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 "race relations" ...
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The Race Beat: The Press, The Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation
Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff examine the press coverage during the civil rights movement. The book is the story of how media members' coverage of the civil rights movement informed people of what was going on, and spurred them to action. It details how the national press picked up on the story, which had initially been reported mostly by black reporters and liberal Southern editors.
Tags: Race relations; civil rights; media; press coverage; Martin Luther King; equal rights; national media
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Denison, Iowa: Searching for the Soul of American Through the Secrets of a Midwest Town
Denison, Iowa has a population of about 8,000, and one quarter of the population is Hispanic. The author lived in the town for one year, studying the culture and the society. As he lived there, he discovered and wrote about various aspects of racial relations.
Tags: race; rural America; small towns; city government; contractors; immigrants; construction
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Election '90
During the 1990 election year, reporters at the Anchorage Daily News created extensive profiles of all of the Alaskan candidates. This report includes information about the gubernatorial, local, and congressional candidates.
Tags: politicians; legislative races; pot proposition; budget proposition; congressional races
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With Guns Drawn: A Question of Justice
The Cincinnati Enquirer exposed the Cincinnati Police Department's failure to track when officers pull weapons from holsters but don't shoot. "Nearly every case where a Cincinnati police officer drew a weapon involved an African American."
Tags: Cincinnati police; weapons; race relations; police discipline; discrimination; guns; citizen complaints
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Dead or alive?
WISH-TV investigates the unsolved murder of a young black woman who was killed on a main street in Martinsville, a predominantly white Indiana town, in the 1960s. The reporters uncover the name, the date of birth and the social security number of the prime suspect from an envelope kept by the victim's family. The team finds that the suspect - James Richard Smith - whom the police never went after, had a record with the Missouri Department of Corrections. A hidden camera captures a video of the suspect, supposed to be dead for decades, disapproving a claim the police made for a long time. The report also discovers that police have taken new blood and DNA samples from the suspect.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; crime; violence; race relations; minorities; blacks; African-Americans; FOIA
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The Lost Children of Wilder: The epic struggle to change foster care
Bernstein uncovers the full story of the Wilder litigation, a 26-year federal lawsuit against New York City's foster care system. The lawsuit - named after Shirley Wilder, a 12-year-old motherless child at this time - challenged the system for giving "private, mostly religious agencies control over publicly-financed foster care beds." The vicious approach resulted in children being placed not according to their needs, but according to creed and convenience. The author finds that the failures of the foster care system are related to "the child welfare system's role as a political battleground for abiding national conflicts over race, religion, gender and inequality." Bernstein reveals what happened to the small Shirley Wilder and the baby she gave birth to at the age of 14, and depicts the deep emotional wounds the foster care system had caused to them.
Tags: BOOK; group homes; needy; poverty; race; Blacks; African-Americans; minorities; Family Court; lawyers; justice; courts; drugs
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In Black and White: Old Memos Lay Bare Metlife's Use of Race to Screen Customers
The Wall Street Journal looks at the practice of MetLife, "the largest publicly held life insurer", to systematically discriminate against nonwhite customers. The story reveals that although the company claims to have stopped practicing race-based underwriting decades ago, "new documents show ... that race-based practices remained in effect years longer, and applied to a much wider range of policies." The investigation exposes "techniques not disclosed before, such as subjecting nonwhites to a more complicated application process, which tended to limit them to smaller policies costing more and carrying fewer benefits." The article points to examples of racial underwriting and follows lawsuits related to the issue.
Tags: race; minorities; blacks; African-Americans; civil rights; litigation; area underwriting; life insurance
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Black, White and Blue
A Dallas Observer investigation explores the disciplinary practices at the Dallas Police Department in relation with an alleged racial bias. The story reveals "a stark contrast between the way badly behaved white and black officers were disciplined." The analysis of the police department's records shows that 38% of the allegations of misconduct involve black officers at the time when only 16% of the sworn officers at the department are African-American. The investigation also reveals that "white officers have better odds of getting the charges against them dropped" and "if allegation were sustained ... black officers faced a greater likelihood of getting punished more severely than their white counterparts." The reporter points to two examples - one involving a black officer who has been fired for allegedly sleeping while on duty and another involving a white officer who has only received a written reprimand for the same misconduct. The investigation details some questionable hiring practices at the police department. The story also reports on a continuing U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the alleged racial bias.
Tags: discrimination; race; African-American; Dallas Police Department; civil rights
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Dividing Lines
The Columbus Dispatch investigated the "uneven educational opportunities in the Columbus Public Schools." The series revealed that "the Columbus elementary schools again are divided by race and income - and by student achievement, teacher experience and resources." The reporters identified problems with "poor test scores, a high dropout rate, financial and policy mismanagement, aging buildings" as common in the schools with prevailing minority enrollments. Some of the key findings were that "the assignment boundaries for some neighborhood schools closely match those ones singled out by the courts as racially gerrymandered", "spending by building bears little relation to the number of poor children" and "private donations...exacerbate inequities among schools". The newspaper also investigated how teachers' absenteeism and salaries correlate with the inequity issue. The reporters came to the conclusion that "veteran educators generally work at schools in middle-class neighborhoods, while beginning teachers get assigned to the poorest schools."
Tags: diskette; education; academics; race; income; poverty; segregation; FOIA; Ohio Department of Education; teachers; absenteeism; minority students; federal funds; database mapping project
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Uncertain Justice: Death Penalty on Trial
This Charlotte Observer investigative series reveals that "in the Carolinas, the death penalty is plagued by mistakes and misconduct." Among the major findings are multiple cases of wrongful convictions and flawed trials, resulting in throwing out more than half of all death sentences. The investigation analyses the records relating to death sentences in recent years and shows that "killers are far more likely to receive death sentences if their victims are white." The series also reveals that some prosecutors and judges are biased against Afro-American convicts, and questions the justification of capital punishment for mentally retarded people.The reporters depict some prosecutors who "withhold evidence - even if it suggests they've charged the right person," as well as irresponsible defense lawyers who have betrayed their clients. The investigative team concludes that "despite such problems, appeals courts have become far less likely to intervene in recent years."
Tags: wrongful convictions; misconduct; U.S. Supreme Court; courts; poverty; mental retardation; race; racism; moratorium; lawyers; judges; prosecutors; DNA