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 "private investigator" ...
-
Investigating Shadowy Organizations
Whether you're investigating the CIA or a sports team, use this tipsheet from award winning reporter, Apuzzo, to cover that shadowy organization.
-
Uncovering the private parts of public figures
This Powerpoint shows you what to look for when investigating a public official's private life.
Tags: backgrounding; public officials
-
Investigative Business Journalism
Cohn's detailed tipsheet discusses investigative tips and techniques for covering foundations, nonprofits and charities with examples of the types of documents and resources critical to this type of reporting - from 990s to human sources. Part 2 of the tipsheet explores investigations of private companies.
Tags: nonprofit; charity; foundation; private business; Internal Revenue Service; IRS; Form 990; 990s; consolidated financial statements; civil court; criminal court; federal agencies; FOIA
-
Sports business: Investigating teams and companies that own them
Upton outlines information pertinent to covering sports - from professional teams down to high school athletics. She identifies key issues worth investigating for each category. She has also collected some miscellaneous resources that may be beneficial when covering sports.
Tags: sports; professional athletes; immigration; unions; NFL; NHL; NBA; agents; endorsements; college athletics; private school; public school; NCAA; Olympics;
-
Private Eyes Share their Tips
Dawson's tipsheet lists helpful sources as identified by a private investigator. The first pages is a list of books. The remainder of the tipsheet details how journalists and PIs alike have lost access to information, and other threats to the future of the public's right to know.
Tags: PI; private investigator; FOI; public records; book; investigation; web search; backgrounding
-
PI Techniques for Investigative Reporters
[Powerpoint] Outlines what private investigators do and how they differ from investigative reporters. The powerpoint also supplies a list of resources available to both.
Tags: private investigator; research; database
-
Spycraft: Keeping your sources private
Doig discusses different ways to protect your privacy when working on investigations. This Powerpoint presentation covers how to keep internet searches private, how to make untraceable calls, encryption and decryption programs, and tricking keyloggers.
Tags: security; internet; online searching; search engines; investigative reporting; sources; privacy
-
Digging into Nonprofits: IRS Form 990
Campbell explains how to find and use IRS 990 forms to investigate nonprofit organizations. Campbell breaks the form down line-by-line and describes how to interpret and use each section.
Tags: IRS; taxes; nonprofits; Guidestar.org; charities; private foundations; internet research
-
Prison Reporting: Tips, Sources and Documents
Prendergast provides tips on writing prison stories such as: where to find unusual sources, inside and outside prisons; different kinds of prison stories (medical, business and politics can all be possibilities); and information trails that may lead you to budgets, labor relations files and coroner's reports - all having to do with prisons and great starting points for stories.
Tags: Criminal justice; prisons; private prisons; health care