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 "studies" ...
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Wilmington's Street Wars
Wilmington, Del., has become one of the most violent cities of its size in America. Nothing dramatized that fact more than several spectacular shootings in 2012, including one day in June when three people were shot to death in separate incidents, and a shootout a few weeks later at a soccer tournament that killed three people -- including a teenager waiting to play the game he loved. To document and study the violence he and other News Journal colleagues were covering, senior reporter Cris Barrish gathered information for a database detailing the 158 shootings, including 42 homicides, over a 20-month period. He learned that police made arrests in only one-third of the cases, many of which collapsed in court. His research into why police could not solve cases led to the revelation that both shooting suspects and victims had been arrested an average of about two dozen times, with many qualifying as habitual criminals -- a phenomenon that some authorities call "thugicide.'' His stories also explored the “don’t snitch’’ code of the streets that cripples prosecution of these cases, not only by the men on both sides of the gun barrel, but also by residents who are terrified of the gunmen and distrustful of law enforcement.
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Many Bullets, Little Blame
This two-day series uncovered a significant, serious and growing problem in Kansas City: Police routinuely shut down investigations into nonfatal shootings because victims wouldn't talk or detectives had trouble finding them again. Reporter Christine Vendel spent months studying a year's worth of shooting reports, knocking on victims' doors, and interviewing police, experts and others. Her series revealed that 60 percent of the 2011 cases had been shut down, even in instances where other witnesses existed. Meanwhile, charges were filed in only 10 percent of cases, leaving nearly all shooters free to threaten, maim and possibly new victims. The second day of the series drew comparisions to domestic violence issues of 20 years ago, when those victims faced similar problems. Police, prosecutors, lawmakers and others worked on solutions back then -- but no one was working today to help shooting victims. Vendel's series changed that.
Tags: Police; shootings; victims; detectives; prosecutors
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iLied: Exposing Mike Daisey’s Fabrications of Apple’s Supply Chain in China
This two-part investigation exposed fabrications in American monologuist Mike Daisey’s narrative about the Chinese factory workers who make Apple products, and also gave a voice to the Chinese men and women who were at the center of the international debate about factory conditions. Daisey had gained a worldwide platform as Apple’s most prominent critic; Reporter Rob Schmitz’s investigation proved that the details on which Daisey had built his compelling story were fabricated. Schmitz’s investigation aired on Marketplace and This American Life on March 16, 2012 and made international headlines, sparking a debate about journalistic truth. Schmitz’s April 2012 follow-up stories broadcast the points-of-view of actual Chinese factory workers and their employers, and helped re-shape the narrative about working conditions at Apple suppliers. Schmitz’s investigation became the most downloaded story in each program’s history. Hundreds of media organizations covered the work, sparking thousands of news articles and commentaries about the findings and the issues it raised. Online components of the work – which included podcasts, photo, and video – demonstrated the reach and longevity of multimedia storytelling; a video Schmitz shot of an iPad assembly line went viral with more than 2 million views on Youtube. The work continues to be discussed in case study format at journalism schools around the U.S., including an ethics class at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Tags: journalism; journalism education; multimedia storytelling
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Hips Gone Bad
The New York Times uncovered and chronicled the widespread failure of one of the most widespread failure of one of the most commonly used medical implants- the artificial hips that are used in some 250,000 Americans annually. Using data from overseas implant registries and scientific studies, the New York Times shows that a generation of widely-used hips known as "metal-on-metal" implants was failing soon after the implant, crippling some patients in the process.
Tags: hip implants; failure; metal on metal; medical implants
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The Price of Parking
The City of Columbia disregarded a study it comissioned building a parking garage double the size of a 3rd party recommendation. The garage, at 5th and Walnut in downtown Columbia, MO, remains mostly empty putting financial strain on the city's parking utility. Yet the city plans on building another parking garage six blocks away from the brand new garage. The city didn't have the money to pay for the first garage and doesn't have money to pay for the second garage. The first garage cost taxpayers $21 million. The city says the second garage will cost another $12 million- not including interest.
Tags: Parking Garages; Columbia; Missouri; Parking
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Asleep at the Wheel
Driver fatigue kills more people on the highways than texting, cell phone use and all other distractions combined. Yet the underlying factors of fatigue-related crashes have yet to capture the attention of Congress, the public and federal regulators. The WCNC-TV Investigative Team spent months drilling down into one cause that has received almost no national attention: sleep apnea. An estimated 13 to 20 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea and with increases in obesity which is related to the disorder, that number is climbing. Studies show drivers with sleep apnea are exponentially more likely to crash. And millions of long-haul truckers are more prone to sleep apnea than the average driver of a "four-wheeler".
Tags: broadcast; sleep apnea; drivers; crash
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Descent Into Madness
CBS News: 60 Minutes investigates the shootings by Jared Loughner that wounded Gabrielle Giffords and killed several others. 60 Minutes found that Loughner's acts followed a well-worn path towards targeted violence that had been studied by the Secret Service and that he gave off many warning signals about his intentions.
Tags: Gabrielle Giffords; Tucson; shooting
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Tucson Tragedy
Within a few hours of the horrific shooting of 19 people, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, at a Tucson-area grocery, The Republic focused on two paramount questions in the investigative part of its coverage: What motive and circumstance drove the alleged shooter to act, and what enabled him to succeed? In the short amount of time they had, The Republic staff reached the community college where the alleged shooter had studied, contacted friends and found video and Internet postings of his.
Tags: Gabrielle Giffords; Tucson shooting; breaking news; mentally ill
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Venezuela: A socio-political study of the Venezuelan legislative minority
The report explores the ideological, political, economic and social policies of Venezuelan legislators.
Tags: Venezuela; lawmakers; legislators; blogging
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Weird Science: Women's Funding Network Sex Trafficking Study is Junk Science
The story examines a series of purportedly scientific studies conducted on behalf of an advocacy group that raises money to fight juvenile prostitution. A close look at the study reveals a dubious methodology that violates most of the key tenets of sociological research.
Tags: research; sociology; juvenile prostitution; advocacy group