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 "health inspections" ...
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Quick Hit Science and Health Ideas
Fallik gives 10 quick hit ideas for science and health care stories. Each idea can yield a quick and impressive story, with the potential of a more involved, deeper story.
Tags: health; science; patents; medical boards; adverse event databases; inspections; 990s
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The year in CAR
The tipsheet features a PowerPoint slideshow of notable computer-assisted reporting investigations of 2008.
Tags: computer-assisted reporting; housing; data; trade; education; lobbying; fire; day care; parking; vote; earmarks; inspection; sewage; EveryBlock; airbags; mammogram; arrest; railroad; pothole; sprawl; pesticide; crime; drugs; transplant; scholarship; mental health
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How Safe is Your Food? How to report on food safety and restaurant inspections
This tipsheet is a good guide to investigating food safety. The authors begin by offering tips like "get multiple years of data." Each tip is accompanied by a detailed explanation backed up with the authors' own experience. Then, the tipsheet ends with advice about building a database of restaurant inspections. The authors share their own experience doing this and offer a lot of suggestions to make the database efficient and effective.
Tags: restaurant; food poisoning; city government; food inspectors; FDA; state government; public health and safety
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Where to dig for great stories on hospitals, doctors and patients
Those covering a health issue will find this tipsheet helpful for identifying documents to obtain and what to look for on those documents. Steele and Heisel suggest backgrounding doctors and the hospital itself to make sure they are meeting their clams in patient care.
Tags: doctor; patient; hospital; health; clinic; inspection; record; disciplinary
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Deaths, Dying, and Full Disclosure
"State laws can be designed to thwart inquires about suspicious deaths in vulnerable populations," this tipsheet begins. "Hints that something is amiss in your state can be found on paperwork as seemingly routine as a police accident report." Bennish lists a number of events surrounding a death or injury that journalists should look out for, and other factors that send up a flare regarding a possible story. This tipsheet provides a list of resources on where to find records on suspicious deaths, including "funeral homes, nursing homes inspection reports, death certificates, computerized state vital statistics compilations of deaths, state compilations of addresses of institutions and homes, medical examiners, coroners reporters and autopsies, police and news reports."
Tags: nursing homes; deaths; suspicious deaths; accidents; fatalities; wrongful death; assisted living; major unusual incident reports; aging; mental retardation; mental illness
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Yes, You CAN Get These in Connecticut
Reitz lists key documents that are public information and can provide journalists with useful details and facts.
Tags: cell phones; motor vehicles; dog licenses; city employees salaries; records of delinquencies; municipal and education budgets; health inspections; police dispatch and incident stats; FOI
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Covering Workplace Safety
Provides a listing of websites beneficial to finding inspection/enforcement actions, records of injuries/fatalities, annual studies and government research.
Tags: Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration; safety; injuries; fatalities; labor laws
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Inspecting the financial health of your local hospital
Tips on how to investigate the finances of your local hospital through public records and agencies. Audio tape is available for purchase from the IRE Resource Center. Contact us at (573) 882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org
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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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Documents useful for covering city hall
Documents useful for covering city hall, including Mayor's office, permits and inspection, finance, treasurer, auditor, planning and zoning, public works, public health, city council, parks, etc.
Tags: None