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 "modern" ...
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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
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HBO Real Sports: Hockey's Darkest Day
In 2011 a plane carrying a Russian hockey team crashed shortly after takeoff--the deadliest accident in the history of professional sports. A five-month Real Sports investigation uncovered massive safety problems in the Russian hockey league. The league spent millions on player salaries but "a few bucks" on everything else--including travel. The plane that crashed was operated by a cheap, third-rate company that had been banned from flying to Europe because they had been cited so many times for major safety violations. The crew of the plane hadn't even completed their training. Our investigation showed that the lack of safety in the world’s second best hockey league—called the KHL—often extends to the ice where KHL team doctors use IV’s and drugs to get their players to perform better on the ice. One young star died after receiving an injection of banned drugs from team doctors. When it came to travel, the lack of safe conditions was nearly universal. Practically every team flew on a Soviet-era jet—jets that make up 3% of the world’s fleet but account for 42% of the world’s accidents. These jets are in such poor condition that most Russian airlines wont use them. Yet even after the crash the KHL continued to use these planes, a fact they initially denied. Shortly after we interviewed the KHL Vice President, the league changed its rules. Now teams fly strictly on modern equipment.
Tags: Russia; Russian hockey team; plane crash; the KHL;
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MOMA's Problematic Provenances
In January 2010, the heirs of the German artist George Grosz lost a lawsuit against the Musuem of Modern Art. Their claim for three paintings was rejected on the grounds that the statue of limitations had run out before the suit was filed. But many observers experienced in the field of Holocaust-era art restitution believed that if the judge had considered the facts instead of ruling on a technicality, the verdict would have been different.
Tags: Art; George Grosz
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Selling the Fountain of Youth
The book takes readers inside the modern anti-aging industry, where doctors prescribe human growth hormone (HGH), "bio-identical" estrogen and progesterone, and an infinite medicine chest of herbal supplements such as resveratrol and acai.
Tags: anti-aging; supplements; drugs
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GOTTI
The reporter spends four years meeting with John Gotti, the son of the most famous gangster of the modern era, with the purpose of learning more about the true working of the mob.
Tags: mob; gang; Gotti; John Gotti; mafia; federal court
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Impossible Dream: Rebuilding Afghanistan amid corruption, nepotism, and mismanagement
The investigation examines the Obama administration's efforts to create a modern, secure nation in Afghanistan.
Tags: Afghanistan; War on Terror; al Qaeda; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; reconstruction
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"The Lost Chalice"
Author Vernon Silver dives deep into the Italian world of art smuggling. Through court documents and "interviews with modern tomb robbers, smugglers and art dealers," Silver is able to locate a valuable missing vase. The book provides an in-depth look at the world's third largest "underground economy," and how a "network of powerful people and institutions" has been at the center of the "illicit art and cultural property trade."
Tags: Euphronios; Oxford University; Metropolitan Museum of Art; chalice; Zeus; art smugglers; tomb raiders
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Fields of Terror-The New Slave Trade in the Heart of Europe
People from poor countries are becoming modern day slaves as they are lured in on false pretenses and then being held captive. They were promised “good salaries, accommodations, and food”, but instead were beaten and threatened if they asked for these items. These people were becoming slaves and provided many local restaurants with fresh foods from the surrounding fields. Even though this was all happening, many people were continuing to get away with having these modern day slaves and no one was stopping them.
Tags: Czech Republic; Eastern Europe; illegal immigrants; gangsters; criminals; labor; force; manual labor; work
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The Faking of the Russian Avant-Garde
The Russian modern art market is saturated with fake works. Many European museums and auction houses are completely filled with fraudulent pieces. Once source says that phony modern art from Russian far outnumbers authentic pieces. The problem is exacerbated by a network of experts and professionals who accept large fees to validate Russian modern art as authentic.
Tags: Russian; artwork; modern; fraud; false; fake; phony; bogus; avant-garde; collector; art market
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The Body Toxic
Baker writes about the "dizzying array of chemical contaminants, the by-products of modern industry and innovation that contribute to a host of developmental deficits and health problems that are just now being understood."
Tags: toxins; health; poison; well-being; health problems; chemical poisoning; chemical pollutants; biomonitoring; FDA; EPA