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 "conflict of interest" ...
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Investigating Higher Education--Powerpoint
Perez's Powerpoint presentation offers great examples of resources used and graphics on how to display your findings including personnel investigations, memos, SEC docs and more. Perez was part of the IRE award winning team for "On Shaky Ground".
Tags: higher education; school safety; EDGAR; PACER; Conflict of interest
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Investigating Corruption in the Legal System
Sherman's tipsheet addresses story ideas to cover/look for when investigating corruption in the legal system. She also identifies useful documents for covering different aspects of the justice system - from covering federal judges to bail bond agents. Included are a couple of story examples.
Tags: justice system; legal system; judges; bail bond agents; conflict of interest;
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Covering Invisible Populations
Teichroeb outlines lessons she's learned while covering marginalized people and populations - such female prisoners and abused students. Much of her tipsheet touches on issues of developing the trust of your sources. Teichroeb includes links to a handful of stories she completed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Tags: marginalized populations; trauma; abuse; sources; documents; ethics; conflict of interest; Dart Center on Journalism and Trauma and Dart Society
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Dismantling the Experts
"Investigating the background of an expert witness begins with the same kinds of steps used to background any individual: using locator databases like ChoicePoint and IRB to lear the names the expert has used and where he or she has lived. The names of relatives may be useful as well, especially if you are looking for conflicts of interest."
Tags: research; searching; background;
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Investigating conflicts of interest of federal judges
Evans's tipsheet is a step-by-step manual for investigating federal judges' financial conflicts of interest. It includes research methods, key sources, useful web sites and suggestions for communicating with judges.
Tags: criminal justice system; judicial system; judiciary; federal judges; conflict of interest; financial disclosure; corruption; databases; CAR; web sites; interviewing
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Science Reporting: Getting under the skin of government and international organizations handling scientific and technical issues
"Getting under the skin of government and international organizations handling scientific and technical issues can e difficult, in particular in the face of spin supposedly supported by science. The [author] will give examples and tips to penetrate organizations, identify conflicting interests, locate expert committees, and analyze the reliability and interpretation of their advice."
Tags: science; media spin; investigative reporting; sources; scientific community
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Land Grab: Property Records Tipsheet
Lisa Vorderbrueggen has 11 tips for how to find more information on property records, from befriending your local planners, being on a first-name basis with your county assessor, checking delinquent property tax lists, and real estate conflicts of interest.
Tags: property records; environmental impact reports; assessed value; public records; campaign contributions
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Checking for illegal campaign activity
Hall gives great tips on looking for illegal activities in campaigns in this handout. Some of the advice is common sense but much of it is useful for new people to the beat and experienced hands as well.
Tags: campaign finance; campaigns; corruption; conflict of interest; sources; government; elections; politics; political parties; caucuses
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Investigating state and local government
Hank Shaw of the St. Paul Pioneer Press lists the top 10 databases you need to have on your computer if you cover government. The handout also includes six major topics for investigations on the beat.
Tags: lobbying; conflicts of interest; business deals; contracting; campaign finance
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Sample Questions for Judicial Candidates
A presentation of sample question for Judicial Candidates with emphasis on knowledge, Character, Effectiveness. Included are articles related to the subject.
Tags: judicial; court; judicial system