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 "television ads" ...
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Profiting from the Auto-Bailout
September, 2012 the Obama campaign launched television ads blasting Romney’s November 2008 New York Times op-ed, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” In an article for The Nation Magazine, funded by The Nation Investigative Fund we discovered that Ann Romney, personally gained at least $15.3 million from the bailout—and a few of Romney’s most important Wall Street donors made more than $4 billion. Their gains, and the Romneys’, were astronomical—more than 3,000 percent on their investment. It all starts with Delphi Automotive, a former General Motors subsidiary whose auto parts remain essential to GM’s production lines. No bailout of GM—or Chrysler, for that matter—could have been successful without saving Delphi. So, in addition to making massive loans to automakers in 2009, the federal government sent, directly or indirectly, more than $12.9 billion to Delphi—and to the hedge funds that had gained control over it. One of the hedge funds profiting from that bailout— $1.28 billion at the time of publication — was Elliott Management, directed by Romney supporter, Paul Singer.
Tags: Bailout; political campaign; Obama; Romney; Paul Singer
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Is it true?
"For several years a local car dealership ran advertisements on the radio, television and in newspapers offering deals on cars that it could not live up to". As a number of complaints mounted, the investigation into the dealership began. The investigation revealed the dealership used false advertising and "even increased the interest rate on finance documents after they were signed by the customer".
Tags: Mike Young Motors; bait-and-switch advertising; advertisements; ads; false; car dealership; dealer's claims; violations; automobiles
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On Offense. As democrats learn art of skewering foe, Dan Carol is there. He digs up facts to wield when race gets rough, as this one just might. A list of 'generic attacks'
According to the article, "Mr. Carol isn't appearing in prime time at the Democratic convention. He isn't an employee of the Gore campaign or the Democratic National Committee. But as a consultant to the DNC, Democratic congressional campaigns and allied groups, he is part of a cadre of political warriors whose mastery of Information Age weapons is vital to Democrats' push to elect Al Gore and win control of Congress. Using television attack ads, internet sites, satellite interviews to targeted broadcast markets and blast fax and e-mail messages, they will seek to shred Mr. Bush's gauzy slogans by providing documentation that his Texas record and campaign proposals aren't 'compassionate' at all."
Tags: Al Gore; George Bush; politics; election; democrats; republicans; political attacks; consultant; Dan Carol; internet; campaigns; conventions
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So Much to Discover
A WJW-TV investigation of Ohio's tourism campaign revealed the state squandered hundreds of thousands of dollars on a 30-second television commercial. The state's Department of Travel and Tourism spent $700,000 on the commercial -- $140,000 of that bill going to a last-minute decision to add the governor to the ad. WJW-TV found that "the state spent several times the going rate for services. Although it was the Governor's staff that insisted that he be added to the commercial, they insisted they had no idea it would cost so much." "So Much to Discover" is the slogan of the tourism campaign
Tags: Ohio; tourism; So Much to Discover; governor; tax dollars; state government; politics; TAPE; TRANSCRIPT
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Megan's Law
WKYT-TV's investigative team found that many of the Kentucky's registered sex offenders weren't living where they said they were. State law requires high-risk sex offenders be registered with the state after release from prison with their information being added to the Kentucky's Online Sex Offender Registry. Over two months reporters discovered that many offenders gave false information and that state and local law enforcement agencies weren't up to date on tracking the offenders movements. After the report, state legislators began reviewing the law and were discussed new methods of enforcement
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; crime; sex offenders
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Psychic Profits
The ads for TV psychic "Miss Cleo" say that anyone 18 or older can call her and learn about their future. But when 9-year-old Ashley Busch called the hotline, operators let the young girl talk for 20 minutes. After Ashley's mother received the phone bill she tried to refute the ads claim and get her money back, but the company refused to listen. KWCH-TV put the psychic's hotline to the test, and found that two out of five operators agreed to let 10-year-old children talk on the hotline, well aware of their age.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; phone scams; children; Miss Cleo
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Undue Influence
The American Prospect examines the deregulation trend in the pharmaceutical industry. The report finds that laws passed in 1992 and 1997 "left the Food and Drug Administration beholden to the very industry it is supposed to regulate, and the public vulnerable to unsafe drugs." The story reveals that more than 100,000 Americans die each year from adverse reactions to prescription drugs. However, President Bush, who received contributions of $456,000 from the pharmaceutical industry, will likely prove receptive to drug companies' pleas for additional deregulation, points out the magazine.
Tags: FDA; biotech; AIDS; regulations; George W. Bush; life-threatening diseases; medications; drug testing; Prescription Drug User Fee Act; Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act; television ads; research; safety; health; Viagra; Rezulin
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Stealth TV
Award-winning New York journalist Russ Baker examines the implications of television invasion into schools. The report focuses on the performance of "Channel One, a public-affairs TV broadcast available exclusively for school viewing." The story reveals that "for 10 years now, the folks behind Channel One have been able to offer advertisers a dream demographic: a captive audience of nearly half of all American teenagers." The author finds that "the ads on Channel One are grossly out of place in an academic environment," and that the program offers poor news content despite its "self proclaimed ... educational mission." The story reveals that "the key American institutions - governmental, educational - that might be expected to raise an alarm ... have mostly been looking the other way."
Tags: education; television; advertising business; teachers; students; GAO; Federal Trade Commission; children; spending patterns
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Primetime Pushers
A Mother Jones investigation looks at the implications of the aggressive advertising of prescription drugs. The report poses the question, "What does it mean for our health care when serious medicine is marketed like soap." The story reveals that "pharmaceutical companies spent $1.7 billion on TV advertising in 2000, 50 percent more than they spent in 1999." It finds that "direct-to-consumers advertising has paid off ... often turning solid earners into blockbuster drugs." The investigation also exposes major pharmaceutical companies that have failed to comply with the federal regulations on direct-to-consumer ads..
Tags: FDA; Viagra; Xenical; Celebrex; Pfizer; Prozac; Eli Lilly; broadcast advertisement; doctors; patients
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Gated vs. Non-Gated
A WBRZ-TV investigation compares the security of gated and non-gated apartment complexes. The analysis of crime statistics surprisingly finds "that in most areas non-gated apartments are safer," and that some criminals might be actually more attracted to gated communities. The story details how "many people pay the extra money each month for the added security of a gated apartment complex," although some of these widely advertised complexes "didn't even have a fence."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; police; theft; assault