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 "online business" ...
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Des Moines Register Reader's Watchdog
The Des Moines Register Reader's Watchdog column that takes on issues faced by individual Iowans who are at wits’ end and can't get answers from public officials, businesses and the justice system. Watchdog reporter Lee Rood's job is to give voice to readers who present important issues, to investigate all sides of those issues and to seek solutions that eluded others. This is a unique effort that both engages readers and values traditional watchdog reporting. At a time when journalists are seeking to remain relevant, build credibility and engage readers, she has launched this initiative that focuses not on the stories that she thinks are important, but on issues that are critical to our readers. In the past year, she wrote more than 60 columns, digging into watchdog issue brought to her by Iowans. Her work has put a new spotlight on wrongs that needed righting. Her work has led state lawmakers to propose legislation that requires Iowans to call 911 if they are present at the scene of an overdose. She has prodded the state attorney general's office to develop a plan to enforce laws that require companies to have worker's compensation insurance. She has fought through red tape for readers who didn't have someone in their corner to do so. Lee Rood's bold move to launch a new form of watchdog journalism for the Des Moines Register has made Iowans' lives better. Online, this body of work lives at DesMoinesRegister.com/ReadersWatchdog.
Tags: Public officials; businesses; justice system
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State of Play
With little to no public disclosure, the corporation that runs lotteries for the four Canadian Atlantic provinces embarked on a speculative -- and potentially risky -- hunt for new business oportunities online and overseas.
Tags: lottery; Canadian Atlantic; Lottery Uprising
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No-Show Casket
An invesitgation of Batesville Casket Company, an on-line business that has no permission to sell certain brand-name caskets who has a history of frauding customers, never delivering caskets and runnning off with customer's money.
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Scam-At-Home
A number of online scams are offering work at home opportunities to consumers. In this economic recession, many people are looking for ways to make money and these scams seem to be the perfect way. Some of the major scams are mystery shopping, stuffing envelopes, and rebate processing. The investigation into this story discovered these scams among the many and along the way found the scammers who were running these operations.
Tags: Internet; employment; finances; con job; credit; wealth; debt; website; Better Business Bureau; Federal Trade Commission
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Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0
Many local business owners began to believe something bizarre was happening when sales reps from Yelp.com offered to remove negative reviews off of the website. The only way the negative reviews could be removed was if the local businesses would advertise with Yelp. If the business owners refused the offer, they began noticing positive reviews disappearing.
Tags: local business owners; sales representatives; reviews; San Francisco; website; advertising; online; Internet; companies; businesses; Jeremy Stoppelman; Russel Simmons
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Diploma Mill
A series of stories from the Virgin Islands Daily News, "Diploma Mill" reveals that the V.I. government was working with and enabling a diploma mill to target V.I. teachers. The author's research indicates that the institution was not a school, but was instead a "diploma-generating business that had ties to a questionable online operation."
Tags: diploma mill; teacher certification; accreditation; Virgin Islands; buying diplomas; teacher's union
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Your Cell Phone Records Are For Sale
Spurred by a report "buried in the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police newsletter," the Sun-Times looks into the fact that anyone - including criminals - could purchase police officers' cell phone records on the Internet. Reporter Frank Main tested this by purchasing his own cell records for $110 from an online broker. "The records detailed the time and date of each call, and the telephone number called." The broker who sold these records turned out to be a convicted felon. Experts note that the easy access to such records "puts women at risk from stalkers; undercover officers at risk of having confidential informants exposed by criminal targets; and business people at risk of being spied on by corporate rivals."
Tags: Cell phones; wireless phones; cell phone records; stalking; undercover officers; corporate espionage
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The Dark Side of the Internet
Sparked by a report that U.S. companies were "supplying cops (in China) with databases, software and hardware needed to track criminals and dissidents", Business Week looks into the many "dark corners of Internet commerce." Click fraud, spyware, online advertising, identity thieves using "virtual currency" are all covered in this series of stories.
Tags: Yahoo.com; Direct Revenue; identity theft; online advertising; click fraud; spyware
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Made in the USA
Crogan's series returns to the issue of American companies that supplied Saddam Hussein's regime with nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and missile technology. His stories look at both industrial and government bodies that had financial ties to Hussein, even going so far as to create an on-line searchable database for these companies and government entities.
Tags: Iraq; Hussein; Gulf War; weapons of mass destruction; WMD; business; international
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Schwab vs Wall Street
Having redefined the business, first by founding the brokerage to exploit the end of fixed-price stock trading commissions in 1975, Schwab is looking for innovation again. BusinessWeek investigates and analyzes the latest strategy of Wall Street's famous challenger who aims to extend his business to advising from discount brokerage alone. The story says that though Schwab's might not be the most experienced for large-scale advise, his often overlooked innovations have run over his competitors.
Tags: Chuck; brokerage; online trading