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 services" ...
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WESD's Web of Deals
An investigation of the Willamette education agency found cozy relationships among board members, administrations, contractors, and the state department officials.
Tags: service agency; board members; corruption; oversight; mismanagement
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Watchdog website and its web pages
The Oklahoman/NewsOK.com started this project in 2008 with the Right to Know page, a collection of databases developed internally to go along with stories and links to relevant public information. That site became part of the Watchdog page in 2009. In 2010, the staff continued to evolve the Watchdog page with "mini-sites" of investigative topics, such as a political corruption case at the Oklahoma Legislature; the staff's FOI fight over the birth dates of public employees; and allegations of bid-rigging with a married lawmaker and lobbyist for a private company seeking a state juvenile justice contract. Other "mini-sites" under Watchdog include ongoing coverage of the state Department of Human Services and the federal stimulus package.
Tags: continuous coverage; online; watchdog; bid-rigging; Department of Human Services; federal stimulus; FOI; Right to Know
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WESD's Web of Deals
A 16-month investigation of a regional education service agency showed that employees were charging the district for luxury rental cars, expensive hotels, Starbucks trips, and more as the district was struggling to stay afloat. It also found that numerous red flags raised over the past 10 years had been ignored.
Tags: education; tax abuse; corruption; county government; oversight
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The Federal Contractor Misconduct Database
The Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD) is a Web-based resource that tracks the civil, criminal, and administrative misconduct of the federal government's largest suppliers of goods and services. POGO created the FCMD to ensure that the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars the federal government awards every year in contracts (over $530 billion in fiscal year 2008) go to companies with solid records of responsibility, integrity and performance. POGO developed the FCMD because government contracting officers are required by law to award contracts to responsible vendors only but lack a centralized repository of information on vendors' misconduct histories. To make decisions that are in the best interest of the public and prevent fraud, wasted and abuse, the government must have as much information as possible reflecting the past performance and responsibility of prospective vendors. The FCMD provides this information free to the public in a concise and user-friendly format. The FCMD spotlights each of the top 100 federal contractors. It complies each contractor's instances of misconduct -- actual and alleged -- dating back to 1995. In addition to misconduct instances, the FCMD includes primary source documents and links to the contractors' Web sites, annual reports, SEC filings, and lobbying and campaign finance information. Search and sort features allow users to search the data for key words, or to organize the data in interesting ways. The FCMD is an evolving resource. POGO continually adds and updates instances and contractor information. POGO also periodically updates the contractor list to reflect the most current fiscal year ranking. Each year, the roster of contractors will change, but POGO will keep all old rankings on a special archive page so that eventually the FCMD will include hundreds of contractors.
Tags: government contracts; computer-assisted reporting; database work; government oversight; misconduct
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3-part Corporate Espionage Series
Between Aptil and August 2008, Mother Jones published an exclusive three-part investigation into corporate espionage on its Web site, MotherJones.com. The groundbreaking series exposed a private security company that spied on activist groups, and it also blew the cover on a mole for the gun lobby who spent more than a decade infiltrating the highest ranks of the gun-control movement.
Tags: gun control; lobbyists; Beckett Brown International; gun control; Mary Lou Sapone
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The Great Spam Slam
In Nov. 2007, washingtonpost.com ran a series of stories and blog posts Mr. Krebs wrote about the Russian Business network (RBN) led to the company being effectively cut off from the Web. He pursuer a similar strategy in July 2008, when investigating the Silicon Valley-based hosting provider McColo. At the time, Krebs was chronicling the cyber crime activity of Atrivo, another Northern California hosting company. Due to Krebs' reporting, Atrivo's hosting companies cut off connectivity to it, effectively knocking Atrivo offline.
Tags: spam e-mail; Silicon Valley; internet service providers; e-mail scams; cyber crime
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It's Just Lunch - Or Is It
The San Diego-based dating service "It's Just Lunch" and its 80 franchises worldwide sell themselves as a "specialized dating service for busy professionals." But the company does not fulfill its promise of a love connection. Clients pay $1,500 for up to 14 dates - "usually for lunch or cocktails after work" - that are supposed to be chosen by the company based on specific criteria provided by the clients. The reporters spoke with more than 30 consumers and former employees who painted a picture of a company that inflates the number and quality of its clients, and also refuses to give refunds when clients are unsatisfied.
Tags: Dating services; fraud; It's Just Lunch
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Hacker Hunters
The authors investigated a battle of wits between the U.S. secret service and a cyber-crime gang known as the ShadowCrew. The story covers a rare victory by law enforcement to shut down a web-based crime outfit. It gave a face to the ShadowCrew, a network of over 4,000 people run by a part time college student and gave a reminder to internet users to be wary of doing business on the Web.
Tags: Internet; cyber-crime; web-based crime outfit; ShadowCrew; the U.S. Secret Service; e-business; Internet security
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Steroid Dealers Use Ruse to Sell Wares on eBay
This investigation revealed that those interested in purchasing steroids could obtain them from eBay. Drugs were listed under the guise of books, pamphlets or pictures about steroids and therefore got past eBay site security. This was of special concern because of the availability to teenagers. This story resulted in eBay cracking down on steroid peddlers and them referring some cases to the law enforcement.
Tags: ebay; internet; auction; steroids; illegal drugs; pharmacy; the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy; NABP; web site; Drug Enforcement Administration; anabolics; postal service
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Show and Tell Tape #2
2004 IRE National Conference (Atlanta) Show and Tell Tape #2 features the following stories: 1)Randy Travis (WAGA-Atlanta) Modeling company Options Talent Group placed photos on their Web site and claimed their services would help clients become models for $500 a month, but agencies rarely took models from Options. 2)Darcy Spears (KVBC-Las Vegas) This hidden camera investigation into government found employees slacking on taxpayers' money by taking too long, and too many smoke breaks. 3)Mark Greenblatt (WBBH-Ft. Meyers) This investigation exposes a pet cemetery, widely used by veterinarians in the area. The cemetery does not fulfill its promises of dignified pet burials, and leaves dead animals exposed above the ground. 4)David Schechter (WCCO-Minneapolis) Profits from reservation casino gambling have garnered millions for certain tribes. Despite this, some Native Americans are left tribeless and living in poverty. 5)Steve Chamraz (KCTV-Kansas City) The investigation found Kansas City police aren't effectively tracking Internet predators, and lack computer resources to catch up. 6)Angie Moreschi (WTHR-Indianapolis) Indiana Social Services failed to research one family, resulting in a father with a history of abuse, who beat his child to death.
Tags: tape; show and tell; investigative; Atlanta; no transcripts; IRE