of needy patients they could afford to help, frequently putting liens on their homes and damaging their credit. Raleigh-Durham hospitals, meanwhile, have sent collection agencies after thousands of patients, ruining the credit ratings of many in the process.
Tags: Healthcare; nonprofit hospitals; patients
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PAT Bus Investigation
Channel 4 Action news captured Port Authority bus drivers running red lights over and over again. They also uncovered people that had been badly injured, even killed, in accidents with Port Authority buses. In just the past 3 years, Port Authority has paid out 2.8 million dollars to more than a thousand individuals who claimed they were injured or suffered damages because of Port Authority.
Tags: Port Authorityl Buses
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Jim Greer: GOP Collateral Damage
An investigation of how the Florida Republican Party including the President of the Senate, The Speaker of the House, and many powerful leaders lied and worked to undermine the Chairman of the Party, Jim Greer, in order to keep Gov. Charlie Crist from getting the U.S. Senate nomination and how it spent millions of dollars in contributions and lied about when it was caught.
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"Study sees parking lots dust as cancer risk"
This investigation reveals a connection between common parking lot sealants and cancer-causing dust found in American homes. Coal tar sealant, meant to "protect pavement and asphalt" from cracking and other types of damage, slowly wears away over time. People can track the substance into their homes, which researchers believe is the reason "high levels of chemicals used in the sealant" shows up in house dust. The effects are potentially damaging, especially for "young children."
Tags: coal; tar; cancer; sealant; dust; U.S. Geological Survey; FOIA; chemicals
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Concussion Crisis
The stories examine the seriousness of concussions among athletes in youth and professional sports. Safety inadequacies in hundreds of thousands of football helmets have led to brain trauma and more.
Tags: football; football helmets; NFL; brain damage; Lou Gehrig's