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 "local government" ...
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Waste investigations for any community
Get tips on how to investigate government in terms of who gets audited, what data sets are available and see how that information can lead to local news stories.
Tags: Government; government agencies; fraud; investigation;
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Uncovering Waste and Fraud in Local Government and Public Authorities
7 easy steps to "Uncovering Waste and Fraud in Local Government and Public Authorities". Donohue provides step by step tips for you to uncover the truth.
Tags: local government; fraud; economic waste
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Mining for Gold in County and State Government
Shipp provides useful tips for mining through your county and state government agencies, including how to deal with employees who aren't familiar dealing with reporters and what to know before you even talk to them.
Tags: mining; local; county; state; government agency
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Examining Public Authorities and Local Development Corporations
Local governments "are the fastest growing form of government in the country but remain the least accountable, despite numerous reform efforts." Get valuable tips on how to hold your government accountable.
Tags: local government; budgets; annual reports
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Investigating Local Government
Jaquiss tipsheet covers tips for investigating local government. He stressed the importance of knowing your sources and their motivations and the understanding what documents you're looking for and what is available. Jaquiss says, "Your job in covering local government is to explain to readers how resources are being allocated. You work for your readers, not elected officials or your sources. Do not be a stenographer."
Tags: local government; sources; elected officials; public meetings; documents;
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Close to Home: Great stories begin with local reporting
Gabrielson shows how to elevate local reporting from the \"numbing procession of planning and zoning meetings, \'not in my backyard\' protests and feel good articles about people.\" He suggests focusing on reporting that isn\'t linked to a daily deadline and investigating the data available from different entities within the city. He includes four examples of great local reporting.
Tags: data; local government; city government; local reporting; city hall;
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Tracking the stimulus
Cochran points out some of the excellent coverage of the stimulus - such as ProPublica's continuing project that includes data and guides to coverage; the Investigative Reporting Workshop's focus on renewable energy grants; and some local coverage. He points to resources available on the TARP/bank bailout, and government sources such as GAO reports and Recovery.org
Tags: stimulus; TARP; Troubled Asset Relief Program; Recovery.org; Government Accountability Office; GAO reports; bank bailout
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Quick-hit watchdog stories: Where to find them
Sforza describes the documents to ask for so journalists can "an eye on those holding the public trust and how they’re spending our money." Making a habit of gathering this material will provide a constant stream of stories at your fingertips.
Tags: public trust; watchdog journalism; local government; public records; records requests; FOIA;
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Starting in the Neighborhood
Hall describes how to build a network of sources, and dig into data and reports, and examine the performance of local government. He talks about proactive reporting through attending public meetings and meeting people.
Tags: sources; public meetings; data; FOIA; public records; beats; statistics; interviewing
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Following the Money: From Grade School through College
This tipsheet discusses how to track education funding from grade school through higher education. The data sources used for example are the Illinois State Board of Education and Property Tax Revenue from the Illinois Department of Revenue. Lowenstein advises on where to look for education funding: local property taxes; commercial and industrial property taxes; local and federal governments; test scores by region; other supplemental income for schools
Tags: education; taxes; property taxes; department of revenue; education funding; testing; test scores