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 "zoning" ...
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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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Mapping Hazardous Chemical Sites
Grabell's tipsheet outlines resources for mapping hazardous chemical sites. The tipsheet provides lists of where to find applicable data, as well as programs used to map these sites.
Tags: hazardous waste; EPA; Environmental Protection Agency; FOIA; Hazmat; ESRI; ArcGIS; Google Maps; Caspio; risk management; planning and zoning
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Ways to Trace Every Business
Campbell details how to background businesses by following the paper trail they create - from business licenses to potential litigation involvement.
Tags: business; business backgrounding; articles of incorporation; Uniform Commercial Code filings; UCC; Internal Revenue Service; IRS; planing and zoning
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Neighborhoods for Sale
The authors explain a recent Chicago Tribune investigation which tracked all zoning changes approved by the Chicago City Council in the past decade. They discuss how they acquired raw data and built their own database, as well as the steps they took to make the final story compelling for Tribune readers.
Tags: zoning; housing; city politics; city government; urban development
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How to Kick Start Your Investigative Stories
Two simple steps to start your investigation: aim high and flood the zone.
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City of Miami: Building & Zoning Department
Using documents such as this are helpful to strengthen your investigation.
Tags: documents; special inspector; zoning; building; city; government
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Analyzing Speeding Tickets and Racial Profiling Data
This tipsheet offers several suggestions for good stories about speeding tickets, as well as some insight on how a general traffic stop story can turn into a piece about racial profiling. Hacker offers tips for doing the analysis and lists over a dozen of helpful websites like the Justice Research and Statistics Association.
Tags: traffic; speeding; discrimination; tickets; school zones
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Tax Increment Financing: Great stories behind the dull name
Tedesco explains Tax Increment Financing (TIF). This tipsheet contains detailed graphics, information about the law behind TIF and advice for reporters interested in investigating the program in their community.
Tags: Tax Increment Financing; TIF; Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone; TIRZ; development; infrastructure; city planning; San Antonio; municipalities; city hall; local government; developers; urbanism
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Organizing a multizone investigative project
Carroll's tipsheet offers a primer on how a newsroom can coordinate a project that includes the various "zoned" editions of a newspaper. It discusses FOIA technique, manpower allocation and organization. The stories explored how much of a budget liability the practice of "sick time buybacks" for retiring teachers and municipal workers had become.
Tags: zones; FOIA; "sick time buybacks"
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Tipsheet No: 579
Handout consists of quick and ready references to public records, and to government agencies for Evening Sun reporters and editors. Includes information on the police, courts, local governments, planning and zoning records, housing inspections, and real estate ownership. Handout also looks at how to use public documents to cover state government, federal government, business and industry, the environment, and charities and the Internal Revenue Service.