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 "presidential election" ...
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Voter Patrol
The NEWS4 I-Team dug through more than 600 phone and email tips to break three major election stories before, during and immediately after the presidential election. About two weeks before the election, we asked viewers to tell us when they saw problems when they voted. The response was immediate. Our two-man team went through every tip and beat out the AP, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and other local stations on the biggest election stories in our area. Our first story revealed absentee ballots sent out in Maryland were missing their second page, which contained the most contested ballot initiatives including legalized gambling, same-sex marriage and the DREAM Act. This story was picked up across the nation and led to statements made by the Maryland Governor and the various interest groups involved in the ballot issues.
Tags: Elections; presidential elections; votes; presidential reporting; ballot issues
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"Inside Iran"
Just before Iran's presidential elections, NBC News goes inside the country and takes an in-depth look at the lives of its young people. The report reveals "an Iran unknown to most Americans." It's a place where hostility toward the West is low and the acceptance of differences is high.
Tags: Islamic Republic; presidential elections; Middle East; Muslim; Ann Curry; Islam; Hezbollah; Hamas; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Tehran
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The Numbers Guy
"Polls Foresaw Future, Which Looks Tough for Polling" came out two days after the 2008 Presidential Election, and examined the pollsters surveying the race state-by-state. Analysis did a good job of projecting Obama's victory. "Price Drop: Stocks, Homes, Now Triple-Word Scores" examined how point values in games can be skewed when rules change.
Tags: surveys; polling; statistics; The Numbers Guy;
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Vote early, vote often
Joint venture between WSB-TV in Atlanta and WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. The investigation uncovered voter fraud on the eve of the 2008 presidential election and and proved there to be no federal oversight to prevent voters from casting ballots in multiple states. The reporters took advantage of newly enacted voting laws in their states to track and compare the master voter rolls and early voting records of registered voters in Florida, Georgia and Ohio. They found more than 100,000 people who appeared to be registered in more than one states, with the potential to vote in both. They also found three individuals who already had used new early voting laws to cast ballots in both Florida and Georgia, a felony crime. They found an additional 12 people who had already voted in one state and also received an absentee ballot from another.
Tags: voter fraud; 2008 presidential election; Ohio; Florida; Georgia; absentee ballots; duplicate votes
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Angry White Man
"An expose of nearly two decades worth of conspiratorial, racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic newsletters published by Republican Congressman and erstwhile presidential candidate Ron Paul."
Tags: re-election; Worldcat; extremist; libertarian; bigotry;
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Follow the Money
This is an extensive series conducted to examine questionable earmarks on many levels. The story covers money trails from the Presidential election to wasted medical drugs that are (literally) being flushed down the toilet.
Tags: lobbying; public waste; banking bailout; Presidential election; whistle blower; Qui Tam; Medicaid; NASA
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Secret Money Project
The Center for Investigative Reporting and National Public Radio launched the "Secret Money Project" as a joint initiative to track the hidden money in the election season. In 2004, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth advertisements hurt Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign. In the 2008 presidential campaign, independent groups also did everything possible -- sometimes well under the radar -- to influence the election. Independent groups raised and spent tens of millions of dollars, unleashing attack ads, robocalls and direct mail across the country. Although NPR is best known as a radio network, the primary venue for the Secret MOney Project was npr.org. The project Web site featured a blog of breaking news and analysis. It serves as a searchable database of independent groups and attack ads, which provided a real-time public resource during the election and will continue to be a research tool that can shed light on future political races.
Tags: campaign finance; attack advertisements; new media; political reporting; Senate races; presidential races
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Overseas Donors
The Associated Press investigated whether any donors to presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain with foreign addresses were illegal foreign donors; whether the two campaigns were guarding against illegal foreign money by asking overseas donors for copies of their current U.S. passports as the Federal Election Commission instructs; and to what extent the two campaigns were failing to disclose basic information about donors such as their employers and occupations. The AP reviewed hundreds of thousands of donations from around the globe and found evidence that both campaigns took money first and asked questions later. The reporters found a smattering of illegal foreign donations to Obama as well as missing details in federal paperwork the law requires from Obama and McCain. During interviews with 123 donors in 11 countries, The AP found that Obama accepted illegal contributions from at least three foreigners. In one case, a Canadian noted with is donation that he was not an American; the Obama campaign accepted his money anyway, and the Canadian's note about his foreign citizenship actually appeared in Obama's campaign finance report. A donor in Australia admitted to the AP that he entered a phony passport number when making an Internet contribution to Obama. Just five donors, three for Obama and two for McCain, told the AP that the campaigns asked to see copies of their current U.S. passports.
Tags: Barack Obama; John McCain; campaign finance; illegal donations; foreign donations; campaign regulation; 2008 presidential election
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Reality Show
"This book is a two-year, behind-the-scenes look at the three network news operations; their coverage of such major events as the Iraq war, the midterm elections, the presidential campaign, Hurricane Katrina, the Mark Foley scandal, and the Virginia Tech massacre; the battles for anchor succession within each news division, and their struggle for survival in an era of instantaneous information."
Tags: news organizations; information wars; anchor successions; news division; major events;
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Huck's gift-givers ended up in state posts
Records from Virginia and Arkansas showed that 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee received 90 gifts from 21 people in Arkansas he appointed to state posts while governor.
Tags: bribe; Federal Election Commission; donation;