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 "safeguards" ...
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The Reinvention of Privacy
Society will have to redefine what is meant by "privacy" in a world with caller I.D. and patents for imbedded chips which track people remotely. The market for tools and services that safeguard privacy is hopping (paper shredders, Hushmail, body guards all in demand). "A person can't function in American society without regularly using a Social Security Number, which has become a de facto national ID number --and which, as such, is the key to all sorts of private information. If one needs a mortgage, as almost everybody buying a home, does, one has to turn over paged of detailed background date, some of which banks can then sell to whomever they like." The article includes the who's who and what to read surrounding the privacy issue.
Tags: privacy; database; surveillance; safeguards; public domain; "privacy space"; anonymizer technology; Zero Knowledge Systems; Inc.; encryption; browsers; cookies; infomediary business
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Easy Marks: Theft in Our Schools
A Birmingham News investigation of schools and school systems across Alabama reveals that they "don't have basic safeguards to prevent theft and mismanagment by employees. Many systems can't begin to document what equipment they have and what has become of it. As a result, theft occurs often across the state as trusted employees steal from schools."
Tags: Alabama; schools; school systems; theft; equipment; inventory; lists; employees; students
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A lord of the slums takes an apprentice
This "series focused on the epidemic of lead paint poisoning among Baltimore's children, using database analysis and previously unavailable records to establish that thousands of toddlers are being brain damaged in the city's slums because of a breakdown in housing code enforcement and inadequate public health safeguards." The Sun also used release forms to get at confidential medical records, and hired their own experts to test for environmental hazards.
Tags: lead paint; housing; poor; "Zombieland; Health Department; real estate; drugs; money laundering; poverty law clinic
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A Boy Betrayed, Once in Custody, Safeguards from Abuse Few
A judge awarded custody of a deserted 14-year-old boy to a man described as a child molester in court documents. The boy was sexually abused, assaulted, and offered for pornography on the Internet.
Tags: child abuse; pornography; guardianship; Internet pornography
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The Body Parts of Business
Tribune reporters found tissue donations agencies exploiting people after the death of a loved one and their "increasing reliance on the tissue trade to finance luxurious offices, cars, benefits, and salary packages that stretch well into the six figures." The Tribune also found the U.S. Food and Drug Administration imposed only minimal rules to safeguard the use of tissue and has failed to adopt more stringent regulations.." FDA regulators admitted to the Tribune they were "ill-equipped" and often unable to oversee the increasing international tissue industry. This series prompted an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a report was issued demanding more information regarding what the tissue is being used for be available so donor families have all the facts. In addition, the American Association of Tissue Banks examined the practice of its members and the info that donor families received. "The association also adopted guidelines for informing donor families whether tissue will be forwarded to for-profit medical or tissue processing companies."
Tags: Food and Drug Administration; organ donation; tissue banking industry
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IRE Feed 6: IRE TV Award Winners and Finalists
IRE Feed 6: The TV Award Winners and Finalists is a compilation of 14 reports from 14 stations in 11 markets ranging in size from Lexington, KY to Chicago, IL. 1)"Danger in Schools," KTRK-TV, Houston. A story that investigated Houston Schools putting known pedophiles back into the classroom. 2) "Where the Money Goes," WKYT-TV, Lexington, KY. Reveals that Lexington Schools spent tens of thousands of taxpayer's dollars on catered meals. 3) "Prescription for Trouble," KDFW-TV, Dallas. Investigates how Eckerds Pharmacy used teenagers to dispense prescriptions. 4) "Code of Silence," WTLV-TV, Jacksonville, FL. The medical system fights to protect a drunk doctor. 5) "Fighting for a Smile," WCCO-TV, Minneapolis. The VA's bureaucracy keeps dentures from veterans. 6) "Blood Priority," KSTP-TV, Minneapolis. Army choppers crash after cost cutting compromises safety. 7) "Missing Evidence," WMAQ-TV, Chicago. Chicago Police sell evidence right out of the vault. 8) "Failure to Protect," WBAL-TV, Baltimore. Maryland Police fail to enter protection orders to safeguard domestic violence victims. 9) "Prisoners in Their Own Homes," WFLA-TV, Tampa. Criminals strike again -- while on home detention. 10) "The $600 House," WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids, MI. HUD sells houses at pennies on the dollar to insiders. 11) "Preying on Your Pity," KPRC-TV, Houston. Telemarketers pretend to be handicapped to solicit cash. 12)"Crusade for Cash," KGTV-TV, San Diego. Lawyers use the ADA to file nuisance suits for big bucks. 13)"First USA," WFAA-TV, Dallas. Credit Card company jacks up interest rates, slaps phony late fees. 14)"Legal Loanshark," WAMI-TV, Miami. Lax laws permit car title loan companies to charge exorbitant rates.
Tags: tape; Investigative reporting; computer-assisted reporting; IRE; FOI; CAR
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The Drop
WAMI-TV reports about "a kickback scheme at the Miami International Airport where skycaps were forced to pay cash back to their supervisors in order to keep their jobs... The cash disappeared into a tip pool and went into the pockets of the bosses. .... After a six-week long undercover investigation where we documented the payoffs on videotape, skycaps banded together and filed suit against their bosses..."
Tags: TAPE TRANSCRIPT Miami-Dade County Commission United Safeguard
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Poisoned on the Job
CBC News reports "a story about transit workers in the small Alberta city of Medicine Hat who say they are sick because they were exposed to dangerous levels of methanol during a federally funded test project of the alternative fuel. Methyl alcohol is highly toxic, but the workers were told it was 'environmentally friendly.' A report from an internal investigation confirmed the workers were exposed to excessive levels of the chemical for years as they worked in clothes soaked with the fuel and breathed formaldehyde fumes produced by incomplete combustion. Today, the workers say they suffer from chemical sensitivities because of their exposure. Alberta's Workers' Compensation Board has rejected their claims...."
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Fire Sale: America's Unchecked Gun Market
A four-part series. 1.) Military Scrap Reborn as Firearms. Tens of thousand of rebuilt military weapons have been sold to the public. Some of the world's most powerful combat rifles can wind up in almost anyone's hands with a minimum of paperwork. 2.) Built for the battlefield, bound for the streets. Through the 94-year-old Civilian Marksmanship Program, thousands of obsolete military firearms are sold to private owners. Trouble is, there are no safeguards on the weapon's resale. 3.) Want to buy a weapon? Step right up. At poorly monitored gun shows -- as well as on the Internet -- buyers and sellers can undertake transactions that don't require background checks or paperwork. 4.) Assault gun 'ban' designed to backfire. With gaping loopholes the law is easily skirted.
Tags: Military; gun; gun control; weapon.
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Bad Apples: School Safeguards Put to Test
The series found that despite school districts insistence that their background checks were thorough, criminals were still being hired to work with children. The Tulsa World found one such employee, an elementary school bus driver, was convicted of armed robbery after an episode that involved the shooting of a Kansas trooper during the getaway.
Tags: None