The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets 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. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "bidding" ...
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Budgets and Finance at City Hall
Some hot topics in city governments and helpful sources.
Tags: budgets; no-bid bonds; finance; public- private partnerships
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Local Contracting
Keeping governments accountable about their contracts is important. Keating outlines what to look for when checking up on government contract grants and how to use CAR to support your story.
Tags: contrats; government; state government; city government; federal government; no bid; database; city officials; grants
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Unsung Federal Databases
Sarah Cohen takes a look at how every piece of information collected by the federal government falls under the Office of Management and Budget, who puts a list of approved information collections on its website. You can look through this list for a set of forms that will help you find what you're looking for.
Tags: Federal databases; Office of Management and Budget; Approved Information Collections; General Services Administration; Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions; Government Accountability Office; Bid Protests and Decisions; Excluded Parties List System; U.S. Senate; Office of Public Records; Lobbying Disclosure Reports
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Finding and telling the CAR broadcast story - no matter what size market you are in
Greenblatt lists computer-assisted story ideas for broadcast journalists. Included are potential CAR stories about elections, government salaries, bids, bridges and more. Greenblatt also notes which stories are suitable for reporters who might be tackling CAR for the first time.
Tags: CAR; broadcast; story ideas; bridges; infrastructure; bid waivers; education; safety; labor; overtime; election
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Covering Government Corruption
One of the main functions of journalism is serving as a watchdog to public officials and the government. No matter how hard officials try to keep information from the public, they are bound to slip up somewhere. This tipsheet can help you find the slip ups and take advantage of them. It offers a series of good places to look for corruption and questions to ask yourself as your project progresses.
Tags: contracts; bidding; bidders; land deals; real estate; whistleblowers; voting; ordinances; law; process; corruption; government
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Cracking open scams at City Hall
"This handout serves as a guide to using database reporting and public documents to get to the bottom of tax (assessment) scams and sweetheart leases."
Tags: tax board; tax breaks; assessment; property taxes; bids; bidding process
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Getting a bite on the food business
Tip sheet on investigating the food business: bidding, testing, sanitation, business records. First three pages are actually the handout. The remainding 31 pages are sample records and documents obtained on food bids, business enterprise records and sanitary inspection reports.
Tags: food; inspections; schools; health; sanitary; business
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Tipsheet No: 32
One-page outline for investigating city or state purchasing contracts; hints on looking for looking for bid-rigging or other irregularities. Watson's IRE award-winning story on the Nashville
Tags: None