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 "export" ...
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The Partners Effect
The Partners Effect is a series that "focuses on an out-of-balance healthcare finance system that rewards a few big hospitals and pays them far more for work, even when there is no evidence that the higher-priced care produces healthier patients. The stories detail how New England's biggest healthcare network, Partners HealthCare, is increasingly using its marketplace clout to export its expensive brand of medicine into the suburbs, imperiling community hospitals, and how its cozy relationship with the state's largest insurer has helped to trigger a healthcare cost crisis.
Tags: hospitals; healthcare costs; monopoly; high-priced care; finance system; higher fees
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A Natural Question
Organic food costs consumers extra, sometimes twice as much or more than the "normal" equivalent. This expenditure is justified by the idea that organic foods are healthier. Yet, a Dallas Morning News investigation found that "some organic farmers and plant workers cheat. For example, they spray banned chemicals on their crop, or they raise animals using methods contrary to organic rules." Also, the organizations intended to certify the organic providers sometimes "bend the rules, or they're just woefully unqualified to enforce them." Overseas operations also raise concerns, as they export organic foods, but the USDA is unable to monitor these exports well, and cannot enforce violations.
Tags: Organic foods; organic imports/exports; organic farmers; organic products
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Exporting Faith
The Boston Globe used "a complete raw database of all USAID awards (prime contracts, grants and agreements) obligated from FY 2001 to FY 2005" to investigate the results of President Bush's Executive Orders that "created the faith based initiative and relaxed federal regulations for religious groups using government funds that once sought to protect church-state separations." The series shows that the percentage of USAID awards going to ngo faith based organizations in 2005 was almost doubled the percentage in 2001, from 10.5% to 19.9%. This creates the potential for problems where aid recipients "might forgo assistance because they don't share in the religion of the provider."
Tags: separation of church and state; faith-based initiatives; foreign aid; executive orders; church-state ties; White House Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives; President Bush; USAID; NGO; Christian evangelicals; Kenya; Angola; Pakistan; Focus on the Family; James Dobb; FOIA; UNICEF; UNDP; State Department; Samaritan's Purse; National Association of Evangelicals; Americans United for Separation of the Church and State; Global Health Outreach; Offfice of Volunteers for Prosperity; Youth for Christ; World Vision; Yellowbook;
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The Problem with Recalls/Hazard in Aisle 5
In the strong tradition of Consumer's Union reports on dangerous products, these articles look specifically at the six federal agencies responsible for "overseeing the safety of the full range of consumer products." The investigation found that weak laws and poor enforcement of recalls often result in dangerous and hazardous products making their way into homes across the country. Large percentages of recalled products are never turned in, one in three toys violates mandatory safety standards, and recalled goods are often exported to unsuspecting consumers in foreign countries.
Tags: Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); hazardous goods
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Trade Secrets
California set up foreign-trade offices around the world to boost the state's exports and lure investors from other countries. However, documents obtained by the Register showed the trade offices repeatedly made false and overblown claims about the business deals they said they were instrumental in landing. In their last annual report, the offices took credit-at least 31 times on deals totaling $4.2 million-for export or investment deals in which they played little or no role. Six times, they took credit for deals that, in reality, did not happen. Officials in the state agency that had oversight responsibility for the offices said they never checked the accuracy of the offices' claims and believed they had no reason to.
Tags: commerce; trade offices; annual report; California Legislature; California Technology Trade and Commerce Agency; California Assembly; California Senate; brokerage; toxic-cleanup; Gigante USA; South Africa; Tokyo; Taiwan; Singapore; Tri-C Manufacturing; exports; Onlyone Products Inc.; H/A International; United Food and Commercial Workers union; U.S. Department of Commerce; California Bureau of State Audits; Department of Finance; private enterprise
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State of Denial
This story looked at the conflict between Californians' consumption of resources and their environmental protection tendencies. The reporters tracked down some of the top exporters of California-bound products-oil, lumber, fish-and followed those products to their sources. They found there was environmental destruction on a scale that would never be allowed in the state of California. In two of the three cases, native indigenous people were those being harmed the most.
Tags: California Building Industry; environmental destruction; oil; lumber; fish; environmental protection; SUV; conservation; preservation; waste; gasoline; wood; paper; forest; Amazon rain forest; Ecuador; rainwater; oil companies; pollution; pipeline; environmental law; Canadian Boreal Trust; Canada's boreal forest; Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources; trees; California's Integrated Waste Management Board; newspaper recycling; California Air Resources board; Canada's rockfish; trawling net; Trout Unlimited; trawl quota
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Tossed Out of America
The Tribune followed a planeload of Pakistani men deported from the United States to examine the effectiveness and impact of counter - terrorism programs implemented by the Bush administration. The investigation found that the programs are not terribly effective, but rather that they cause rifts and tension between governments and within cultures and families.
Tags: exportation; immigration; September 11; homeland security
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Conflict of Interests
Shelby White and Leon Levy are prominent antiquities collectors. Last August the White House announced the appointment of White to the President's Cultural Property Advisory Committee, which reviews proposals to the United States from foreign countries requesting US Import bans on antiquities artifacts endangered by pillaging and illegal export. Some say this causes a conflict of interest for White. Others say it is the prefect position for such an avid collector.
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Slaves to fashion?
From the contest entry summary: "Slaves to Fashion?" is the product of a yearlong investigation into illegal child labor in India's silk industry and its multi-million dollar connection to American retailers." Using hidden cameras, the reporters find that India's silk industry is violent and highly secretive; American companies cannot take at face value Indian manufacturers' claims -- often in writ -- that no child labor has been used in silk production; and many fashion designers are unaware that silk products labeled "Made in Italy" often come from India.
Tags: sweatshops; export; international trade; business; labor; undercover investigations; health; safety; TAPE; TRANSCRIPT
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Sept. 11 Donors a Windfall for Blood Trade
A Palm Beach Post investigation reveals that "much of the blood that Americans donated to victims of the Sept. 11 attacks ended up being sold to multinational companies and other countries. A month after the attacks, U.S. blood exports jumped 48 percent to $90 million, the highest monthly total on record. American blood industry officials don't want to talk about overseas shipments, fearing the psychological fallout resulting from the over-collection and export of Sept. 11 blood would discourage donors, who are routinely told their blood will stay in the community."
Tags: Americans; blood donation; American Red Cross; export; September 11; terrorist attacks