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 "web" ...
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Led by an innocent into a web of evil
The investigation chronicles the tireless efforts of Boston federal agents who followed the trail of a single photo of a distraught toddler erroneously sent to them by a Boston-area man obsessed with child pornography. It ended with the arrests of more than 42 men from California to Mexico and the discovery of more than 140 exploited children, one of them only days old. In the telling, staff writer Jenifer B. McKim deftly details the exploding worldwide problem of child pornography, the new and innovative efforts made by investigators to rescue children and track down criminals, and the devastating toll that child porn takes on victims and families.
Tags: child porn; pornography; sex abuse; children
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Dirty Deeds
It may be the biggest inside job in Louisiana history: vast expanses of oil and gas-rich land and water bottoms, owned by the state, but handed over to some of Louisiana’s most powerful politicians. The “scheme” uncovered by our investigative team dates back to the 1930s and has generated over a billion adjusted dollars during that time. This comprehensive multi-platform series not only sparked an investigation by Louisiana’s Attorney General, but also informed viewers that this shocking 80 year old deal is still costing an already cash-strapped state tens of millions of dollars each year.
Tags: Politicians; oil; gas; governors
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Playing with Fire
“Playing with Fire” focuses on a public board well out of the public eye, but one that could cost New Orleans taxpayers millions of dollars every year. After a month of digging through thousands of pages of records at the New Orleans Firefighters Pension Fund, WVUE-TV and Lee Zurik revealed questionable salaries, spending, and management.
Tags: broadcast; taxes; taxpayers; firefighters; salaries
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Playing with Fire
“Playing with Fire” focuses on a public board well out of the public eye, but one that could cost New Orleans taxpayers millions of dollars every year. After a month of digging through thousands of pages of records at the New Orleans Firefighters Pension Fund, WVUE-TV and Lee Zurik revealed questionable salaries, spending, and management. Among the notable discoveries: a $70,000 raise and $90,000 lump sum payout for the board Secretary-Treasurer/CEO; tens of thousands of dollars in questionable credit card charges by the board; and tens of millions of dollars in questionable investments. This last element is perhaps the most egregious for the citizens of New Orleans who are left to foot the bill for any pension fund shortfalls. This multi part series launched an investigation by the city’s inspector general, forced the board to change polices and led to charges filed by the state ethics board against two of the principals in our series.
Tags: New Orleans; taxes; taxpayers; credit cards
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Returning Home to Battle
While the Obama administration declared care for returning U.S. military personnel to be a top priority, reporter Aaron Glantz found something entirely different when he drilled down in the San Francisco Bay Area – home to more than a quarter-million veterans. In a series of stories for The Bay Citizen, which is part of the Center for Investigative Reporting, Glantz exposed an alarming failure inside the Department of Veterans Affairs, where mistakes and massive delays in processing disability claims for ailing veterans were the norm, sometimes leading to tragic consequences. Glantz was the first to detail this trend, finding that tens of thousands of Northern California veterans had been waiting an average of 313 days for a decision from the Oakland office on compensation claims for conditions as serious as traumatic brain injury. The Oakland regional office ranks fifth in the nation for number of veterans served – nearly 1 million veterans from the Oregon border to Bakersfield. The story was so shocking it prompted 16 members of Congress to demand immediate help for veterans filing through Oakland. More action quickly followed. Glantz had found through his reporting that the problem was not limited to the Bay Area. Next he set out to show it. The decision to dig deeper – to go beyond the local story – helped bring greater context to such a critically important issue. Through rich storytelling and clear writing, Glantz ably captured the plight of our veterans in his series, Returning Home to Battle.
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Big Money 2012
Big Money 2012 is an unprecedented multi-platform project to investigate campaign finance in the post-Citizens United era. Spanning television documentary, radio and online news outlets, this initiative draws on the award-winning talents of some of the best in the industry to dig deep into a story that goes to the foundations of our democracy. FRONTLINE’s pre-election TV broadcast of Big Sky, Big Money in partnership with American Public Media’s Marketplace formed the center of this multiplatform investigation, Big Money 2012, which continued on the radio and on the web. Further coverage of this timely story also continued online as part of ProPublica’s Dark Money series featuring reporting by ProPublica investigative reporter Kim Barker with Rick Young and Emma Schwartz reporting for FRONTLINE. Big Money 2012 tells a tale of money, politics, and intrigue in the remote epicenter of campaign finance, Montana. The investigation led the teams from big sky country—to a meth house in Colorado and to a UPS store in D.C. as they followed a trail of documents. What they find exposes the inner-workings of a dark money group. In all, it’s a unique collaboration a year in the making, which has led to robust journalism with real impact. And, the story is still unfolding.
Tags: campaign finance; politics; politicians
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As Mine Protections Fail, Black Lung Cases Surge
A joint investigation by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity mined government databases and analyzed together for the first time ever, coal dust enforcement records and black lung occurrence data. We compiled what appear to be the most comprehensive accounts to date of an unexpected reemergence of black lung, sharp increases among younger miners, rapid progression to the most serious stages, widespread fraudulent coal dust testing by industry, weaknesses and loopholes in federal regulations, and ineffective enforcement by federal regulators. We asked Ken Ward Jr., the veteran coal industry reporter at the Charleston Gazette, to contribute web and print stories about the history of failed government regulation, as well as fraudulent coal dust testing specifically at the Upper Big Branch mine, where 29 miners died in an explosion fueled by coal dust in 2010. Our reporting prompted the Labor Department to establish an internal team to review the agency's enforcement of coal dust regulations, according to internal agency e-mails obtained by NPR. Federal regulators stepped up coal dust enforcement, targeting mines with a history of violations. Members of Congress cited the series in calling for tougher regulations, and one group launched a petition drive demanding action.
Tags: mining; miners; black lung disease; coal dust; government
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Center: Policy or Politics?
This story examined the political connections between former Colo. Giv. Bill Ritter and the funding of the Center for New Energy Economy, which he is the director of. A web of connections between the center, Ritter, and the Colo. Democratic Party were found that shows that Ritter's role at CSU could be a polarizing, political one and could align CSU- a public university- in controversial Democratic politics.
Tags: Colorado Democratic Party; Bill Ritter; New Energy Efconomy; Colorado State University
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Green Energy: Contracts, Connections and the Collapse of Solyndra
Beginning in March, the Center's Ronnie Greene and ABC's Matthew Mosk and Brian Ross exposed flaws in the Department of Energy's billion-dollar spending spree, revealed deep links between Obama campaign bundlers and energy contracts and foreshadowed the financial and political storm that later engulfed Solyndra. Our reporting for "Green Energy: Contracts, Connections and the Collapse of Solyndra" broke ground before Solyndra's meltdown, and went well beyond the company in revealing a web of connections entangling a department lauded for its innovation. Working as full-reporting partners, our stories tied major Obama donors to lucrative green energy contracts for everything from electric cars to diesel substitutes. After over a year of reporting, we produced 50,000 words for the Center's website, thousands more on ABC's site and broadcasts on World News Tonight, Good Morning America and Nightline. Our stories, built from FOIA requests that yielded thousands of contract, financial and ethics documents, served as a template for national media reports that followed.
Tags: contracts; green energy; Obama; green energy; spending
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Constable Corruption
KTRK-TV has already exposed a culture of corruption on the front lines of Houston law enforcement. The interactive web component called "Undercover Interactive" offers viewers unprecedented access to the evidence and gives them a change to make their own conclusions.