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 "injuries" ...
-
Driven To Distraction
This seven-month-long investigation revealed serious crashes, injuries and deaths caused by a danger that now exists in virtually every police car in the United States. Dashboard-mounted technology has turned modern patrol cars into offices on wheels. Computers, cameras, GPS devices, radios, smart phones and license plate scanners compete for the officer’s attention while driving, and the consequences of those distractions can be life altering. The series led to significant policy changes at two of the largest police departments in Texas. It sparked action from the world’s largest organization of police leaders. And our reporting also became mandatory safety training viewing for every highway trooper in one state.
Tags: Police; patrol cars; crashes; injuries; deaths; driving safety; highway trooper
-
Lost to History: When War Records Go Missing
"Lost to History: When War Records Go Missing" revealed that military field records from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were never kept, destroyed or simply could not be found, leaving veterans with combat injuries or disability claims unable to prove they saw action. The widespread failure by the military to keep and preserve these records - records that have been kept since America's Revolutionary War - leaves war historians in the dark about the granular details that, when woven together, tell larger stories hidden from participants in the day-to-day confusion of combat. “Lost to History" showed that dozens of Army units and U.S. Central Command lacked adequate war records, how Pentagon leaders had years of warnings but never sufficiently addressed the problem, and how commanders failed to take record keeping orders seriously. The stories vividly narrate the personal costs of this failure. The lack of field records forced Spc. Christopher Delara to struggle for years before receiving treatment he was entitled to for post-traumatic stress syndrome. And the missing material deepened the grief of Jim Butler, who searched for years to find the truth about his son’s death in combat.
Tags: War; war records; Iraq; Afghanistan; veterans
-
Wisconsin veterans face job challenges, stigma
To talk to those who recruit veterans at job fairs or politicians who tout veterans’ service, one would think that military experience would be an asset in the American job market. Presumably, employers would go to great lengths to accommodate injuries veterans may have. But statistics support an ominous feeling many Wisconsin veterans have in their collective gut: that the stigma of disability – and even of military service – puts them at a major disadvantage.
Tags: Job markets; job fairs; injuries; disability; military service
-
Hospital at Risk
My investigation of the Minnesota Security Hospital, a state-run facility that provides psychiatric treatment to nearly 400 adults deemed "mentally ill and dangerous," uncovered high rates of violence and injuries of employees and patients at the facility, a critical shortage of psychiatrists, and widespread confusion among employees about what to do when a patient becomes violent. I found that much of confusion was the result of the abrasive, threatening management style of head administrator David Proffitt, who was hired in 2011 to reform the facility. I began investigating Proffitt and found he was hired without a basic background check. I uncovered many troubling details from Proffitt's past, including domestic violence, a PhD from a now-defunct online degree mill, a forced resignation from his previous job as the administrator of a private psychiatric hospital in Maine, and other failings. The state ordered Proffitt to resign and the Minnesota legislative auditor began an audit of the department's hiring practices. The assistant commissioner of the Department of Human Services who led the hiring search also resigned. The governor proposed $40 million in renovations to address safety concerns. Regulators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration visited the facility for the first time in 21 years. The facility also implemented new training for employees to reduce violence. My investigation of the facility continues.
Tags: Psychiatrists; domestic violence; injuries
-
NBC News: Under Fire
An investigation into an alleged defect involving 20 million rifles and shotguns, causing many to fire without the trigger being pulled. Despite dozens of injuries and at least seven deaths—and evidence the manufacturer has been aware of a problem for decades—Remington has publicly insisted its guns are safe and the incidents are a result of user error. Using internal company documents including customer complaints dating back to the 1950s, our investigation found Remington chose not to implement changes designed to make its products safer, and may have withheld vital information from its customers.
-
In Jennifer's Room
In August 2006, caregivers at the Sonoma Developmental Center found dark blue bruises shaped like handprints covering the breasts of a patient. Jennifer accused a staff member of molestation and her injuries appeared to be evidence of sexual abuse. Big projects often have smaller narratives within them that can be developed into standalone features that draw readers into the larger story. Clearly Jennifer’s story was one of those. Presenting this story in video format was particularly challenging because Jennifer and her mother did not want to be identified. We chose a graphic narrative approach, with a voice actor reading the transcript of the mother’s interview. The artist consulted photographs and diagrams of the Sonoma Developmental Center to ensure that the drawings were accurate.
Tags: Sexual abuse; crime; molestation
-
Broken Shield: Police force fails to protect state’s most vulnerable residents
Decades ago, California created a special police force to investigate crimes and unexplained injuries inflicted upon some of society’s most vulnerable citizens – men and women with severe autism and cerebral palsy living in taxpayer-funded institutions. This police force, the Office of Protective Services, works exclusively at state developmental centers that have been the scene of horrific abuses. We sought to bring this story to readers in many forms, from working on all platforms, distributing condensed versions and delivering broadcast video stories to our partners, to creating a graphic novel video on one particularly human story -- a woman who was raped, apparently by a janitor. We also created an ebook of the series of stories and an interactive tracker that detailed key milestones of legislation drafted and signed into law. Producing this work on every platform helped to maximize audience reach and heighten the impact.
Tags: Autism; cerebral palsy; taxes; taxpayers; Office of Protective Services; abuse
-
Returning Home to Battle
While the Obama administration declared care for returning U.S. military personnel to be a top priority, reporter Aaron Glantz found something entirely different when he drilled down in the San Francisco Bay Area – home to more than a quarter-million veterans. In a series of stories for The Bay Citizen, which is part of the Center for Investigative Reporting, Glantz exposed an alarming failure inside the Department of Veterans Affairs, where mistakes and massive delays in processing disability claims for ailing veterans were the norm, sometimes leading to tragic consequences. Glantz was the first to detail this trend, finding that tens of thousands of Northern California veterans had been waiting an average of 313 days for a decision from the Oakland office on compensation claims for conditions as serious as traumatic brain injury. The Oakland regional office ranks fifth in the nation for number of veterans served – nearly 1 million veterans from the Oregon border to Bakersfield. The story was so shocking it prompted 16 members of Congress to demand immediate help for veterans filing through Oakland. More action quickly followed. Glantz had found through his reporting that the problem was not limited to the Bay Area. Next he set out to show it. The decision to dig deeper – to go beyond the local story – helped bring greater context to such a critically important issue. Through rich storytelling and clear writing, Glantz ably captured the plight of our veterans in his series, Returning Home to Battle.
-
The Cruelest Show on Earth
The story documents a decade-long history of injury, illness and fatal accidents in Ringling's famed herd of performing elephants -- and the repeated failure of federal regulators to intervene.
Tags: elephants; Animal Welfare Act; Jim Moran; exotic animals; circuses
-
The Cruelest Show On Earth
"The Cruelest Show on Earth" documents a disturbing history of injury, illness, abuse, and fatal accidents in Ringling's famed heard of performing elephants- and the chronic failure of the USDA to intervene, even at the urging of the agency's own investors.
Tags: Circus; animal cruelty; elephants; abuse; circus; Ringling circus