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 "woman" ...
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Platts: The Ugly Side of the U.S. Oil and Gas Boom
There is a nasty and ugly side to the oil and natural gas boom that the U.S. has enjoyed in recent years — a side that involves allegations of fraud, breach of contract and taking advantage of poor or unsophisticated landowners, among other things. This story is significant because these incidents are seldom reported, as the landowners, energy companies and other stakeholders have little to gain and a lot to lose by talking to journalists. But I managed to pull back the curtain on these little-known conflicts by piecing together court files and by interviewing key players, including a woman who could have been sued for “commercial defamation” for talking to me. Through these hard-to-get interviews and court documents, my story paints a colorful and sometimes disturbing portrait of the growing number of conflicts between landowners and the oil and natural gas companies that drill on their lands.
Tags: Oil; gas; natural resources; fraud; drill
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Broken Shield: Police force fails to protect state’s most vulnerable residents
Decades ago, California created a special police force to investigate crimes and unexplained injuries inflicted upon some of society’s most vulnerable citizens – men and women with severe autism and cerebral palsy living in taxpayer-funded institutions. This police force, the Office of Protective Services, works exclusively at state developmental centers that have been the scene of horrific abuses. We sought to bring this story to readers in many forms, from working on all platforms, distributing condensed versions and delivering broadcast video stories to our partners, to creating a graphic novel video on one particularly human story -- a woman who was raped, apparently by a janitor. We also created an ebook of the series of stories and an interactive tracker that detailed key milestones of legislation drafted and signed into law. Producing this work on every platform helped to maximize audience reach and heighten the impact.
Tags: Autism; cerebral palsy; taxes; taxpayers; Office of Protective Services; abuse
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Sybil Exposed
The book is an investigative expose of Sybil, the 1970s-era bestseller book and TV movie about a woman who purportedly was possessed by sixteen separate selves. The investigation demonstrates that this story, though marketed as non-fiction, was mostly fiction.
Tags: Sybil; mulitple personality disorder; hoax
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The High Price of Looking Like a Woman
"This story looks into the illegal practices of injecting silicone into the body in the transgender community"
Tags: transgender; LGBTQ; pumping; silicone
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When Florida Fugitives Flee the Country, Justice Rarely Follows
The story examines a bail bond woman's questionable practices.
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Toxic Towns, USA
The story follows a woman and her fight for environmental justice in Mossville, a once-rural African-American community now surrounded by chemical plants.
Tags: Mossville; environmental justice; Dorothy Felix; cancer-causing chemical
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Still Waiting After All These Years
The story examines the scandal of America's untested rape kits and tells the story of one woman who waited 13 years for her kit to be processed, during which time her attacker raped again. The story illustrates a larger issue -- a staggering 180,000 rape kits remain untested nationwide.
Tags: rape; rape kits; sex offense; untested rape kits
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Una Realidad Embarazosa: A Shameful Reality
The story addresses the realities of teenage pregnancies in Colombia. The reporters examine the failures of sex education in schools and the lack of effective campaigns by the government. The story includes the profile of one young woman who, like many, chooses to get pregnant in order to escape domestic violence and poverty.
Tags: teen pregnancy; sex education; abstinence; birth control
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Could Sandy Hill Have Been Saved?
This series looked at why fire-and-rescue workers were unable to save a woman trapped inside her home even though she was on the phone with a dispatcher giving directions to her upstairs bedroom. The reporting found that volunteers who responded that night did not use thermal imaging equipment that could have helped them find the victim, Sandy Hill; that they did not place a ladder at either of the windows in her bedroom; that they were slow to ventilate the house and remove the smoke that killed her; and that they did not question people who had escaped the house about her location. Additional reporting exposed systemic weaknesses in Spotsylvania's fire-and-rescue services, which rely on self-governing volunteer departments and a smaller number of career personnel hired and directed by the county. These weaknesses include a poorly structured chain of command, lack of communication, insufficient training for man volunteers, and a failure to enforce existing regulations due in large part to friction between the career and volunteer units.
Tags: Firefighters; Fire Department; asphyxiation; volunteer; equipment; protocol; Spotsylvania; fire-and-rescue; training; regulation