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 "factories" ...
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Project Simoom
Our investigation "Project Simoom" revealed how the Swedish government in secret helped Saudi Arabia with the planning of an advanced weapons factory. In order to hide the plans from the public a state agency set up an illegal dummy corporation formed with cash from the military intelligence service to handle the project with the saudis. Our disclosure forced the Defence minister Sten Tolgfors and his staff to resign, and stopped the construction of the weapons factory, the investigation has won several awards including the number one broadcast award in Europe "Prix Europa"
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iLied: Exposing Mike Daisey’s Fabrications of Apple’s Supply Chain in China
This two-part investigation exposed fabrications in American monologuist Mike Daisey’s narrative about the Chinese factory workers who make Apple products, and also gave a voice to the Chinese men and women who were at the center of the international debate about factory conditions. Daisey had gained a worldwide platform as Apple’s most prominent critic; Reporter Rob Schmitz’s investigation proved that the details on which Daisey had built his compelling story were fabricated. Schmitz’s investigation aired on Marketplace and This American Life on March 16, 2012 and made international headlines, sparking a debate about journalistic truth. Schmitz’s April 2012 follow-up stories broadcast the points-of-view of actual Chinese factory workers and their employers, and helped re-shape the narrative about working conditions at Apple suppliers. Schmitz’s investigation became the most downloaded story in each program’s history. Hundreds of media organizations covered the work, sparking thousands of news articles and commentaries about the findings and the issues it raised. Online components of the work – which included podcasts, photo, and video – demonstrated the reach and longevity of multimedia storytelling; a video Schmitz shot of an iPad assembly line went viral with more than 2 million views on Youtube. The work continues to be discussed in case study format at journalism schools around the U.S., including an ethics class at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Tags: journalism; journalism education; multimedia storytelling
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Factory Slaves
The investigation into the plight of migrant workers follows the story of a young girl who left her home in Cambodia on the promise of a good factory job but arrived only to become a debt-bonded slave.
Tags: migrant workers; slaves; Cambodia; Far East
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Landing Electrolux
When Swedish company Electrolux announced plans to build a kitchen appliance factory in Memphis, many in the region hailed it as an economic development triumph. But it didn't come cheap. Government officials approved a massive package of money and perks for a company that has a history of leaving communities to cut costs and has made no guarantee to stay in Memphis for the long term. Officials performed minimal due diligence and signed away rights to recover most of the money if the company falls short of job-creation goals.
Tags: Electrolux; Memphis; job creation
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Children of Bhopal
In 1984, the Union Carbide pesticides factory in Bhopal, India leaked 40 tons of the highly poisonous gas, methyl isocyanate. Fifteen thousand people died, and those who survived have "endured horrific health problems over the past 26 years." Because the factory was never cleaned up, residents (including children) who still live in the impoverished area are subjected to the poison daily.
Tags: India; pesticide; Dow Chemical; cricket; Union Carbide
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Shut Down and Shipped Out
The series examines the trend of factory closings in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan and finds that the closings resulted in work being shifted to other states or countries.
Tags: factory closing; jobs; manufacturing; trade agreement; outsourcing
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"Shut Down & Shipped Out"
This three-day series examines the "trend of factory closings" through Ohio and Michigan starting as far back as 2000. Reporter Joe Vardon found factory closings accounted for more than 20,000 jobs lost throughout Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. Much of the work has been shipped to other states or overseas. Vardon finds these closings to be as much "a cause as they are an effect" in the recession that has ravaged the U.S.
Tags: recession; factories; job loss; unemployment
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The Shadow Factory
"Following the [9/11] attacks, the NSA began its illegal program for warrantless eavesdropping. In my book, for the first time, I lay out in detail how that program began, how it was run, and how Americans were targeted."
Tags: NSA; privacy; 9/11; eavesdropping; government; big brother; security; wiretap;
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Brian Ross Investigates: Bodies: The China Connection
The investigation uncovered black market trade that supplies bodies of Chinese executed prisoners for display in Premiere Exhibitions' for-profit "Bodies" show in cities around the world. The shows have been seen by millions and has brought huge profits to the Atlanta-based company.
Tags: China; inmate rights; black market; body factory; skeleton; plastinate; body parts