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 "severance package" ...
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Fishy Business
Boston Globe reporters Jenn Abelson and Beth Daley captured the attention of consumers across the nation with their 2011 “Fishy Business” series, which revealed widespread mislabeling of seafood at restaurants. DNA testing commissioned by the Globe showed diners frequently – and unwittingly -- overpaid for less desirable species. In 2012, the Globe produced two more “Fishy Business” installments to expand and follow up on the initial investigation. First, Abelson spent several months examining how fish processors add water to seafood to increase profits. The Globe hired an independent lab to conduct an analysis of 43 fish samples collected from supermarkets across Massachusetts. The results, presented in a multimedia package in September 2012, showed consumers often pay for excess water when they buy scallops and frozen fish. About 1 in 5 of the samples weighed less than what was stated on packages. The testing also showed 66 percent of the fish from one supplier had too much ice. The Globe also wanted to verify restaurants and wholesalers had changed their ways following the newspaper’s 2011 investigation and resulting calls for reform. Daley and Abelson returned to 58 restaurants that served the wrong fish in 2011 to collect new samples. DNA tests showed 76 percent did not match what restaurants advertised on their menus. The resulting third installment of “Fishy Business,” published in December 2012, detailed these findings. In addition, Abelson and Daley explained how accountability is lost in the fish supply chain by investigating a major wholesaler that provided mislabeled fish to some of the region’s best-known restaurants.
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Inside Pfizer's Palace Coup
The inside story of the abrupt downfall of the leader of one of the world's largest and most important companies. Named CEO of Pfizer at the age of 51, this man was a brilliant litigator who harbored ambitions to join Barack Obama's cabinet or launch his own political career. Instead, he found himself out a job, the target of a sophisticated palace coup. He departed with a $25 million severance package, even as the company's stock declined 36% under his watch.
Tags: Obama; Pfizer; CEO; Barack Obama
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The Stimulus Debate
This series examined the effectiveness of the nearly $800 billion federal stimulus package. Reporters explored several issues related to the package, such as whether the money was going to contractors with problems in their past and whether money was going to places allowed under the legislation.
Tags: stimulus; economy; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; Recovery.gov; Department of Transportation; Federal Aviation Administration;
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The Trouble with the New Superintendent
Charlie Milligan, the new superintendent hired by the Tacoma School Board, was shown to have "poor relationships with his own staff," hired "a key administrator with phony credentials" and "clash with the police" after a school shooting.
Tags: education; school administration; school shooting; employee; severance package
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Easy Money
University of Massachusetts Medical School chancellor Dr. Leonard Laster "was removed from the post, and then paid more than $2 million in salary and benefits for doing essentially nothing over a period of 12 years."
Tags: pensions; salary; returement compensation; severance package
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Project security: Danger in the air
This WISH investigation reveals the threat presented by unscreened cargo aboard passenger planes, three years after Congress passed a law requiring the screening of such cargo. The report noted that none of the Transportation Security Administration's $85 million air cargo security budget is being used to screen cargo on passenger planes and that the government puts commerce ahead of safety. The TV station mailed its own bomb-related package across the nation to prove the security threat.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; TSA; Transportation Security Administration; air cargo; airline safety; known shipper program; Department of Homeland Security
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Torpedoed G-man unit rising like phoenix from its ashes
A San Antonio Business Journal investigation discovers that inspectors of the U.S. Customs are linked to Mexican drug traffickers. The package of stories reveals the covered-up findings of a federal task force that was originally created to investigate law-enforcement corruption in Arizona, but several years later was hastily disbanded. Conroy examines how the suppressed cases are connected to the suspected murder of a former Customs supervisor.
Tags: U.S./Mexico border; law enforcement; Department of Justice; FBI; special agents; intelligence; federal agencies; whistleblowers
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High noon in the West; Plumbing the pasture; Who rules the trail; Who controls the land; Free-for-all in a forest; Not in our backyard; Crossing the divide
A Time story package looks at the "epic battle for the West," in which giant oil companies and other mighty corporations have harmed the environment. The battle is over who gets to use the land in the West and for what purpose. The main story focuses on a series of federal government decisions "that could threaten the Yellowstone ecosystem." The article reports on several steps undertaken by the new Bush administration - blocking a plan to maintain the genetic diversity of the grizzly bears in the park, proposed lifting a ban on snowmobiles in the park, and projects for oil and gas drilling. The story describes the issue as "a conflict between federal and local," and finds that Yellowstone has become the focal point in the latest chapter in the battle for the West. The package includes maps and tables of who owns what in the West.
Tags: Lamar Valley; Yellowstone National Park; bears; coyotes; wildlife; tourism; politics; Republicans; Democrats; public lands; U.S. Forest Service; Bureau of Land Management; hazardous waste disposal; radioactivity
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Workers' Compensation Rates Drop for Six Years Since Law Change: But Neither Employers Nor Workers Are Satisfied
Two articles in this four-story package about the Arkansas insurance industry discuss changes in worker's compensation insurance. Six years after Arkansas overhauled its statutes relating to workers' comp. with passage of Act 796, premiums have dropped by an average of 35 percent. And while the state's work force has climbed over those years, indemnity claims have dropped, from 20,000 in 1993 to an estimated 13,000 in 2000. "Meanwhile, trial lawyers representing injured employees warn that the industry has been propped up on the backs of the state's workers." A second article details the claims by a former workers comp judge that she was fired for being "too fair." In a third article, Friedman writes that an exodus of health insurance carriers from the state has caused several small-business owners to fret. Finally, a fourth piece discusses the bankruptcy of Hagan Industries, Arkansas' second-largest insurance carrier.
Tags: insurance; workers' compensation; workers compensation; Hagan Industries; Act 796; health insurance
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A Drug's Dark Side
Acutane has been more commonly known for its ability to cure severe acne. However, Sun reporters investigated the side effect of depression that accompanies this drug and how ultimately in many cases, this depression has lead to suicide. While this has been a "miracle drug" to many people, parents say they would not have allowed their children to use the product if they had known its potential deadly effects. It was only over the last year that legislation and the FDA forced Roche Laboratories to change their package label- warning about depression and suicide. The FDA also "requires patients to sign a consent form before being able to take the drug."
Tags: Acutane; suicide; depression; side effects; Food and Drug Administration