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 "lawmakers" ...
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Pork: The Post-Earmark Era
Nixon gives tons of examples of how lawmakers are still adding the pork even after earmarking has been banned.
Tags: earmarks; pork; lettermarking;
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Powerpoint from: The new money trail: Tracking spending in an earmark-free world
Fallis goes through his story on earmarks "Capital Assets" and what to look for now that earmarking is banned, because there are still ways lawmakers can get what they want.
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Being the government watchdog: legislative corruption
Williams shares lessons he learned and techniques he used while investigating the Tennessee state legislature. He lists sources and on-line resources to examine, expenditures to scrutinize and tricks lawmakers use to collect and distribute money.
Tags: state government; legislature; legislators; corruption; campaign finance; open records; public records; state funds; consulting; regulation; lawmakers; influence; graft
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Tracking Political Influence
This very dense tipsheet is full of resources for investigating how businesses influence both the federal and state government. It discusses lobbying, campaign donations and other ways of influencing lawmakers, such as giving gifts. The tipsheet references a lot of websites that will be useful in this sort of journalism.
Tags: business; corporate fraud; campaign fundraising; campaign donations; backgrounding; state government; county government
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CAR Investigations into Politics
This tipsheet offers six suggestions of political stories that use CAR. For example, Salant suggests examining PAC contributions to new lawmakers, to see if donations from particular industries increase once the freshman lawmaker has a seat (and a voice) on a congressional committee. Salant also suggests checking expenditures to see where campaign money is being spent.
Tags: politics; elections; campaign finance; CAR; voting
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State Data: Making it Work for You
Kevin Corcoran provides a great list of useful websites where you can find information and databases on state and local government (taxes, finances, salaries, etc.). This tipsheet also has examples on how to analyze databases (campaign finance, property taxes, etc.) by making spreadsheets. It also provides tips on how to get started on making spreadsheets as well as obtaining data.
Tags: state government; local government; budget; tax; legislatures; lawmakers; spreadsheets; datasets; attorney general; campaign contribution; octane-testing; litigation; property tax; unclaimed property; state board and commission; state employees; harassment; overtime; CAR
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Measuring Whether Lawmakers are Doing Their Job: Places to Gather Data
This tipsheet provides contact information and a brief description of various agencies, resources, and employees pertaining to the legislative branch. Also included are the role of congressional staffers and strategies on how to deal with them.
Tags: staff; staffers; legislative; congress; legislative counsel; disbursement
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When lawmakers are the special interest
Glen Justice illustrates the growing trend of lawmakers acting as lobbyists for their own special interest and gives a brief primer on how reporters can go about uncovering similar stories.
Tags: CAR; Lobbyists; special interests; Center for Public Integrity
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Ten computer-assisted campaign finance stories you can do quickly
Salant lists 10 computer-assisted campaign finance stories you can do quickly from FEC data, including how to determine the biggest givers in your community and where your lawmaker is getting her/his money from. Salant demonstrates what he preaches with the two accompanying articles -- one about U.S. Sen. Moynihan and the kinds of PAC contributions he attracts and the other about how business PACs pick their cause.
Tags: Stories from the Data Interest groups Lobbying Contributions 3 pgs.