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 "response time" ...
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The Dalí Sculpture Mess
The story describes the burgeoning industry in posthumous sculptures attributed to Salvador Dalí and the continuing difficulties experienced by the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation in Spain, which has responsibility for managing Dalí’s estate and legacy, in slowing the spread of these questionable works. The sculptures are often bought and sold as original works by the artist. The story demonstrates that, in fact, most of the sculptures were authorized by Dalí’s wife and business managers, either posthumously or when the artist and his wife were old and infirm, and continue to be produced long after the artist’s death, in 1989. Dalí had little or no direct involvement in the creation of many of them. The story also demonstrates that new, apparently fake versions of the sculptures continue to appear, some of them openly marketed by a Chinese foundry that has no license to make the sculptures. The story updates an investigation published in ARTnews in December 2008 that for the first time described the Dalí sculpture industry and identified the producers of the sculptures.
Tags: Sculptures; Salvador Dali; estate
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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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Addressing 911
It all started with a tip from people on the front lines, and quickly unraveled into a story that has sparked much needed oversight of Ingham County's new consolidated 911 center. The center merged two 911 dispatch centers into one back in June of 2012. In October, a group of first responders approached Reporter Ann Emmerich with alarming concerns about problems within the system. They believed at least two deaths could be connected to delayed response times because emergency crews were sent to the wrong address. They also believed county officials were trying to "cover up" the problems. Using the Freedom of Information Act, Ann Emmerich began digging into records from the 911 Dispatch Center. She obtained documented complaints from the Lansing Fire Department, call logs from the dispatch center, and time stamped recordings of 911 calls. Just days after Emmerich made those FOIA requests, Lansing's Mayor announced he would form a task force to investigate concerns with the County's 911 Center. At the time, there was no advisory board in place to oversee the center. Once officials went public with the formation of a task force, the original board that worked to establish the 911 center was brought back together to begin oversight.
Tags: broadcast; 911; FOIA; 911 center
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Meningitis Outbreak
When an unprecedented outbreak of fungal meningitis began last fall in Tennessee, The Tennessean reacted with aggressive and highly interactive coverage that has led the nation. Before other media realized the significance of the outbreak, which has sickened more than 650 people in 19 states, The Tennessean was already analyzing the regulation of specialty pharmacies and digging into the contracts and connections of the New England Compounding Center, the Massachusetts firm suspected of shipping contaminated steroids responsible for the illnesses. As of today, the outbreak has killed 40 people nationwide, 14 of them in Tennessee. More than a hundred more are still sick. We quickly reported problems associated with New England Compounding Center, lag times on informing victims and regulation slip-ups in the drug compounding industry that allowed companies to operate outside of the law.
Tags: Health; meningitis; New England Compounding Center; steroids
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Benghazi: US Consulate Attack
On September 11, when a militant group overran the US consulate in Benghazi resulting in the death of the ambassador, the initial information was contradictory. Much of it got mixed up with other reports out of the Middle East about anti-American demonstrations over an inflammatory film on the Internet that was said to insult Islam. Damon arrived quickly in Benghazi to sort out the conflicting information and went to the burnt consulate ruins, which, though looted, held valuable clues to the truth. Her reporting revealed that there was not a demonstration and that it appeared to have been a planned attack that unfolded simultaneously from three sides. She discovered that U.S. diplomats had been warned by Libyan officials three days before the attack that the security situation in the city was out of their control. Though her reporting received harsh public criticism from the State Department at the time, the U.S. government’s own investigation later proved her reporting to be accurate in an episode that continues to reverberate politically. Damon also spoke to Libyans that tried to save the ambassador that night, shedding light on what happened to him during his final hours. While she was in Benghazi, demonstrations erupted against the militia believed to be responsible for the attack, and Damon further reported on the rise in extremism in the newly-liberated country. Her reporting provided additional valuable context about the milieu in which the consulate attack occurred.
Tags: Middle East; Libya; U.S. ambassador; Benghazi; militant group
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Investigating the Fire
After three people were killed in a fire set by the Colorado State Forest Service, KMGH-TV uncovered governmental mistakes and communication failures that killed people and destroyed homes. Our coverage spurred legislative change that will ultimately help the victims of the Lower North Fork Fire (LNFF) rebuild their lives and protect future fire victims. The LNFF was started in March 2012 by a state forest service prescribed burn that went out of control, killing three people and destroying more than 20 homes. KMGH-TV's six-week investigation uncovered multiple government failures that turned a supposedly controlled burn into an uncontrolled wildfire. Despite heading into a busy ratings period, KMGH-TV dedicated two reporters -- Amanda Kost and Marshall Zelinger -- full-time to investigate the fire. The station produced more than two dozen investigative reports over 40 days. On top of the daily reports, KMGH-TV produced a 30-minute special of original content in six days. Our investigations sparked a legislative inquiry into the fire and prompted Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to sign a law lifting liability limits that protected the state agency responsible for the blaze. Lawmakers, fire victims and community residents all agreed that without KMGH-TV's extensive investigation of government failures and mistakes, the families of people who died and people who lost homes would never be adequately compensated for their losses. Our investigation forced the state to reevaluate how it sets future prescribed burns to make sure the fires are safer for the community.
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Parking Patients
"Parking Patients" examined the amount of time hospitals in the Memphis area were taking to assume custody of patients brought to their emergency departments by city ambulances. In hundreds of cases we found patients were spending hours strapped to ambulance stretchers, waiting inside emergency departments for hospital staff to sign off on the transfer of care. In the meantime, city paramedics were tied up waiting with the patients and unavailable to answer other emergency calls. We found dozens of cases in the last year in which the city ran out of available ambulances to answer these calls, and had to rely on private companies to fill the gap, sometimes resulting in longer response times. The fire department blamed these shortages on the practice of hospitals using paramedics as "free labor."
Tags: broadcast; hospitals; paramedics; patients; waiting; ambulances
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Lost Ambulances
"Many people think GPS will lead people in the right direction, including 911 operators. One operator made a critical mistake not taking down directions and assuming the county's 911 mapping system would lead the ambulance in the right direction. What she didn't know is more than 40 RV and trailer parks did not show up in that mapping system."
Tags: Lee County EMS; response time; maps; EMT;
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The Mahoney Scandal: Fall from Grace
This story uncovered how Florida Rep. Tim Mahoney had secretly paid a former staffer - and one-time mistress - $120,000 and promised her a job at a Democratic media firm to stave off a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Further reporting also found that Mahoney had gone to great lengths to help another former mistress - a county emergency response official in her district - win a grant from FEMA. The report shows how Democratic leadership was aware of problems with Mahoney's conduct as early as September and encouraged him to deal with the situation.
Tags: FEMA; government corruption; illicit affairs; illegal settlements; sweetheart deals; sex scandal
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The Chancey Bailey Project investigation
"In 2008, The Oakland Tribune and The Chauncey Bailey Project began to shift from investigating the organization believe responsible for the killing to how the Oakland Police investigated the case." Their work revealed failure for the police to document key evidence of conspiracy, a delay in police action to raid Your Black Muslim Bakery during which time Bailey was murdered.
Tags: Chauncey Bailey; Your Black Muslim Bakery; murder; court documents; conspiracy; FOIA; California Public Records Act; Oakland; Alameda County; police investigation