CONTENTS

THE IRE JOURNAL 18 – 19 COVERING TABLE OF CONTENTS BEYOND GROUND ZERO JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 By Anita Bruzzese The IRE Journal 4 Despite windows closing on public information, steady work continues AVIATION DATA By Brant Houston By Jeff Porter The IRE Journal 5 NEWS BRIEFS AND MEMBER NEWS 23 FOI REPORT 6 BOOKS OF 2001 By Charles Davis HEALTHY DIET OF INVESTIGATIVE TOPICS SERVES UP SATISFYING 24 ACCESS VS. SECURITY AND HELPFUL HINTS By Jennifer LaFleur By Steve Weinberg St. Louis Post-Dispatch The IRE Journal 26 NEWS RESEARCHERS PLAY KEY ROLE IN FAST-STRIKE 12 ENVIRONMENTAL TIME BOMBS TERRORIST COVERAGE TICK AWAY IN MOST By Gina Bramucci COMMUNITIES The IRE Journal By MaryJo Sylwester The IRE Journal 27 GUEST COLUMN Producer injured trying to outrun collapsing WTC By Allison Gilbert WNBC-TV, 28 BAILOUTS By Bob Keefe Cox Newspapers 30 EXPLORING THE CDC WEB SITE By Carolyn Edds The IRE Journal 32 TERROR IN PRINT By Steve Weinberg 14 DNA DATABANK The IRE Journal Blood samples test policies on privacy, genetic research By Paul Newton WNEM-TV, Flint/Saginaw, Mich. ABOUT THE COVER 15 SEX OFFENDERS When terrorists hijacked planes on VIOLATE LAW; Sept. 11, it was a call to journalists CAR, tape measure prove it worldwide that one of the biggest By Mark Douglas 10 WFLA-TV, Clearwater, FLA. stories of our time was unfolding. Jiro Ose of Newsday captured the 16 BACKLOGGED WTC attack from Brooklyn. AGENCY Cover story, pages 18-19 Child molesters remain certified Texas teachers for years Cover photo by By Dianna Hunt Jiro Ose, Newsday The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Cover design by 18 Wendy Gray, The IRE Journal

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 3 THE IRE JOURNAL FROM THE IRE OFFICES VOLUME 25 NUMBER 1 Despite windows closing DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS & EDITOR Len Bruzzese on public information, MANAGING EDITOR Anita Bruzzese steady work continues ART DIRECTOR Wendy Gray BRANT HOUSTON SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR espite new secrecy and security hurdles, the 4,000-plus members Steve Weinberg of this organization are showing they have no intention of retreating from aggressive Dinvestigative journalism. CONTRIBUTING LEGAL EDITOR In newsrooms here and abroad, our members are cranking out enterprising stories despite David Smallman the closing of government Web pages, the secrecy of the military and federal prosecutors, and the ranting by politicians – and even some fellow journalists – that to hold public officials EDITORIAL INTERN Gina Bramucci accountable is to be unpatriotic. Since Sept. 11, IRE members have scrutinized airport security and airline safety, the poor performance of intelligence and relief agencies, the internal disputes of the military IRE and politicians, the narrowing of civil liberties and the threats of bio-terrorism and how the government has handled those threats. IRE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR For example, if you go to the IRE Web site, www.ire.org, and look at stories based on FAA Brant Houston safety databases, you will see that numerous newsrooms across the country did public service stories on airport security. Among those probing airport security problems were newsrooms OF DIRECTORS in Anchorage, Dallas, Seattle, Tulsa, Milwaukee, , San Diego, Nashville, Asbury CHAIRMAN Park, Columbus, Ohio, and Charlotte. James Neff, The Seattle Times In addition, Knight-Ridder ran a nationwide story about how airport security became, and PRESIDENT stayed, so flawed and the role lobbyists have played in preventing changes. David Dietz, The FAA has since closed access to the enforcement data, citing reasons.

VICE PRESIDENT However, the database includes far more than airport security violations; it includes information Shawn McIntosh, The Clarion-Ledger on hazardous material violations, maintenance problems and many other issues. But rather than make a reasonable, thought-out decision, the FAA simply chose to shut down the TREASURER Joel Kaplan, Syracuse University whole database and deny the press and the public the right and opportunity to examine the agency’s failure to correct violations. SECRETARY Ed Delaney, Barnes and Thornburg However, the FAA action did not stop the Transportation Department’s own inspector general from publicizing continued flaws at airports. Interestingly, the FAA hasn’t responded Paul Adrian, KDFW-Dallas that the inspector general is threatening national security. David Boardman, The Seattle Times Of course, the FAA is not the only agency closing down information intended to ensure James V. Grimaldi, public safety. Federal authorities have removed the National Dam Inventory from the Web, Chris Heinbaugh, WFAA-Dallas saying that it contains dangerous information. Cheryl Phillips, USA Today On one count, the authorities are right. There is information throughout the database Duane Pohlman, WEWS-Cleveland showing aging, infrequently inspected dams are upstream from communities that have no Stephen Miller, emergency action plans for evacuation if the dams collapse. News organizations across the Mark Rochester, Newsday country – NBC Dateline did a classic story – have used this database for several years to Stuart Watson, WCNC-Charlotte alert the public to the potential dangers. And some of these dams could collapse on a sunny day without a terrorist attack. Information from the Office of Pipeline Safety (natural gas pipelines) also has been closed. The IRE Journal (ISSN0164-7016) is pub- Fortunately, the American-Statesman in Austin did a thorough series this past summer. The lished six times a year by Investigative paper examined the lax regulation by that office and found the office rarely imposes fines, Reporters and Editors, Inc. 138 Neff Annex, Missouri School of Journalism, even when a pipeline explosion leads to death. The paper also found the agency’s database Columbia, MO 65211, 573-882-2042. underreported leaks from pipelines. E-mail: [email protected]. Subscriptions are The series, available from the IRE Resource Center, notes: “For decades, the agency hasn’t $60 in the U.S., $70 for institutions and those outside the U.S. Periodical postage paid known the precise whereabouts of thousands of miles of pipelines under its jurisdiction.” at Columbia, MO. Postmaster: Please send CONTINUED ON PAGE 34 × address changes to IRE. USPS #4516708 Brant Houston is executive director of IRE and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting. He can be reached through e-mail at [email protected] or by calling 573-882-2042.

4 THE IRE JOURNAL I R E N E W S

Journal strikes gold panels and hands-on classes on databases, MEMBER NEWS spreadsheets, Internet research, mapping and in magazine competition usan Carney has joined the auto team The IRE Journal was recently selected as statistical analysis, special sessions will be Sof The Detroit News business desk. She a gold winner in the Folio: Editorial Excel- added to focus on terrorism, aviation safety and lence Awards, a magazine industry honor. other heightened reader-viewer concerns. was formerly a reporter for Automotive News. Recognized as a significant resource for journal- To register for the conference, visit Carol Cole is now covering state govern- www.ire.org/training/philly or call IRE at ists, The Journal won the top spot in the ment for the Oklahoma Gazette. Kenneth 573-882-2042. For hotel reservations, call publishing/journalism category. Conner has moved from projects editor to “The strength of The Journal is in the 215-893-1600 and ask for the IRE or NICAR deputy Sunday editor for the San Francisco willingness of IRE members to share their room block. Chronicle. Journalism professor Charles knowledge and experiences with colleagues,” Strong member showing said IRE Deputy Director Len Bruzzese, who Davis, executive director of the Freedom of serves as the magazine’s editor. in Casey Center awards Information Center, received the University The Casey Journalism Center on Children Nominees for the Editorial Excellence of Missouri Provost’s Outstanding Junior Fac- and Families has recognized several IRE Awards are evaluated on how well they articu- ulty Teaching Award. Davis is also a regular late and adhere to their editorial mission members for distinguished reporting on disad- statements. Winners, selected by the industry’s vantaged children and their families. contributor to The IRE Journal on FOI issues. leading editors, are determined by comparing The 2001 Casey Medals for Meritorious Karyn Dest has joined NBC affiliate WILX-TV the judges’ evaluations of how each title fulfills Journalism were awarded to: in Lansing, Mich. Dest, a general assignment its mission, the quality of its content and, to a • Jack Kresnak of the Detroit Free Press for reporter, formerly worked for IRE’s Campaign lesser extent, its overall design. “Murder by Neglect,” an in-depth look at Michigan’s child welfare system (winner, Finance Information Center while a graduate IRE launches program large circulation dailies). student at the Missouri School of Journalism. to help laid-off colleagues • Mary Hargrove of the Arkansas Democrat- Linda Dono, formerly of the Reno Gazette- During this period of continued downsizing Gazette and Curtis Krueger of the St. Peters- Journal, is now one of three regional editors in the news industry, IRE has launched a burg (Fla.) Times. Hargrove was recognized for Gannett News Service in Washington D.C. for her contribution to a series on child program to help members facing temporary After 11 years with Canadian Broadcasting pornography in Arkansas, and Krueger for his unemployment. The “Help a Colleague” fund Corporation Radio, Conway Fraser has moved offers one-year membership renewals at half- statistical look at prosecution rates for minors. to CBC-TV in Winnipeg. Fraser, who was most price for members who have been recently laid (runners-up, large circulation dailies). off and are still unemployed. • William Rabb and his team from the Mobile recently a national reporter in Toronto, will To help a fellow member remain active in the (Ala.) Register for “The Dental Divide,” work as a reporter and producer for CBC-TV a series that examined the lack of access organization, IRE members can contribute $25 investigative projects. J. Christopher Hain, to dental care among children in Alabama to the newly established fund. A $50 donation formerly of the Lincoln Journal Star, is now will support two colleagues, etc. (winner, mid-sized dailies). covering county government for The Palm “We’re happy to get this program going • Jim Kenyon of the Lebanon, N.H. Valley during this time of layoffs in our profession,” News for his eight-day series about four Beach (Fla.) Post. Valerie Kalfrin is reporting said Brant Houston, IRE’s executive director. families struggling to find affordable housing on crime and safety issues for The Fort Pierce “After all, helping a colleague has always been (runner-up, small dailies). Tribune and Port St. Lucie Tribune in . the point of IRE.” • A team from The Chicago Reporter, including IRE members Mick Dumke, Brian Rogal, James Landers has joined the faculty of To make a contribution to the “Help a the Department of Journalism and Technical Colleague” fund or to apply for membership Sarah Karp and Elizabeth Duffrin for “Chi- Communication at Colorado State University as assistance, contact membership coordinator cago Matters: Education Matters” (winner, John Green at [email protected] or 573-882-2772. non-dailies). an assistant professor specializing in journalism The unemployment status of each applicant will • Cornelia Grumman, the Chicago Tribune, history. Geneva Overholser, Washington for her well-researched columns on issues be verified. The program is for membership Post columnist and Missouri School of Journal- renewals only. of child welfare and public policy (editorials/ commentary). ism professor, has been elected to the American National CAR conference • Reporters for ABC News Primetime Thursday, Academy of Arts and Sciences. She also serves adds terror-related panels including IRE member Diane Sawyer, for on the IRE Endowment Advisory Board. Mem- focusing on family dysfunction in “The Roots The National Computer-Assisted Reporting bers of the Academy, which was founded of Rage” (runner-up, networks). Conference, set for March 14-17 in Philadel- in 1770, participate in meetings and non- • John Biewen and Stephen Smith, American phia, will be held at the Doubletree Philadel- CONTINUED ON PAGE 35 × Radio Works: Minnesota Public Radio, for phia. Send Member News items to Len Bruzzese at “Jailing the Mentally Ill” (honorable mention, Along with the already-planned beat-related [email protected] and include a phone number for radio). verification.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 5 FEATURES

Then in 1988, the Resource Conservation and ENVIRONMENTAL Recovery Act set up laws designed to reduce the number of leaks – the leading cause of groundwater contamination at the time. A series TIME BOMBS of regulations took effect over the subsequent decade, including a ban on bare steel tanks and requirements for leak detection, overspill TICK AWAY IN protection, corrosion protection and proof that owners have financial responsibility to pay for MOST COMMUNITIES potential leak cleanups. By December 23, 1998, all tanks were required to meet all of the new BY MARYJO SYLWESTER regulations. The EPA granted authority to enforce THE IRE JOURNAL these regulations to state agencies. In Missouri, the state law simply mirrors the ore than 40,000 sites in the United prevention in the past decade. federal law. Other states enacted more stringent States were identified as contami- Despite these stark figures, news about regulations. For example, Florida requires all nated from leaking underground underground storage tanks rarely makes the tanks to be enclosed in concrete – called secondary Mstorage tanks last year, despite new front page or the evening newscast. At the time I containment – to prevent leaks from escaping into regulations that had taken effect a year earlier started looking at the issue in early 2000, a few the environment. Other states, such as Kansas, to stem such leaks. news organizations were reporting on a related prohibit fuel delivery to tanks that don’t meet Some of these sites have contaminated topic: water contamination from a fuel-additive the state regulations. drinking water supplies with cancer-causing called MTBE that was leaking from these tanks. Most states also created an insurance fund benzene and other chemicals; others have The bigger story, however, was that these tanks to help pay for cleanups. Typically these are damaged groundwater and soil. Cleaning up the were leaking in the first place. funded with a gas tax and premiums paid by tank mess will cost millions of dollars – including I stumbled upon the story during a casual owners. Owners could get money to clean up taxpayer money. conversation with my neighbor – an environ- contamination from their insured tanks. Many All that is on top of the more than 400,000 mental engineer who cleaned up tank sites states also opened up the funds for contaminated sites previously found to be contaminated and in Missouri. In telling me about his job, my sites that were no longer being used. the billions of dollars spent on cleanup and neighbor bemoaned the lack of effective regula- The laws have, without doubt, brought sig- tions and state oversight. I proposed a story to nificant improvements to the environment, partly RESOURCES The Kansas City Star saying the federal and because they prompted thousands of site owners The Kansas City Star story is available from the state regulations that had taken full effect in to remove old tanks and clean up contamination IRE Resource Center, story No. 17723, by calling December 1998 were failing in Missouri. I that had previously sat idle. State regulators were 573-882-3364. teamed up with The Star’s environment writer, deluged in 1998 and early 1999 with reports of Michael Mansur, to strengthen and broaden my contaminated sites – many of which had come Useful Web sites: findings to the entire country. from bare steel tanks that had been rusting in the EPA Storage Tanks Web site: Our story reported that tanks continue to ground for dozens of years. www.epa.gov/swerust1/ leak in astounding numbers despite the new But even in the first few months of scratching Links to state tank agency Web sites: regulations and a significant reduction in the the surface of this story, we knew there were www.epa.gov/swerust1/states/stateurl.htm number of tanks being used. In some states, more hidden problems. The picture wasn’t as rosy as leaks were reported after the laws took effect state regulators and the tank industry made it Corrective Action Measures reports (semi- than before. We found that faulty leak detection, sound when they boasted of more than 90 percent annual) to the EPA: See some of the basic data in flawed technology and inadequate oversight compliance with the new laws. PDF tables at the EPA Web site: by state regulators have fueled the problem. www.epa.gov/swerust1/cat/camarchv.htm A few weeks later, the General Accounting Finding documentation GAO Report, May 4, 2001: Office issued a report (GAO-01-464) saying To document the problems, we started with www.gao.gov (Search archives for GAO-01-464.) the same thing. databases kept by the Missouri and Kansas Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste state environmental agencies. These databases Management Officials: Hidden problems included registration records for all tanks, reports www.astswmo.org/tanks.htm The first underground storage tank law was of contaminated sites, inspection records and enforcement actions for uncooperative violators. EPA Report to Congress and other reports: enacted in 1984, requiring tank owners to register www.epa.gov/swerust1/pubs/index.htm#rtc their tanks with the state. Two years later, All states, except Idaho, have a state program Congress created The Leaking Underground that most likely maintains such a database. Most EPA-funded study by the UC-Davis: Storage Tank Trust Fund with a gas tax to help often the state program is housed within the http://cee.engr.ucdavis.edu/faculty/young/ldstudy/ pay for state programs to oversee and pay for environmental agency. In a couple of states, they ld-study.htm spill cleanups. can be found with the fire marshal or commerce

12 THE IRE JOURNAL FEATURES

equipment causing leaks, and cases of contractors who had been studying the effectiveness of leak doing faulty work. detection – one of the earliest regulations to take effect regarding tanks. He had completed a study State oversight in that showed less than 4 percent We found that the crux of the problem lies of all leaks had been found by leak detection The Kansas City Star City Kansas The

with the lack of state oversight. In Missouri, methods. Just before we finished our story, the about 35 percent of the tanks actively being used professor announced the findings of his national in 2000 had not been inspected in the previous study. It also showed minimal effectiveness of three years. leak detection – which matched the findings we Everything we read about proper tank opera- had from our database and paper records in Mis- G. Marc Benavidez Marc G. tion stressed the importance of state authorities souri and Kansas. The UC-Davis study is avail- making sure owners were using the complicated able at http://cee.engr.ucdavis.edu/faculty/young/ equipment properly. The EPA recommends annual ldstudy/ld-study.htm inspections. We also relied on inspection records from the EPA’s regional office in Kansas City. MaryJo Sylwester, former IRE and NICAR Database EPA inspectors had conducted site inspections in Library administrator, conducted this study as part of her master’s degree coursework while at the several states, especially Missouri, where state Missouri School of Journalism. She now manages regulators couldn’t handle the load. computer-assisted reporting for the Center for In those records, we discovered a large Public Integrity in Washington, D.C. discrepancy between the “paper compliance” that Missouri relied on and the actual compliance in Getting the smaller stories the field. In Missouri, tank owners reported the An 8,000-gallon leaking tank is removed from a status of their tanks and the type of equipment By MaryJo Sylwester closed gas station in Independence, Mo. used via registration documents. Very rarely We tackled the big story – the effectiveness of departments. did state inspectors check to make sure what the regulations – but there are many smaller The reports of contaminated sites (usually the owners reported on the paper document was pieces to this puzzle. You might find a story called the LUST data - for leaking underground accurate. here that is easier and less time-consuming storage tanks) and the registration records proved We found dozens of Missouri sites that were that needs telling in your state. • Insurance funds: Most states have a gas the most useful. The registration records included listed in the state database as “upgraded” to meet tax-funded insurance fund that helps clean one record for each tank, listing the type of the regulations, while the EPA records indicated up contamination from leaking tanks. Tank material it was made from, when it was installed, serious violations. State inspection records owners pay premiums to be covered in what type of leak detection equipment was used, typically revealed the same problem. case their tanks leak, but a large bulk of whether it met the regulations and other details. the cleanup funding comes from a gas The data included tanks no longer in use as well, Expanding our reach tax. Originally, the states planned these noting the date they were taken out of service. To test whether our findings in Missouri and funds as temporary measures to make sure The LUST data could be matched up to the Kansas were true in other states, we asked state sites were cleaned up, with the hope that registration data to show the type of tanks used at regulators in all of the other 48 states to fill private insurance companies would take the site when the leak was discovered. We decided out a questionnaire. Of the 18 regulators who over after the new regulations stemmed the bulk of the leaks. Since the leaks are to focus on the leaks reported after the federal responded, half said that most of the leaks in continuing, a few state funds are starting deadline, Dec. 23, 1998. their states had come from upgraded tanks that to run out of money. The data was incomplete in that it didn’t should not be leaking if they had complied with • Inspections: Focus on the state oversight always tell us what we really wanted to know: the federal rules. aspect by studying the inspection system. Were these tanks that leaked “upgraded” to meet We also used data collected by the EPA from How many sites do the inspectors visit the federal regulations or was this just a leak semi-annual reports submitted by each of the state annually? What’s the workload like for the reported many years after it had actually occurred? programs. This data, posted to the EPA’s Web site typical inspector? What do the inspectors To find this, we had to dig into paper records. in PDF documents, lists the cumulative number generally find in terms of compliance with We looked through hundreds of files in both of leaks, active tanks, closed tanks and sites where the laws? states, looking for documentation of when the cleanup was completed. Using these numbers • Equipment: We found that leak detection and corrosion protection systems were not the owner either replaced the steel tanks with in an Excel spreadsheet, we calculated how many properly used by some tank owners. Some fiberglass ones, or upgraded the older tanks with leaks were reported in each of the states in the incorrectly programmed the computer for an interior lining and corrosion protection. Slowly two years after the new regulations compared the leak detection, ignored alarms indicat- we were able to document for each LUST site to the two years just prior. The data, called ing a leak, or turned off the electricity whether the tanks had been upgraded or not at the Corrective Action Measures, are available at necessary for corrosion protection. There is time the leak was reported. In the paper files we www.epa.gov/swerust1/cat/camarchv.htm also growing evidence nationally that the also found narratives of catastrophic equipment We also found a professor at the University interior lining in steel tanks is sloughing off, failure, improper use and maintenance of tank of California-Davis and former EPA official leaving the tank susceptible to corrosion.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 13 BOOKS

TERRORISM IN PRINT BOOKS OF 2001 Books from the last decade that touch on topics of increased HEALTHY DIET OF INVESTIGATIVE importance since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are included TOPICS SERVES UP SATISFYING with cover story package on page 32. AND HELPFUL HINTS partly because it is a litigation thriller populated by numerous unforgettable humans. BY STEVE WEINBERG Before moving to New York to report for THE IRE JOURNAL Newsday and later The New York Times, Bern- stein wrote for newspapers in Des Moines and ina Bernstein did not intend to write Bernstein knew someday she would write the book Milwaukee. She published stories about foster a 2001 version of Charles Dickens’ that became “The Lost Children of Wilder.” care breakdowns over and over, with increasing classic “Bleak House,” or even a 2001 As published by Pantheon, it is a reminder of frustration that so-called reforms rarely changed Nversion of Jonathan Harr’s “A Civil Dickens’ fictional Jarndyce case, the litigation anything for the better. Action” when she started researching the foster that dragged on for so many years nobody could Children left in the homes of negligent or care system three decades ago. Her early research recall why it had been filed in the first place. abusive parents would become dysfunctional, if not led her to a class-action lawsuit filed in New Bernstein’s book also is a reminder of Harr’s dead. Maybe the children would have fared better York City with Shirley Wilder as the first-named real-life Massachusetts environmental pollution given adequate family counseling, job training and

plaintiff. After immersing herself in the litigation, case – partly because children die awful deaths, CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 × INVESTIGATIVE BOOKS OF 2001

very year, Steve Weinberg does his best to compile this list for • Bill Berkeley • Tyler Bridges E The IRE Journal. He limits it to books published for the first time The Graves Are Not Yet Full: Race, Bad Bet on the Bayou: The Rise of Tribe and Power in the Heart of Gambling in Louisiana and the Fall during the year 2001, by U.S. publishers, in English, from authors who Africa of Governor Edwin Edwards are primarily journalists. (Perseus/Basic/New Republic) (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) He defines “investigative” and “primarily journalists” broadly during • Victoria Bruce the compilation process. He understands he might have missed some No Apparent Danger: The True books, too. If you know of any, please let him know via e-mail at Story of Volcanic Disaster at Gal- [email protected] or by fax at 573-882-5431. eras and Nevado de Ruiz (HarperCollins)

B • Matthew Brzezinski • Judy Bachrach Casino Moscow: A Tale of Greed The Golden Couple: Tina and Harry and Adventure on Capitalism’s and the Worlds They Conquered Wildest Frontier (Free Press) (Free Press)

• Dave Bakke • Elinor Burkett God Knows His Name: The True Another Planet: A Year in the Life of Story of John Doe #24 a Suburban High School (Southern Illinois University Press) (HarperCollins)

• James Bamford • William E. Burrows Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the • Nina Bernstein By Any Means Necessary: America’s Ultra-Secret National Security The Lost Children of Wilder: The Secret Air War in the Cold War Agency From the Cold War Through Epic Struggle to Change Foster (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) the Dawn of a New Century Care (Doubleday) (Pantheon) C A • Daniel Charles • Peter Asmus • David Bank • Paul Blustein Lords of the Harvest: Biotech, Big Reaping the Wind: How Mechanical Breaking Windows: How Bill Gates The Chastening: Inside the Crisis Money and the Future of Food Wizards, Visionaries and Profiteers Fumbled the Future of That Rocked the Global Financial (Perseus) Helped Shape Our Energy Future (Free Press) System and Humbled the IMF (Island Press) (PublicAffairs) • James R. Chiles • Jon Bellini • Ken Auletta • Mark Bowden Inviting Disaster: Lessons From the Child’s Play [true crime] Edge of Technology World War 3.0: Microsoft and Its (Pinnacle) Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the Enemies World’s Greatest Outlaw (Harper Business) (Random House) (Atlantic Monthly Press)

6 THE IRE JOURNAL BOOKS

INVESTIGATIVE BOOKS OF 2001

• F. Richard Ciccone • Sally Denton and Roger Morris • Daniel S. Greenberg Royko: A Life in Print The Money and the Power: Science, Money and Politics: Politi- (Public Affairs) The Making of and Its cal Triumph and Ethical Erosion Hold on America, 1947-2000 (University of Chicago Press) (Knopf) • Jeff Greenfield • Mark Dowie Oh, Waiter! One Order of Crow: American Foundations: Inside the Strangest Presidential An Investigative History Election Finish in American History (MIT Press) (Putnam)

• Joe Drape • Meg Greenfield The Race for the Triple Crown Washington (Atlantic Monthly Press) (PublicAffairs) E • John Greenya • Barbara Ehrenreich Silent Justice: The Clarence Thomas Nickel and Dimed: Story • Ted Gest (Barricade) On (Not) Getting By in Crime and Politics: Boom-Time America Big Government’s Erratic Cam- (Metropolitan Books) • D.D. Guttenplan paign for Law and Order The Holocaust on Trial (Oxford University Press) • Jay S. Cohen • Kim Isaac Eisler (Norton) Over Dose: Revenge of the Pequots: The Case Against the • Steve Giegerich How a Small Native American Body of Knowledge: One Semester H Drug Companies Tribe Created the World’s Most • (Tarcher) of Gross Anatomy, the Gateway to Profitable Casino Becoming a Doctor War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clin- (Simon & Schuster) (Scribner) ton and the Generals • Jon Cohen (Scribner) Shots in the Dark: • John Glatt The Wayward Search F • James Fallows Internet Slave Master [true crime] • Joseph T. Hallinan for an AIDS Vaccine (St. Martin’s) Going Up the River: Travels in a (Norton) Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a Prison Nation • Daniel Glick (Random House) • Benjamin Mark Cole New Age of Travel Powder Burn: Arson, Money and (PublicAffairs) The Pied Pipers of Wall Street: Mystery on Vail Mountain • Christopher Hallowell How Analysts Sell You Down the (PublicAffairs) • John A. Farrell Holding Back the Sea: The Struggle River for America’s Natural Legacy on the Tip O’Neill and the Democratic • Patricia Goldstone (Bloomberg) Gulf Coast Century Making the World Safe for Tourism (HarperCollins) • Deborah Cramer (Little, Brown) (Yale University Press) Great Waters: • Stephen Franklin • Philip Gourevitch • Charles J. Hanley, Sang-Hun Choe and An Atlantic Passage Martha Mendoza (Norton) Three Strikes: A Cold Case Labor’s Heartland Losses and (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) The Bridge at No Gun Ri: A Hidden What They Mean for Nightmare From the Korean War • Ann Crittenden (Holt) The Price of Motherhood: Working (Guilford) Why Motherhood Is the • Beth Harpaz Most Important – and Least Valued • Jill Andresky Fraser The Girls in the Van: – Job in America Covering Hillary (Holt/Metropolitan) White-Collar Sweatshop: The Deterioration of Work and Its (St. Martin’s) • Charles R. Cross Rewards in Corporate America (Norton) • David Harris Heavier Than Heaven: the Moon [Manuel A Biography of Kurt Cobain Noriega case] (Hyperion) G (Little, Brown) • Barbara Garson D Money Makes the • Matthew Hart • Osha Gray Davidson World Go Round: Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of Fire in the Turtle House: One Investor Tracks Her Cash an Obsession The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate Through the Global Economy, (Walker) of the Ocean From Brooklyn to Bangkok and (PublicAffairs) Back • Adrian Havill (Viking) Born Evil [true crime] • Elaine Grudin Denholtz • Bradley Graham (St. Martin’s) The Zaddik: • Jeff German Hit to Kill: The New Battle Over The Battle for a Boy’s Soul Murder in Sin City Shielding America From Missile (Prometheus) (Avon) Attack (PublicAffairs)

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 7 BOOKS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 the lawsuit challenged ’s practice of significantly better alternative. food assistance. But the budgets of governments, sending almost all its foster care money to private, As she read the documents, Bernstein became churches and charities rarely contained enough mostly church-affiliated foster care agencies. especially curious about Wilder. What grabbed money for such a sensible approach. Catholic foster care agencies would tend to give Bernstein’s attention most acutely was this: In As a result, many families lost their children. Catholic children preferential treatment. Jewish 1974, the 14-year-old Shirley had given birth to Unfortunately, Bernstein observed, children foster care agencies would tend to favor Jewish a son, Lamont, who had ended up in foster care separated from their biological families would placements. Protestant children in need, especially himself. Where was Lamont? Bernstein wondered. far too frequently end up inside government-run African-American Protestant children such as How had he been treated by the system altered or government-approved private homes where Shirley Wilder, age 13, had to fend for themselves because of the lawsuit bearing his mother’s name? negligence and abuse turned out to be the norm. in a dysfunctional family, or end up warehoused Where was Shirley herself? Did son and mother The children suffered just as much as before, at a in a government-run institution. even know each other’s whereabouts? much higher cost to taxpayers. If those children Lowry and a few idealistic, angry colleagues Finding answers to those questions became the managed to survive until reaching the age of believed the system served most children poorly backbone of Bernstein’s reporting; the answers consent, they frequently became criminals or because it placed them according to religion themselves drove the narrative when she began public assistance recipients. In turn, they were and convenience rather than according to their writing the book that any investigative journalist more likely to parent children who later entered the individual needs. should find worthy of study. broken foster care system themselves. By 1990, Bernstein realized as she worked her way through 17 years worth of court filings, Fast Food Nation Searching for Wilder Lowry’s fierce lawyering had succeeded in Freelance journalist Eric Schlosser started his Bernstein wanted to understand the unending partially dismantling the New York system, and investigation of the fast food world on assignment cycle at its most fundamental. In 1990, while at had prompted other locales to rethink their foster- for magazine, then expanded his Newsday, she thought she had found the vehicle: care placements. But nobody had found enough research into the book “Fast Food Nation: The The lawsuit conceived by a public interest lawyer money, will, qualified social workers and well- Dark Side of the All-American Meal.” Schlosser named Marcia Robinson Lowry. Filed in 1973, intentioned foster home providers to create a CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 × INVESTIGATIVE BOOKS OF 2001

• Adrian Havill K • Daniel Lazare The Spy Who Stayed Out in the • Marvin Kalb America’s Undeclared War: Cold: The Secret Life of Accused One Scandalous Story: Clinton, What’s Killing Our Cities and How Double Agent Robert Hanssen Lewinsky and 13 Days That We Can Stop It (St. Martin’s) Tarnished American Journalism (Harcourt) (Free Press) • John Heilemann • Mark Leibovich Pride Before the Fall: The Trials of • David A. Kaplan The New Imperialists: How Five Bill Gates and the End of the Micro- The Accidental President: How 413 Restless Kids Grew Up to Virtually soft Era Lawyers, 9 Supreme Court Justices, Rule Your World (Harper Business) and 5,963,110 (Give or Take a Few) (Prentice Hall) Floridians Landed George W. Bush • David Helvarg in the White House • Steven Levy Blue Frontier: Saving America’s (Morrow) Crypto: When the Code Rebels Beat Living Seas the Government – Saving Privacy in (Freeman) • Brian Karem the Digital Age Innocent Victims [true crime] (Viking) • Ed Hinton (Pinnacle) Daytona: From the Birth of Speed • Mark Kram • Charles Lewis, Bill Allison and the to the Death of the Man in Black • Gary C. King Ghosts of Manila: Center for Public Integrity (Warner) An Early Grave [true crime] The Fateful Blood Feud The Cheating of America: How (St. Martin’s) Between Muhammad Ali Tax Avoidance and Evasion by the • Christopher Hitchens and Joe Frazier Super Rich Are Costing the Country The Trial of Henry Kissinger • Stephen Kinzer (HarperCollins) Billions – and What You Can Do (Verso) Crescent and Star: Turkey Between About It Two Worlds L (Morrow) • Mark Huband (FSG) • Bill Lambrecht The Skull Beneath the Skin: Africa Dinner at the New Gene Cafe: • Steve Lohr After the Cold War • G. Bruce Knecht How Genetic Engineering Is Go To: The Story of the Math (Westview) The Proving Ground: The Inside Story Changing What We Eat, Majors, Bridge Players, Chess Wiz- of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race How We Live and the Global ards, Maverick Scientists and Icono- J (Little, Brown) Politics of Food clasts – the Programmers Who Cre- • Haynes Johnson (St. Martin’s) ated the Software Revolution The Best of Times: America in the • Kevin Krajick (Basic) Clinton Years Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Dia- (Harcourt) monds in the North American Arctic (Freeman)

8 THE IRE JOURNAL BOOKS

INVESTIGATIVE BOOKS OF 2001

• Janet Lowe • Martin Merzer • Joyce Murdoch and Deb Price Welch: An American Icon and the Miami Herald staff Courting Justice: Gay Men and Les- (Wiley) Democracy Held Hostage bians Versus the Supreme Court (St. Martin’s) (Basic Books) M • Ivan Maisel and Kelly Whiteside • Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck N A War in Dixie [college football] American Terrorist: • James Neff (HarperCollins) Timothy McVeigh and The Wrong Man: The Final Verdict the Oklahoma City Bombing on the Sam Sheppard Murder Case • Ruben Martinez (ReganBooks) (Random House) Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the • Dana Milbank • Elizabeth Neuffer Migrant Trail Smashmouth: The Key to My Neighbor’s House: (Metropolitan) Two Years in the Gutter With Al Searching for Justice in Gore and George W. Bush and Bosnia • Kati Marton (Basic) (St. Martin’s/Picador) Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That • Eric Newhouse Shaped Our Recent History Alcohol: Cradle to Grave • David Porter (Pantheon) (Hazelden) Fixed: How Goodfellas Bought Boston College Basketball • Dary Matera • New York Times correspondents (Taylor) A Cry for Character: How Race Is Lived in America How a Group of Students Cleaned (Times Books) • Jessica Portner Up Their Rowdy School One in Thirteen: The Silent Epi- (Prentice Hall) • Niels Sparre Nokkentved demic of Teen Suicide Desert Wings: Controversy in the (Robins Lane) • Martin Mayer Idaho Desert The Fed: The Inside Story of How (WSU Press) • Maurice Possley and Rick Kogan the World’s Most Powerful Financial Everybody Pays: Two Men, One Institution Drives the Markets O Murder and the Price of Truth (Free Press) • David Owen (Putnam) The Chosen One: Tiger Woods and • Dennis McDougal the Dilemma of Greatness • Jonathan Power Privileged Son: and (Simon & Schuster) Like Water on Stone: The Story of the Rise and Fall of the Amnesty International Times Dynasty • Sara Miles (Northeastern University Press) (Perseus) How to Hack a Party Line P (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) • Mitchell Pacelle Empire: A Tale of Obsession, • Ron Powers Betrayal and the Battle for an Tom and Huck Don’t Live Here Any- • Judith Miller, William Broad and Ste- more: Childhood and Murder in the phen Engelberg American Icon (Wiley) Heart of America Germs: The Ultimate Weapon (St. Martin’s) (Simon & Schuster) • Tara Parker-Pope • Lisa Pulitzer • Chad Millman Cigarettes: Anatomy of an Industry From Seed to Smoke Fatal Romance [true crime] The Odds: (St. Martin’s) One Season, Three Gamblers (New Press) and the Death of Their Las Vegas (PublicAffairs) • Daniel H. Pink Q Free Agent Nation: How America’s • Susan Quinn • Leigh Montville New Independent Workers Are Human Trials: Scientists, Investors At the Altar of Speed [Dale Earn- Transforming the Way We Live and Patients in the Quest for a Cure hardt Sr. biography] (Warner Business) (Perseus) (Doubleday) • Carol Polsgrove R • P.H. Mullen Divided Minds: Intellectuals and • Ralph Ranalli Gold in the Water: the Civil Rights Movement Deadly Alliance: The FBI’s Secret (Norton) • Diane McWhorter The Extraordinary Pursuit of the Partnership With the Mob Carry Me Home: Olympic Dream (Harper Paperback) (St. Martin’s) • Gary Pomerantz Birmingham, Alabama – Nine Minutes Twenty Seconds: The The Climactic Battle of the Civil • Putsata Reang • Alicia Mundy Tragedy and Triumph of ASA Flight Deadly Secrets [true crime] Rights Revolution 529 (Simon & Schuster) Dispensing With the Truth: (Avon) The Victims, the Drug Companies, (Crown) and the Dramatic Story Behind the • Bob Reiss • Joe Menzer • Robert Pool The Wild Ride: Battle Over Fen-Phen The Coming Storm: Extreme (St. Martin’s) Fat: Fighting the Obesity Epidemic Weather and Our Terrifying Future A History of NASCAR (Oxford University Press) (Simon & Schuster) (Hyperion)

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 9 BOOKS

INVESTIGATIVE BOOKS OF 2001

• Gary Rivlin • Doug Stanton • Nicholas Wade The Godfather of Silicon Valley: In Harm’s Way: The Sinking of the Life Script: How the Human Ron Conway and the Fall of the USS Indianapolis and the Genome Discoveries Will Transform Dot.coms Extraordinary Story Medicine and Enhance Your Health (Random House) of Its Survivors (Simon & Schuster) (Holt) • Charley Rosen • Douglas C. Waller The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Moli- • Deanna Stillman Big Red: Three Months on Board a nas Nearly Destroyed the Game of Twenty-Nine Palms [true crime] Trident Nuclear Submarine Basketball (Morrow/HarperCollins) (HarperCollins) (Seven Stories Press) • Joe Studwell • Tom Wells • Fred Rosen The Dream: Wild Man: The Life and Times of Needle Work [true crime] The Quest for the Last Great Daniel Ellsberg (Pinnacle) Untapped Market on Earth (St. Martin’s) (Atlantic Monthly Press) • Jeffrey Rothfeder • L. Jon Wertheim Every Drop for Sale: Our Desperate T Venus Envy: A Sensational Season Battle Over Water in a World About • Jake Tapper Inside the Women’s Tour to Run Out • Eric Schlosser Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal (HarperCollins) (Putnam/Tarcher) Fast Food Nation the Presidency (Houghton Mifflin) (Little, Brown) • Jeff Wheelwright • Elizabeth Royte The Irritable Heart: The Medical The Tapir’s Morning Bath • Arlene Schulman • Andrew Peyton Thomas Mystery of the Syndrome (Houghton Mifflin) 23rd Precinct: The Job Clarence Thomas: A Biography (Norton) (Soho) (Encounter) • Ann Rule • Chuck Whitlock Every Breath You Take [true crime] • Charles M. Sennott • Patricia Thomas Mediscams (Free Press) The Body and the Blood: Big Shot: Passion, (Renaissance) The Holy Land at the Turn Politics and the Struggle of a New Millennium, for an AIDS Vaccine a Reporter’s Journey (PublicAffairs) (PublicAffairs) • Martin and Susan Tolchin • Alan Shipnuck Glass Houses: Bud, Sweat and Tees: Congressional Ethics A Walk on the Wild Side and the Politics of Venom of the PGA Tour (Westview) (Simon & Schuster) • Jeffrey Toobin • Roger Simon Too Close to Call: The 36-Day Battle Divided We Stand to Decide the 2000 Election (Crown) (Random House)

• Carlton Smith • Joseph J. Trento Shadows of Evil [true crime] The Secret History of the CIA (St. Martin’s) (Prima) • Duff Wilson S • Rickie Solinger • Richard Trubo Fateful Harvest: The True Story of a • Jessica Snyder Sachs Beggars and Choosers: Courage [battles against multiple Small Town, a Global Industry and a Corpse: Nature, Forensics and the How the Politics of Choice sclerosis] Toxic Secret Struggle to Pinpoint the Time of Shapes Adoption, Abortion and (Ivan R. Dee) (HarperCollins) Death Welfare in the United States (Perseus) (Hill and Wang) • Larry Tye Z Home Lands: Portrait of the New • Ivan Solotaroff • Adam Zagoria • John Sack Jewish Diaspora She’s Got Handle: The Story of The Dragonhead: The Godfather of The Last Face You’ll See: (Holt) The Private Life of the Nicole Louden’s Triumph Through Chinese Crime – His Rise and Fall Inner-City Basketball (Crown) American Death Penalty W (HarperCollins) (Andrews McMeel) • Spike Walker • Julie Salamon Coming Back Alive [Coast Guard • Karen Southwick Facing the Wind: A True Story of examination] The Kingmakers: Tragedy and Reconciliation (St. Martin’s) (Random House) Venture Capital and the Money Behind the Net • David Waller (Wiley) • Wheels on Fire: The Amazing At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Inside Story of the Daimler • Patricia Springer Steal the Election Chrysler Merger Body Hunter [true crime] (Regnery) (Hodder and Stoughton) (Pinnacle)

10 THE IRE JOURNAL BOOKS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 flock to McDonald’s, Burger King, Kentucky New Jersey-based company, International Flavors found that the industries supporting fast food Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, etc., by the millions and Fragrance. There, Schlosser met with Brian have: every day. Grainger, a type of chemist called a flavorist. His • Served meals leading to hospitalizations of Schlosser brings complications to his morality job is to analyze brand-name fast food items so that thousands of diners, the majority of them children, play of a book, as intellectually honest investigative he can artificially provide a pleasant, distinctive with hundreds of them dying because of food journalists must. Take these three sentences from aroma. they consumed. different spots on one page: “A number of attempts For Schlosser’s visit, he lined up a dozen small • Been complicit in the consolidation of the beef, to introduce healthy dishes (such as McLean Deluxe, glass bottles. Grainger told his visitor to dip a poultry and potato producers, causing countless a hamburger partly composed of seaweed) have fragrance-testing filter into each bottle. The filter family farms to suffer, quite likely contributing proved unsuccessful…. A taste for fat developed in is a long white strip of paper designed to absorb to farmer suicides. childhood is difficult to lose as an adult…. At the aroma chemicals. • Played a role in the hiring of illegal immigrants to moment, the fast food industry is heavily promoting “I inhaled deeply, and one food after another work in unsafe meatpacking facilities, resulting menu items that contain bacon.” was conjured from the glass bottles,” Schlosser in crippling or fatal workplace injuries by the Explicated one by one, here is the message reports. “I smelled fresh cherries, black olives, thousands. those three sentences convey: The fast food industry sauteed onions and shrimp. Grainger’s most • Seduced teens all over the country into working is not all bad; it tries to promote healthier eating remarkable creation took me by surprise. After lousy hours for lousy wages, taking them away from time to time. But many consumers are not closing my eyes, I suddenly smelled a grilled from schoolwork and leading some to drop out interested in eating healthier food. That is partly hamburger. The aroma was uncanny, almost before graduation. their fault, but partly the fault of the fast food miraculous. It smelled like someone in the room • Promoted eating habits almost certain to contribute executives who worked to addict consumers to fat was flipping burgers on a hot grill. But when I to obesity, which in turns leads to numerous at young ages. In the end, it is about money, because opened my eyes, there was just a narrow strip of health problems in this country and overseas. fatty bacon is easy to sell at a huge markup. white paper and a smiling flavorist.” While serving up evidence that places blame Schlosser’s conclusions are based in part on Steve Weinberg is senior contributing editor to on restaurant chains, multinational food suppliers documents. He is skillful on the people trail as well The IRE Journal, a professor at the Missouri and government regulators, Schlosser never forgets as the paper trail. At one juncture, he reports on School of Journalism and a former executive that sharing in the blame are consumers who his success at getting inside the usually secretive director of IRE.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 11 FEATURES girl to her killer, now serving a life-sentence for murder. DNA DATABANK Our investigation questioned the other side of the coin. If a child grows up to be a criminal, could Blood samples test policies on a sample from the state be used to convict? In my privacy, genetic research interview with the Department of Community Health, Dr. David Johnson admitted that such BY PAUL NEWTON use would be possible, though our research failed WNEM-TV, FLINT/SAGINAW, MICH. to uncover any requests by police agencies to use blood-screening samples for this purpose. o Bonnie Prestin from Birch Run, Mich., of potentially deadly, but treatable, diseases. The state of Michigan has handled requests it sounded like something from “The What happens to the blood samples after they by researchers to put the extensive library of X-Files.” Hours after her son was born, are screened?, Prestin wondered. The unanswered genetic information under the microscope for Tnurses came to collect blood from the question set us on our series. the sake of science. Robert Lentner’s role with the baby’s heel. The tiny droplets were affixed to We learned that since newborn-blood - local chapter of the Huntington’s Disease Society a 4-by-9 card that they explained would be ing became mandatory for all Michigan infants landed him in the middle of the DNA debate. mailed to a state laboratory in Lansing. There, in 1982, those cards – more than two million of Appointed by the governor to serve on the state’s technicians could test Bonnie’s baby for a series them – had been stored in cardboard boxes at a special Commission on Genetic Privacy and state warehouse “somewhere” in Michigan. With Progress, Lentner emphasized the importance of RESOURCES AND IMPLICATIONS scientists set to announce the mapping of the allowing access to the samples to aid in the fight By Paul Newton entire human genome in the summer of 2000, against genetic diseases like Huntington’s. Special projects producer Kim Rosansky the state had unexpectedly collected a valuable Lentner also highlighted the urgency of collected statistics on the scope of the DNA – and extremely vulnerable – databank of DNA another issue facing the panel. In 1982, when databank issue using the Internet. We docu- information. newborn screening became law in Michigan, mented the number of newborns in Michigan In the age of millennial conspiracy fears, the state attorney general ordered sample cards to pinpoint how many samples had been cloning and genetic-testing, I was intrigued. destroyed after 21 1⁄2 years, beginning in 2003. stored. Legislative Web sites also allowed us to The secrecy that met my inquiries into the Critical DNA data from a significant cross- track the progress and recommendations of whereabouts of this seemingly clandestine vault section of the population was unlikely to be the state committee set up three years before of valuable human data only made the story available anywhere else. And it was about to our series to study genetic privacy. more important to us. Surely, in the wrong hands, be destroyed. From the beginning, we realized the damage our series could inadvertently do to the new- such specimens could be used to effect some The commission’s recommendations included born blood-screening program. Initially, even malevolent means. a provision to keep the databank of blood samples Bonnie Prestin, our new mother, had rejected A medical ethicist at Michigan State Univer- indefinitely. Ethicist Leonard Fleck argued the screening. A rush of parents suddenly refus- sity confirmed what we suspected. Even after that since the specimens served their purpose ing to submit new babies to the potentially two decades, insurance companies, employers at birth, the panel had exceeded its first well- lifesaving tests would likely turn us into the or the government could, in theory, use the defined mission and was now considering broad target of hospitals and healthcare agencies backlog of blood samples to identify people breaches of the privacy rights of the people of across the state, while accomplishing little for vulnerable to costly medical disorders later in Michigan. our series. life, compromising privacy rights on a scale CONTINUED ON PAGE 35 × While none of our interview subjects unimaginable when the tests were first objected directly to the testing, we felt it was administered. critical to reiterate the importance of the newborn blood-screening program in each Genetic library WNEM-TV segment. Despite assurances that screening We faced added difficulties in turning this scientific topic and its microscopic subject cards are kept under conditions of strict matter into a visually interesting investigation confidentiality, our investigation discovered that would keep viewers tuned in for the week. DNA had been culled from blood samples The local university proved helpful, providing in the past and put to use by outside large-scale, three-dimensional models of dif- agencies. ferent DNA structures and strands for our The summer of 1997 brought searchers photographer. into the Flint/Saginaw area, looking for While the state allowed us access to the an 11-year-old girl. Detectives suspected laboratory where blood samples are analyzed, a neighbor had abducted and murdered officials remain close-mouthed about the loca- Andre Bosse. Her body was never found, Dr. David Johnson oversees a team of technicians at the tion of the storage facility, raising even more but a blood sample was. DNA from the Department of Community Health that tests around 130,000 questions about the conditions and security Michigan newborns every year for seven diseases. Newborn droplets, collected and warehoused when blood screening is often the only indication a child is sick before under which screening cards are kept. she was a newborn, connected the missing symptoms develop.

14 THE IRE JOURNAL FEATURES Media Conference SEX OFFENDERS By Mark Douglas The impact of this CAR project was inten- VIOLATE LAW; sified by the power of media convergence in the Tampa Bay area. WFLA, The Tampa Tribune, and TBO.com are independently CAR, TAPE MEASURE run media organizations sharing a common owner, Media General, Inc. For the past two PROVE IT years, these organizations have cooperated BY MARK DOUGLAS in the Tampa Bay area on various special WFLA-TV, CLEARWATER, FLA. projects and in daily news coverage. The y eyes were bleary from scanning to our project: a list of all public school addresses sex offender project is an example of one of countless volumes of purple-jack- from the Pinellas County School Board; and a list those joint ventures. eted (sanitized) court files the day of addresses for all licensed day care centers from The television stories on this topic pro- M I found the emotional core of my the Pinellas Juvenile Welfare Board. vided visual impact and emotional depth story. She came to life in a few obscure lines of Further, we imported all the data into Microsoft to the CAR findings. The Tribune afforded testimony hidden away inside a dusty deposition. Access and mapped the locations of offenders, more space for details and perspective The timid and embarrassed voice of the schools and day care centers, with MapInfo’s (including a subsequent editorial), and emotionally handicapped 11-year-old girl seemed Geographical Informational System (GIS) soft- TBO.com provided interactive ability for to leap off the page. “He threatened me,” she ware. The data transfer was virtually automatic. recalled in her sworn statement, “and told me if We narrowed our list of offenders by: news consumers to scan their neighbor- I told anybody, he would hurt me real bad… and 1) Choosing only sex offenders in Pinellas hoods and determine the relative proximity bury me alive in his backyard.” County. of child molesters to their own kids’ schools The man who repeatedly molested the girl, 2) Selecting only child molesters, as indicated and day care centers. and threatened to bury her alive, was the girl’s by a database code. The picked up the story grandfather. He faced the prospect of life in prison. 3) Deleting offenses prior to Oct. 1, 1995, when for statewide circulation on its newswire, After a plea bargain, he ended up with probation. Florida’s “1,000-foot rule” took effect. adding even more media saturation. The judge ordered him not to live within 1,000 4) Selecting only molesters currently on proba- Here are some tips for those working on feet of places where children regularly gather in tion. similar stories: accordance with Florida law. • Ask for databases in user-friendly formats. But he did. Our computer-assisted reporting That filtering process identified about 300 project found he was one of many convicted offenders out of thousands in FDLE’S original • Always ask for a key to the database. molesters violating the “1,000-foot rule.” Some database. WFLA database editor Rocky Glisson • Try adding parks, school bus stops and of them had been violating it for years. The then plotted the offenders’ home addresses with playgrounds to your GIS list. restriction was a farce. MapInfo, and added the location of schools and • Look for clusters of offenders as a key to At first glance, WFLA’s findings were astonish- day cares. stories about particular neighborhoods. ing, the kind that IRE and NICAR instructors warn By drawing a calibrated radius around each • Research other probation restrictions for reporters to distrust. So we verified our results offender Glisson discovered that more than a discrepancies. with several methods and ultimately pinpointed third of the 300 offenders appeared to violate • See whether local law enforcement has more than 100 molesters violating the so-called the 1,000-foot rule. the tools to spot the same problems and if “1,000-foot rule.” Then we trimmed our “hot list” of 100 offend- ers to a few dozen who each appeared to live they’re using them. Predator database within 1,000 feet of several schools or day care • Look for patterns among sex offenders In July 2000, we requested the database upon centers. We used this narrowly defined group to who’ve violated probation. which the Florida Department of Law Enforce- find subjects for our narrative. • Use CAR techniques to find the story. Find ment (FDLE) bases its online sex offender direc- After extensively reviewing their court files people to tell it. tory (www.fdle.state.fl.us/sexual_predators). we noticed a pattern. Just about everyone who • Keep your findings handy; they can add This FDLE Web page allows anyone with administers justice to Florida’s convicted child perspective in related crime stories. Internet access to search for registered sex offend- molesters seemed to have a hand in the problem: ers by name, address, crime, ZIP code, etc. For judges, prosecutors, probation officers and even “Mapping Molesters,” a detailed look at the our purposes, we needed access to the underlying the court clerks. It was time to start knocking CAR techniques used in this story, appeared data. After some initial resistance, FDLE e-mailed on doors. in the September-October issue of Uplink. the database to us in its entirety. We went into the neighborhoods identified

We also acquired two other databases critical CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 ×

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 15 FEATURES

The data contained information on both BACKLOGGED closed and open cases, including the date the case was opened, date closed, name of the teacher, the nature of the allegation and how it AGENCY had been resolved. A preliminary look at the data confirmed what the agency officials had said. Some cases Child molesters remain had languished as long as 11 years before certified Texas teachers for years being resolved, and others had been pending for years. BY DIANNA HUNT The preliminary look also revealed a problem THE FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM with the data. Although many of the fields were coded, no code-translation table had been t started with a high-profile football coach tor Certification in Austin, acknowledged it was included. In a series of phone calls to the agency, and allegations of sexual assault. investigating the coach’s teaching credentials. But it became clear that there was no uniform coding The story made headlines for weeks beleaguered investigators also acknowledged that system; the input clerks filled in the records as Iin the Fort Worth area, as a local school their workload was so high they had a backlog of they saw fit, and the codes changed when the district investigated the allegations against a cases that could take years to resolve. clerks changed. The agency was able to provide popular high school coach. The coach eventually At that point, Frazier linked up with the a general summary of what the various codes resigned from the district after officials agreed Star-Telegram’s enterprise team to dig deeper meant, but it was by no means comprehensive. to pay him $100,000 and drop the investigation. into the story. I ultimately ended up standardizing the coding He was never charged with assaulting a female Before the year was out, the coach had moved system myself. coach, but was charged a few months later with on to work for another school district that was Using Access, I then looked not just at how harassing another co-worker and her boyfriend. unaware of the allegations against him. And a long the cases took to resolve, but what kinds It wasn’t until Star-Telegram education six-month investigation by the Star-Telegram of allegations were pending against teachers reporter Matt Frazier called the state teacher had found that convicted child molesters, rapists, and who those teachers were. The closed cases licensing board, however, that the bigger story drug users and thieves – in addition to the coach were separated from the open ones, and separate began to emerge. – had remained certified as Texas teachers, analyses were done on each set. The agency, the Texas State Board for Educa- sometimes for years, while their credentials were On the closed cases, the analyses included under investigation. looks at how long the agency took to close cases on average, what percent of cases resulted in Cases languish punitive action against the teacher, what percent The story was a new wrinkle on the standard of teachers were cleared of wrongdoing and what teacher-as-felon story. In this case, state and types of allegations were involved. school officials knew the teachers had problems On the open cases, the analysis was aimed at – even convictions – but could not act quickly finding how many teachers under investigation enough to keep them away from children. were convicted criminals and how many were Such information should be available rou- still teaching. Because the SBEC data did not tinely in other states, if you know where to include birth dates or other identifiers except look. In Texas, the information was stored at a name, three other databases were needed to relatively obscure government agency, and no make a link. These were a statewide roster one had ever asked for the data. of teachers working the previous year, which The records were fairly easy to get. State included a year of birth but not a full birth date; a officials were eager to comply with the Star- statewide database of criminal records, which the Telegram’s request for information because they newspaper already had obtained; and a smaller had been trying unsuccessfully to win additional database of registered sex offenders, also already funding from the Texas Legislature. They felt obtained by the Star-Telegram. The investigation that a story detailing the problems might help was hampered by the lack of a current roster of their case. school employees statewide. An Excel spreadsheet was e-mailed by the agency to the newspaper, at no cost. It Bad apples slip by contained 9,130 records and 28 fields, or about Once the data was analyzed, more traditional 1.6 megabytes of information on all cases reporting methods were used for the most handled by the agency since it took over teacher egregious criminals – sex offenders, child licensing in 1995. The spreadsheet was moved molesters, rapists and drug dealers. into an Access table for analysis. Although the state files on pending cases were

16 THE IRE JOURNAL FEATURES closed to us, we were able to obtain information on many open cases by turning to local school Sex offenders FROM THE RESOURCE CENTER districts for their records and to a separate state CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 Other stories on sex offenders are available agency that handled administrative hearings by MapInfo to conduct interviews and verify our from the IRE Resource Center (www.ire.org/ for those cases in which punitive action was findings. We borrowed a handheld measuring resourcecenter). recommended. wheel from WFLA’s maintenance department Armed with a list of registered sex offenders and paced off the distance separating schools They include: whose names matched those of teachers accused and daycares from the offenders. • Story No. 13807. WKRN-TV (Nashville) docu- of misconduct, I called district attorneys across The odd sight of a guy dressed in suit and ments that twice as many criminals are the state to confirm that their convicts were the tie rolling an orange wheel down residential same teachers now under investigation. Many sidewalks drew curious stares, but few questions moving into Tennessee on probation or prosecutors were shocked to learn the criminals from neighbors. parole than leaving. It’s all because of a they convicted were still licensed teachers. The measuring wheel later became a good corrections agreement among the states, Eventually, we were able to document that storytelling tool for television news, but it was know as the Interstate Compact. the backlog at the state agency had allowed more than a visual gimmick. It added credibility • Story No. 12570. The Dayton (Ohio) Daily teachers with serious criminal convictions to to our CAR findings, and generated approving News investigates how the U.S. military move to other districts or to move out of state smiles from the station attorneys who vetted allows hundreds of accused sex offenders and continue teaching. Several, we found, our stories. to escape criminal prosecution or go free molested other children before the state could We also profiled the Pinellas Sheriff’s Office despite convictions, and how the sexual stop them. experimental “Enforcer” system for mapping charges or convictions never reach the FBI. Agency officials did not flinch at the findings. sex offenders and talked the deputies who ran the “Do bad apples slip through? Sure,’’ said the software into mapping some of our “hypotheti- • Story No. 17597. WBFF-TV (Baltimore) uncov- agency’s head of investigations. “We’ve got to cal” targets on it as an added verification. ers several loopholes in Maryland’s sex be able to address cases on a more expeditious We visited the homes of childcare workers, offender laws that make it more difficult for basis.” parents, and molesters. Later, we called on citizens to access the information. As is often the case in Texas, state lawmak- judges, prosecutors and probation officials. APBnews.com has a collection of all known ers were not deeply moved by the agency’s Many of the questionable cases we brought online sex offender registries published plight, nor apparently, its impact on children. to their attention – some of which had been “It’s a problem all over,’’ said a state senator. dormant for years – suddenly began landing by state, regional or local law enforcement “We’ve got 30 or 40 agencies in Texas that back in court for judicial review. agencies. To find more information, go oversee various professions, from architects to www.apbnews.com/resourcecenter/ to podiatrists, and virtually every one of them Strange encounters sexoffender. says they don’t have enough staff to investigate Along the way we had some interesting or prosecute.’’ encounters. The offender who threatened to bury reports, published a front-page story in The The stories ran over two days, with the main the girl in his back yard was pulling out of his Tampa Tribune, and posted an interactive map analysis running on a Sunday. On Monday, the driveway the day we came “rolling up” with on TBO.com (http://reports.tbo.com/reports/ package featured a local assistant middle-school our measuring stick. He complained about the nov2000/offenders/). The combined effect of the principal who preyed on female students and difficulty of finding a home 1,000 feet away news coverage prompted Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was ultimately convicted of indecency with from kids and suggested neighborhood parents to ask Florida’s chief justice to initiate statewide a child. keep their kids inside. The neighbors didn’t buy reforms. Pinellas County’s chief circuit judge As a result of our stories, the state Legislature his solution and neither did a judge who later instigated her own list of judicial changes that passed a bill requiring anyone with a professional gave him seven days to move. she credited directly to our findings. license to notify the state police agency if they In another instance, news photographer Ultimately, it wasn’t our CAR findings, upset are required to register as a sex offender. The Eric Hulsizer was videotaping pre-teen school neighbors and parents, or all the befuddled state police would then notify the professional kids walking past the apartment of a convicted bureaucrats that made the story memorable. licensing agency that one of their own has been molester when three girls knocked on the It was the muted voice of an 11-year-old rape a registered sex offender. offender’s front door. They giggled, waved at the victim, buried in court file s, begging authorities The state agency, meanwhile, is back before camera and later told us they often stopped there not to let the man who molested her harm other the Texas Legislature seeking additional funding for a ride home or to hang out after school. kids. Florida’s justice system failed her. It failed to pay for more investigators. It remains to be One of our targets was a molester living a lot of kids. seen whether they will get it. within 1,000 feet of two schools and nine day care centers. Pinellas County’s chief judge Mark Douglas is a reporter for Tampa’s WFLA-TV Dianna Hunt is a senior reporter for enterprise later admitted to us she’d botched his case by who has won a number of journalism awards and investigations at the Fort Worth Star-Tele- for criminal justice investigations using CAR signing a flawed court order without bothering gram, and is currently on extended temporary techniques. He also writes for The Tampa Tribune as assignment as assistant government editor. She to read it. part of a media convergence initiative in Tampa. also serves on IRE’s Conference Committee. In late 2000, we broadcast our first TV

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 17 C O V E R S T O R Y Robert Mecea Newsday Mecea Robert

Hustling to provide context, history and new information, teams of reporters around the world hit the pavement, the Internet, data- bases and dogged every source available to report one of the biggest stories ever to hit the U.S.

BEYOND GROUND ZERO Reporters use investigative know-how to move past the initial mad scramble

By Anita Bruzzese The IRE Journal nowing that cab drivers like to “gab a lot” helped nab a vital piece of detail for ’s comprehensive piece on the hijackers who plotted and planned the devastating World Trade Center attack. Reporter Neal E. Boudette, working from a brief mention he had seen in a Hamburg newspaper about a six-hour taxi ride taken by three Middle Eastern men in Germany, called a cab company and said he was trying “to track down the driver who supposedly drove terrorists to Hamburg.” “The guy there had heard about it,” Boudette says. “He didn’t know the name of the driver but did know the name and number of the cab company involved. The cab company owner confirmed that yes, it happened and gave me the mobile number of the cab driver. I got him to retell the story.” At the same time, reporter Tom Hamburger was assigned the job of tracking the terrorists’ movements in Washington, D.C. Using a timeline that recorded all the reported sightings of the hijackers at various locations, and footnoting the sources, Hamburger began to see that the most helpful sources were members of the local Muslim community and local law enforcement. “The FBI was nearly impossible to crack,” Hamburger says. “The best reporting for the final story occurred – as always – when we pounded the pavement, talked with neighbors, hotel operators, got eyewitness accounts and looked ourselves at the places they stayed.” The Wall Street Journal’s Oct. 16 story pieced together a step-by- step look at hijackers actions months, weeks and days before the airliners plunged into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field. A team of reporters in the , Europe and the U.S. looked at how the plot unfolded, from the first time one of the terrorists set foot on American soil more than a decade ago, to the minute the first plane crashed into CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 A firefighter screams in pain during his rescue shortly after both towers of New York’s World Trade Center collapsed. 18 THE IRE JOURNAL C O V E R S T O R Y AVIATION DATA CAR critical in wake of airport breaches By Jeff Porter The IRE Journal ust two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey reported that security workers for airlines at Newark International Airport – one of the airports where the hijackers boarded a plane – failed to properly screen passengers and luggage more than a dozen times over a five-year period. Investigations editor Paul D’Ambrosio and reporters were able to jump on the story quickly because they used the Federal Aviation Administration enforcement database. “It helped us show readers the holes in the security net of Newark airport,” D’Ambrosio said. Using the same FAA database, Charlotte, N.C., television station NBC6 pinpointed lapses in the city’s airport: Security personnel failed to detect handguns eight times; missed a person or vehicle accessing the runway three times; passed by a phony dynamite bomb; and didn’t find a real pipe bomb. “The FAA data, carefully used, allowed us to provide some facts, not just perceptions, about the state of airline security at our airport,” said reporter Stuart Watson. For the Seattle Times, too, the data enriched the story. “We were amazed ourselves by some of the details,” said David Heath, a co-author of a story published five days after the attacks. “A dynamite bomb slips through just four days after a hand grenade escapes notice.” Those facts became the lead of the story. The FAA Enforcement Information System database is a complicated compilation of regulation violations across the United States, including security lapses. It includes four tables of information. The “main” table contains most of it, including the dates, often the violator’s name and the location. A table called “security” lists lapses or violations, often with cryptic descriptions. Table “far4” cites the specific federal regulation violated, while a table called “actions” lists the outcome of cases, from warning letters to “proposed civil penalties” in dollars. A jump start With the crushing deadlines after the attacks, the data was a big advantage for reporters. “It was a quick hit. I make no pretense that it was some huge, in-depth investigation. But the FAA data gave a lot more depth and weight to the reporting and beat the hell out of one more person-on-the-concourse interview or an airport official talking head,” said Watson, who also serves as an IRE Board member. The data brought about a story on security violations at Denver International Airport just two days after the crash, according to Sandra Fish of the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colo. And while speed is important, the database also provided perspective, said Ken Ward, staff writer for the Sunday Gazette-Mail in Charleston, W.Va., a co-author of a story about the city’s Yeager Airport. “We were able to give our readers something no other media in West Virginia had given them – a report that Yeager was not as safe as many similarly sized airports around the country.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found a story that would have been impossible without the data. “We couldn’t have reported about the security lapses at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee or at other airports without it,” reporter Mike Johnson said. “Not only were we able to report how federal undercover agents slipped test weapons past security screeners that are employed under contract by the airlines, we reported that the information about security lapses apparently wasn’t shared with Mitchell’s airport director or with the county sheriff. The sheriff’s department provides security at the airport, and information contained in the FAA database should be reported to that agency.” The FAA enforcement database wasn’t the only potential data resource that reporters found useful. Others included: A firefighter screams in pain during his rescue shortly after both towers of New York’s World Trade Center collapsed. CONTINUED ON PAGE 22 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 19 C O V E R S T O R Y

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22 Wendi Fitzgerald St. Louis Post-Dispatch Louis St. Fitzgerald Wendi

National Guardsmen on their new assignment: patrolling Lambert Field in St. Louis.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18 impact of the tragedy. Also revealed: Terrorists took the lives of the WTC north tower. With Robert Fresco and Jo Craven McGinty, people from more than 770 cities and towns, In-depth interviews with those who knew – staff writer Richard J. Dalton Jr. reports in a and more than a third of the victims were in or at least were acquainted with – the hijackers recent issue of Uplink that reporters gathered their 30s. showed personalities portrayed as anywhere names of victims from many different sources, Hustling to provide context, history and new from “a creep” to “very meek” to “the friendliest including Web sites of companies that lost information, teams of reporters around the world guy.” workers; press releases; relatives; airlines; the hit the pavement, the Internet, databases and Tracking their family lives, friends, religious medical examiner’s office; wire services; death dogged every source available to report one of experiences, schooling and interaction with other notices; the police and the New York State the biggest stories ever to hit the U.S. conspirators, the story looked at how normal life Supreme Court. events – such as a lost love – led each man down Analyzing the database in Microsoft Access, Digging begins the path of destruction and fanatic religious Newsday’s team wrote a story revealing that For example, Time magazine looked at devotion. Also included: how the events may victims came from at least 41 states and the hijacker Mohamed Atta’s life, the man considered have been avoided at different junctures along District of Columbia. Using ArcView, the team a linchpin for the terrorists, “the center of gravity, the way, including a traffic stop in Florida for created a map of the U.S., highlighting how the dour and meticulous ringleader.” one hijacker. many victims came from each state. Another The Oct. 8 issue published compelling map showed the metro area, with various-sized interviews with friends of this 33-year-old Identifying victims dots indicating how many victims perished from Egyptian, who conveyed shock and disbelief Looking at the personal destruction wrought each community. that he could be involved, let alone a leader by the attackers, Newsday reported on the of this group. painstaking process of identifying victims at the “To fly a plane! What a joke! Mohamed could World Trade Center. On Oct. 21, the newspaper hardly ride a bike,” recalled one friend. But published a statistical glimpse of the enormous another remembered Atta as a man “searching

20 THE IRE JOURNAL C O V E R S T O R Y for justice.” On Sept. 24, they gave readers a portrait of dangerous radioactive sources are abandoned, Still another story detailed the record of an organization capable of relentless, selfless lost or stolen worldwide each year. missed opportunities to get Osama bin Laden. efficiency, while at the same time, being a group Specifically, the database – a repository for The Washington Post on Oct. 3 included informa- prone to petty feuds and embezzlement. reports of incidents involving radioactive tools, tion on the CIA-trained Pakistani commandos “We had not covered this trial originally, but substances and machines regulated by the NRC who were disbanded before they got a chance to we knew that even the best court reporters can’t – found that since 1986, 1,704 radioactive root out the former Saudi militant, and a failed fit everything into their daily coverage,” Braun sources potent enough to trigger the NRC’s clandestine operation during the Clinton years says. “We were looking for a way to paint a “immediate report” requirement were lost or to capture or kill bin Laden. portrait of Al Qaeda. The first main witness was stolen in this country. Sixty percent of them Reporters Bob Woodward and Thomas E. really instructive.” have not been found. Ricks dug into the quality of intelligence on bin Braun, based in Washington, D.C., says he The story looked at how illicit trafficking of Laden over the last several years, and how U.S. finds that stories that normally would have taken this equipment in places like Thailand, Brazil and officials weighed the risk of getting the Al Qaeda weeks to put together are now being done in a Turkey have resulted in people being exposed leader without jeopardizing American lives. “matter of days.” to radiation, and becoming sick – or even dying “These days, all this stuff is on the fly,” he – from severe radiation poisoning. Exposure in Intelligence data says. “It’s remarkable to watch the coverage the U.S. by terrorists using radioactive materials In the five years since the creation of the Alien area change from week to week. You’re forced would be difficult, but not impossible, experts Terrorist Removal Court, which is supposed to to be an expert on a different subject every told reporter Jack Dolan. kick terrorists out of the U.S., not one terrorist day. The bylines are bouncing around like a “We’d asked for a copy of the Nuclear Events has been deported, reported U.S. News & World whirling dervish.” Materials Database earlier this summer, and Report on Oct. 8. didn’t find it particularly useful for our original Created after the World Trade Center was Local sources purposes,” Dolan says. “But after Sept. 11, we bombed in 1993, the special federal court has Also delving into records already on hand to took a second look.” never even heard a case, a probe by reporters find new information wasThe Hartford Courant He says that the biggest problem in investigat- Edward T. Pound, Chitra Ragavan and Kit R. on Oct. 21. Using an analysis of the Nuclear ing the story was getting information from the Roane found. Regulatory Commission’s Nuclear Materials NRC, “which sank into ‘no comment’ mode after Despite Congress authorizing billions of Events Database, it was shown that hundreds Sept. 11, fearing that any information could be dollars for new counterterrorism equipment and of industrial and medical tools containing CONTINUED ON PAGE 23 × law enforcement and intelligence personnel, an analysis showed that investigators didn’t want to use the court because law requires that sensitive information be disclosed, including intelligence sources. Critics claim that this inability to bring terrorists before the court shows a “glaring example of [the government’s] inability to use its Newsday Gaines Julia vast counterterrorism resources effectively.” This story looked at the ramifications of a country with the most sophisticated intelligence capabilities in the world being unable to uncover attacks on the scope of the WTC and Pentagon, and how officials are scrambling to improve. At the same time, transcripts from a 76-day trial of four Al Qaeda members charged with the suicide bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania turned into a font of insider information after the terrorist attacks in the U.S. reporters Mark Fineman and Stephen Braun found themselves not only locked out of government buildings soon after the attack in New York, but also unable to contact officials because of downed phone lines. Told by another reporter of www.cryptome .com, which houses court transcripts, Fineman and Braun divided up the seemingly endless Firefighters leave the Church of Saint Mel’s in Flushing, N.Y., after the funeral service for former First Deputy Fire transcript and delved into the world of Al Qaeda. Commissioner William M. Feehan, who was killed in the World Trade Center collapse.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 21 C O V E R S T O R Y

for journalists, too. Among them, don’t wait for tragedies to review databases.” The FAA began reviewing its database too, after reporters began asking questions and publishing stories about lax security in ’s airport. Its response: Refusing to answer questions about the data and removing the raw text files from a public server, with this ominous message: “The Enforcement

Robert Cohen St. Louis Post-Dispatch Louis St. Cohen Robert Information System (EIS) is not available at this time due in part to security considerations (14 CFR 191).” The federal regulation cited is fairly general, concerning “protection of sensitive security information.” “One interesting note is than an FAA spokesman denied the existence of the database when we were seeking comment about what it showed,” Johnson said. In a fax message to another reporter, on FAA letterhead, an agency spokesman Airport police officer Herman Burnett and his explosive detection dog, Kony, work at a screening station near suggested the database was “a new urban the ticket counter at Lambert Field in St. Louis. legend.” CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 IRE SUPPLIES FAA DATA • FAA’s airmen directory. A listing of most Generating questions pilots certified by the U.S. government aided Despite such obstacles, the enforcement Within three weeks of the terrorist reporters in finding basic information about and other databases are rich with starting attacks, 119 news organizations obtained some of the hijackers. points but not a reporter’s final answer. the Federal Aviation Administration’s • Federal contracts database. The Dallas Busi- That’s how Phil Williams, an investigative Enforcement Information System data- ness Journal used it to report on the “568 reporter for WTVF in Nashville, looks at base from IRE and its National Institute North Texas companies that did business with the data. for Computer-Assisted Reporting. the military last year … .Now, some of those “It gave us a snapshot of what happened companies are preparing for their Pentagon at our airport. Because of all the unanswered The database library received hun- contracts to grow as war looms….” questions, the image that emerges doesn’t dreds of telephone calls about the data- • Federal Election Commission data. While have a lot of depth. But it’s a snapshot that we base it began obtaining in 1997. For airlines are seeking a federal bailout, report- wouldn’t have had without the data.” years, the agency sent the data via CDs, ers are considering stories about linking that Beth Marchak of The (Cleveland) Plain emblazoned with the FAA logo, to the industry to campaign contributions. (See Bob Dealer, in a tipsheet she prepared for journal- NICAR data library. Since last year, NICAR Keefe’s report in this Journal.) ists reporting on aviation, states it simply has downloaded the data from an FAA In other words, serious media organizations about databases: “They really don’t have discovered after the worst terrorism attack on public server. everything.” U.S. soil that computer-assisted reporting is a It’s not a surprise to experienced computer- The November-December and Janu- necessity, not a luxury. assisted reporting users like Marchak that ary-February editions of the NICAR news- Does the FAA enforcement database prove every database has its flaws, that no database letter Uplink offer more details about conclusively that airport security should have was ever designed to be all-seeing and all- the data itself. IRE members can revisit prevented the attacks? No. Does the database knowing. Indeed, CAR is designed to generate detailed data discussions in the archives provide potential starting points for reporters intelligent questions, not canned answers. of the NICAR-L e-mail mailing list at covering the security status of American air Even with their shortcomings, databases www.ire.org/membership/listserv.html travel? Absolutely. can become valuable tipsheets for editors “As far as readers, these stories helped and reporters, a method to find places to go or find a list of recent stories using FAA or hammer home how fragile the nation’s airport and people to see, a tool to give reporters other databases at www.ire.org/store/ security systems remain even after the Sept. perspective of what’s happening in their own books/aviation/story.html. 11 attacks,” Johnson said. “There are lessons communities and beyond. To review the list of databases avail- able through NICAR, visit the Web page Jeff Porter is the database administrator for IRE at www.ire.org/datalibrary/. and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.

22 THE IRE JOURNAL C O V E R S T O R Y

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 FOI REPORT too much information in the wrong hands.” Still, Dolan was able to find state radiation Press needs to challenge new safety experts and former NRC officials “who were willing to help us figure out which missing sources actually could be used to harm people, concentration of power and which were so weak they would be of no use to terrorists.” tter the word “unilateralism,” and eyes abouts of aircraft car- Dolan says he has learned from probing the roll. It’s a big word, a policy wonk word, riers, Army chemical terrorist story that “the lesson is not to assume U a word guaranteed to stultify readers. weapons stockpiles and that local law enforcement is completely in the It’s a word that freedom of information nuclear power plants. CHARLES DAVIS dark about a national investigation” and local advocates had better become familiar with, Government maps of officials and lawyers can have top-notch contacts quickly, because our federal government – and the nation’s gas and oil pipelines have been in federal law enforcement. soon enough, our state and local governments – removed. So have data on the types of chemicals “Don’t assume that if it’s a good story, the are embracing the newly rediscovered efficiencies used in American communities – unilaterally, national media will get it first,” Dolan says. “They of unilateral governance. with no legal standards being applied, no do a great job of covering the breaking news, but Unchecked by fear of another superpower debate, no principle at play other than unbridled that doesn’t mean someone watching carefully and, at least for now, unchecked by our tradition- power. from the wings can’t cherry pick good stories ally outspoken press and civil society, the • Finally, let’s not forget the more than 1,400 that the big guys, in their rush to get the breaking Bush administration marches on. Debate about people currently being detained by the Justice stuff, overlook.” the purposes or methods of the war against Department, many since Sept. 11. The Justice Also grabbing for the local impact was Min- terrorism has been cowed into virtual silence Department already has denied access to any neapolis Star Tribune reporter Bob Von Sternberg, in the mainstream. The result, according to information about those individuals under who was flying from Minneapolis to Grand Forks, London’s Guardian, is a sweeping “ruthlessness” FOIA. One media institution – The Nation – N.D., on a reporting assignment nearly two weeks manifesting itself in a startling concentration of joined a request by more than 40 FOI, privacy after the Sept. 11 attacks. He says he was “frankly power in the executive branch. and civil liberties groups for the information. startled” when he was whisked through security, Let’s take the past month alone, and count the No one – not even Congress – has been able to “without even the most cursory examination of moves that the administration has made without find out how many are still detained and what, my luggage, laptop or cell phone.” consulting anyone other than the inner circle: if any, charges have been filed. He says that security at the small regional • A presidential order to allow trials by military • President Bush also signed an executive order airport in Grand Forks was “rigorous and com- tribunals for noncitizens accused of terrorism. eviscerating the Presidential Records Act, an plete,” much more so than at the larger Twin • A suspension of the right of detainees to have overwhelmingly bipartisan post-Watergate Cities airport. private conversations with attorneys, if the creation opening up the records of past admin- When he returned to the newsroom and related attorney general deems they might pose a threat istrations. his experiences, editors sent him and another to the public. reporter, Deborah Caulfield Ryback to check • A Justice Department plan to interview 5,000 Warped balance on airport security, having them pass through young men who have entered the United States What emerges from the laundry list is an checkpoints a dozen times. They carried cell from specified nations since 2000. I don’t have unprecedented expansion of the exercise of phones, computers and cameras, along with a steel to tell you that no one will know who, when, executive branch authority with diminished pica pole, metal spoon handle and toiletry scissors. where and for what reason these young men opportunity for independent oversight, and little In addition, they had items that could contain were “voluntarily” questioned, do I? or no provision for accountability. The key seems dangerous substances, such as film canisters, and • The Pentagon has told defense contractors not to be speed, mixed with a bit of gravitas: new toiletry containers. to talk publicly about military business and policies are unilaterally adopted almost daily, “Our marching orders were that in no cases prohibited Defense Department acquisition giving those of us in the position of debating were we to carry anything illegal or any items officials from speaking with the press. ``Even them little or no chance to attract the scrutiny of that had been specifically banned by the airlines innocuous industrial information can reveal Congress before the next outrage is perpetrated. or FAA. We were to act like legitimate travelers much ... to the trained intelligence collector,’’ a By doing so, and by labeling each unilateral and held valid boarding passes from Northwest Pentagon memo to contractors said. move a blow for motherhood and apple pie Airlines,” von Sternberg says. • The White House, angry over insignificant leaks and any critic of it a traitor, this presidency is “Editors took pains to be sure the language of to the media, first shrunk the pool of lawmakers warping the institutional checks and balances the story was as neutral as possible and descriptive privy to classified briefings, but backed down that took the nation decades to create. Because as possible, rather than accusatory,” von Sternberg after Congress cried foul. it seems easier, because it is more efficient, says of the story published Sept. 28. • Government Web sites have been cleansed this administration is turning its cumulative of sensitive military information on the where- Anita Bruzzese, managing editor of The IRE Journal, CONTINUED ON PAGE 25 × is a syndicated columnist and author on workplace Charles Davis is executive director of the Freedom of Information Center, an assistant professor at the issues. Missouri School of Journalism and a member of IRE’s First Amendment Committee.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 23 C O V E R S T O R Y

monitor their government.” present an unwarranted risk of adverse impact Much of the information federal on the ability of other agencies to protect other ACCESS VS. SECURITY agencies handle is covered by the important records.” Removal of records Freedom of Information Act, a federal The memo “sends a chilling message to the puts openess at risk law enacted in 1966 requiring govern- entire federal bureaucracy that they better think ment agencies to disclose records. long and hard before they fulfill an FOIA request Since then the law has been amended or they will be in trouble,” Davis says. “If they want By Jennifer LaFleur to encourage, but not require, agen- to deny it, the Justice Department is right behind St. Louis Post-Dispatch cies to make commonly requested them. In addition, it gives very little credit to the s the federal government closes in on information available on their Web sites. Many positive values of freedom of information.” terrorists, many agencies also are closing responded to that call, but some are now beginning the door on public records. to rethink what they put online. Among them: needs Since the attacks of Sept. 11 several federal • The Bureau of Transportation Statistics has “I think that all of the government has been agencies have removed public records and docu- discontinued public access to the National heightened to the fact that we’re shooting ourselves ments from their Web sites because of security Transportation Atlas Databases and the North in the foot by putting certain types of information concerns. In addition, some states have proposed American Transportation Atlas. Environmental out,” says Doris Lama, head of the Navy’s office rules that may limit access to public records. groups have used information from those sites to of privacy and freedom of information. “If it That, in turn, has created anxiety among assess the impact of transportation proposals. creates change, it’s wonderful. But if it increases organizations that regularly use those public • The U.S. Geological Survey has removed several vulnerabilities, that may not be the best way records. reports relating to water quality. to go.” “Public citizens should be most concerned • The Office of Pipeline Safety has removed access Security also was a concern for the FAA. about this,” says Charles Davis, executive director to the pipeline mapping system, making the The agency removed a file of enforcement of the Freedom of Information Center, based at information available only to pipeline operators records on Sept. 14 at the request of the agency’s the University of Missouri School of Journalism. and government officials. general counsel, according to Paul Turk, FAA “Citizens are in the least powerful position. • The Federal Aviation Administration has removed spokesman. Government has an unbelievable ability to monitor a link to enforcement data that includes security “The reasons simply have to do with security, citizens. Citizens should have equal power to violations at the nation’s airports. (See Jeff Turk says. “I can’t go into specifics.” Porter’s report in this Journal for the kinds of But Turk notes that limited access to enforce- stories done using this information in the weeks ment information is still available on the Web following the terrorist hijackings.) site; it just lacks some of the details that were • The Environmental Protection Agency has in the database. removed risk management plan records for Those with concerns about access to govern- chemical plants and other facilities that store ment information don’t discount the terrorist and use chemicals. threat. • The state of New Jersey has removed chemical But that view needs to be balanced against the information from its Web site. public’s right to know, says Gary Bass, executive In each case, the agencies cited the need to director of OMB Watch, a nonprofit organization take precautions in the face of the terrorist threat. concerned with freedom of information issues. But it appears they are acting on their own. The “We live in an open society. Everything we put White House says it has issued no request for out carries a risk. Are we not going to announce agencies to remove materials from their sites. where the next football game is?” Bass says. But they have done it with the backing of U.S. “The flip of that is we end up living in a closed Attorney General John Ashcroft. system.” On Oct. 12, Ashcroft issued a memorandum to OMB Watch has come under criticism itself the heads of all departments and agencies in which recently for continuing to make risk management he told agencies to carefully consider “disclosure plan data available. Bass says such information is determinations” under the FOIA. necessary for citizens and communities to know The memo also states: “When you carefully their risks. “They could identify the names of these consider FOIA requests and decide to withhold chemical companies, but if you go to the yellow records in whole or in part, you can be assured pages you can do the same thing,” he says. that the Department of Justice will defend your “If you have a daycare center next to a chemi- decisions unless they lack a sound legal basis or cal hazard, which is worse: not knowing about the danger or fearing that terrorists know about the danger?” says Rebecca Daugherty, director, Freedom of Information Service Center of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

24 THE IRE JOURNAL C O V E R S T O R Y

“If only the government has information, then “Interestingly, they passed it by voice vote, so only the government knows about problems. we can’t even hold them accountable for the way FOI Report If the public doesn’t know what the problems they voted,” says Barbara Petersen, executive CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 are, it’s not going to fund solutions,” Daugherty director of the Florida First Amendment Founda- back on the experience on which that balance says. tion, a Tallahassee-based nonprofit organization was based. that advances the public’s constitutional right to Why is all of this important? Perhaps we No clear directive open government. should ask one of the 1,400 detainees who have For almost 14 years, Paul Orum, director Petersen says the measure is ripe for chal- been arrested and jailed as “material witnesses” of the Working Group on Community Right-to- lenge. in the Sept. 11 investigation. It seems not one of Know, has used public records to try to make “The rule change in access to their records these witnesses has yet provided any evidence chemical plants safer for citizens and to make was in direct violation of our constitution,” material enough to secure an indictment against communities aware of their risks. Petersen says. She says such changes can only be anyone for any involvement in the Sept. 11 “We have pushed for many made by general law. attacks. years for improved site security For more information: She adds that while we all Yet the government has done whatever it can to avoid releasing them, and to avoid releasing and hazard reduction at chemical OMB Watch: recognize the need to protect plants,” Orum says. “There has information such as port security any details about them. Why? Because knowing www.ombwatch.org/info been a great deal of complacency plans, exemptions already exist their fate engenders sympathy, and sympathy that has accompanied traditional /2001/access.html for those types of records. might engender criticism. secrecy in the industry. Environ- Reporters Committee “But how does closing legis- Thanks to lawyers and human rights activ- ment groups and public interest for Freedom of the Press: lative meetings protect us? How ists, (the fact that we speak of human rights groups have relied on the right www.rcfp.org does closing meetings about activists working on domestic law enforcement to know to push government and the amount of pharmaceuticals issues alone is truly newsworthy, no?) we industry to make changes as far Florida First Amendment available protect us? We have know the story of Ahmad Abou El-Kheir. as hazards.” Foundation: to stop and think about the true El-Kheir is a 28-year-old Egyptian national Bass also argues that much www.floridafaf.org effect of some of the proposals arrested days after the WTC attack. He was of the information has been and when we do, we realize suspected of knowing two of the hijackers. He Investigative Reporters removed randomly without a we should err on the side of was transported to New York and jailed as a clear directive. When he’s asked and Editors FOI site: openness,” Petersen says. material witness. agencies for the reasons behind www.ire.org/foi/ Daughtery notes that while Almost one month later a federal judge their actions, he’s gotten vague “we’ve all looked to Florida as ordered his release. He was then transferred responses. the example of the sunshine state…I certainly to a Bronx court on a three-year old warrant An e-mail response to Bass from the Depart- hope that states that have not followed Florida’s involving a minor disorderly conduct convic- ment of Transportation’s information services lead in opening records will not now follow in tion. Once that matter was resolved, he was department says: “Due to the attacks on September closing records.” transferred to the custody of the INS to face 11th, BTS and all other government agencies OMB’s Bass argues that much of these actions a charge that he had violated his visa on an have had to re-evaluate the content available have been done randomly without a clear plan. earlier visit to the United States. When he through our Web pages.” “We need to have a reasoned debate about agreed to depart the country, the INS continued Bass says he was particularly concerned about this,” Bass says. “We shouldn’t be acting precipi- to detain him for deportation, but refused to the phrase “all other government agencies” in tously to take things down. actually deport him. He remains in INS custody the message. “If there is a reasonable argument with to this day. Florida, a state that has served as a public reasonable benchmarks, I think we want to hear access model for the rest of the country, saw storm that and act accordingly. But until then, I think No excuses clouds closing in on its long-standing tradition of in an open society public right to know has to According to those closest to the situation, it sunshine in a special session that ended Nov. 1. prevail.” appears the vast majority of the detainees have Several bills came before legislators that would According to Davis, journalists need to be no access to representation by counsel, or access have closed access – in the name of security – to “much, much, much, much more vocal in com- to the federal courts to seek habeas corpus many records that have been open. Among the municating with their elected representatives and release. The media has gathered information proposed legislation was a bill that would have being citizens. We’ve always been very reticent on a small number of detainees, and media permitted law enforcement agencies to conceal about these things and we’re getting killed. coverage of their plight has helped some people arrests of individuals for seven days and delay We need to think pretty hard as a profession to win their release. access to public records if they could reveal about whether we’re going to sit back and let Yet overall, media response beyond the terrorist activity. it happen.” initial “they won’t tell us who these people are” What did pass in the Senate, however, was stories has been virtually non-existent. Huge a change in the body’s rules that would allow Jennifer LaFleur is the computer-assisted reporting stories lie behind the administration’s unilateral it to meet secretly and to keep records of those editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and serves on shift. Why aren’t we telling them? The lack of meetings secret. IRE’s First Amendment Committee. access to information is no excuse.

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Now we have that ready when they “fast-strike team,” said Vince Kueter, a researcher come in,” Williams said. at The Seattle Times. News researchers play As the public records search The Times, which has fresh experience in key role in fast-strike shifted its focus from victims to disaster coverage after last summer’s Seattle suspects, Post researchers created a earthquake, was able to draw on its unique terrorist coverage database of suspects in Lotus Notes. familiarity with commercial jetliners and technical They relied on the FAA Airmen’s issues. The proximity of Boeing headquarters has By Gina Bramucci Directory and pilot lists from Auto- developed a “special expertise in aerospace” on The IRE Journal Track, www.landings.com and Lex- The Times’ research team, Kueter said. The paper n Sept. 11, as the unimaginable unfolded isNexis, using several sources to account for was well prepared for stories about airport and on TV screens and reporters struggled for variations in data (some of these are limited to airline security, as well as the massive layoffs that words, research teams across the country moved current pilots, while others archive the names of hit the airline industry in October. to the forefront of a momentous investigation. While reporters hit the streets and their phones to cover the breaking story, news researchers joined collaborative efforts to provide background and context for one of the most demanding stories in America’s history. They scoured databases, probed the Internet and compiled data on Web pages to share with

news organizations around the country. Between Oregonian The Scattarella Kraig fast-paced searches for names of victims and firefighters, researchers scanned electronic mailing lists like IRE-L, CAR-L, Public Agenda and NewsLib – hunting for answers to offer a stunned nation. Fast-strike research On the day of the attacks, most newspapers were focused on gathering information on all of the victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Researchers built comprehensive No longer just used on special packages, news researchers, like those at The Oregonian, have become a vital part databases, opening the door for reporters to of day-to-day coverage since the terrorist attacks. Clockwise from top left: Kathleen Blythe, news researcher; contact families and write the stories of individual Lovelle Svart, news researcher; Rich Read, senior reporter; Lynne Palombo, news researcher; Brent Walth, senior reporter, and Kim Christiansen, investigative editor. HELPFUL SOURCES victims and heroes. At The Washington Post, pilots no longer licensed). Locating data on the Part of the team Researchers in IRE’s research director Margot Resource Center have planes used by the hijackers proved to be more Researchers around the nation made break- compiled stories, Web Williams and her staff used of a challenge. throughs, small and large, on Sept. 11. Gail links, tipsheets and AutoTrack to find the names FAA Web sites were largely unavailable Hulden, research director for The Oregonian, data for journalists and families of those missing immediately following the attacks, and only a says that earlier in the year, researchers had working the various in the Pentagon. In addition, fortunate few made it to the flight-tracking site moved from the relative isolation and quiet of angles of the terrorism they drew from online ver- www.trip.com before it was disabled for safety the library to the newsroom floor. Initially it was story. The information can be found at sions of local papers around reasons. After digging for alternative sources and a jarring transition, but on Sept. 11 the move www.ire.org. the country to find clues consulting colleagues, researchers discovered that proved invaluable. about family connections. private companies often could provide the flight- “It was like, bang, you’re a part of it, you’re “The fact that all of the newspapers are up tracking information they needed (FlightExplorer in the middle of everything going on,” Hulden on the Web has made a huge difference in this and Flytecomm.com were especially helpful). said. “Our location was directly on the beaten case,” Williams said. They also were able to gather information on path… [you] might just as well grab a researcher In the days following the attacks, Post research- planes from insurance companies connected with as you go by.” ers pulled stories concerning the probe from the the airlines. Barbara Maxwell, the library director at USA Web and set up an internal distribution list. They One of the lessons learned in the attack Today, was deep into research about the World included small U.S. papers, as well as papers coverage was how necessary it is to move as a Trade Center when her own office shook. The from other parts of the world. USA Today building, about one mile from the “[Reporters and editors] are lining up to be Defense Department, seemed to sway with the on this distribution list. It used to be that this echo of American Airlines flight 77 as it pierced information was on Nexis and was two days old. the Pentagon’s side.

26 THE IRE JOURNAL C O V E R S T O R Y

At The Washington Post, Williams described GUEST COLUMN a different change – a newsroom that had to focus under extreme pressure, and succeeded because it pulsed with the need for immediacy. “We had so Producer injured trying to much work to do. It was kind of a medicine for us. We had a purpose,” she said. outrun collapsing WTC Williams and her staff, like others around the nation, worked for two and a half weeks straight ecause Sept. 11 was supposed to be New that did not have a long line without a day off. They put in long days and slept York City primary day, I was slowly of people waiting, so I ran little, increasing their presence in the newsroom B getting ready for work. As a producer at into a restaurant, looking and making certain that reporters were aware of ALLISON GILBERT WNBC-TV, I hadn’t planned on going in until about for a phone. The place was WNBC-TV, NEW YORK what they could offer. noon since I would be working well past the 11 p.m. empty except for a woman “It’s a very hard story to research on a good show covering the elections. My son’s babysitter employee who was on the phone crying in Spanish. day,” said Maxwell. “But on top of that you have was already there and it was a relaxed morning. I waited impatiently and finally left. people who are worried and afraid. How do you Then my husband Mark called. As I raced further south to the remaining tower, balance that?” People were asked to function Calling from the American Stock Exchange, he there were fewer and fewer people around me until at extraordinary levels, she said, and without told me to turn on the TV – a plane had crashed finally I was eerily alone. The streets were covered exception, they did. into the World Trade Center. I was amazed at the in white ash. I found an empty phone booth, but I pictures. The building had a gaping hole, with smoke still couldn’t reach my husband. I did manage to call Gina Bramucci, a graduate student at the Missouri and fire billowing out. I couldn’t believe it. I told my office, but while I was on the phone I was told School of Journalism, is the editorial intern for The IRE Journal. Mark I had to call my office and asked him how to leave the area by two emergency workers who I could call him back in case they needed to do a raced by me. They must have thought I was crazy TIPS FOR RESEARCHERS: phone interview with him. I thought the crash was to be there. I flashed them my press credentials and • Demonstrate confidence in your ability as a an accident and a plane had veered off course and they kept going. I felt as if they said to themselves, researcher. You have valuable skills to offer. lost control. I called the office, gave them Mark’s “We warned her. If she stays, that’s her problem. Show it. contact numbers and kept watching the images on Let’s go.” • Attend news meetings, stay familiar with TV. They put me on standby. I told my office the first tower collapsed, that the news budget and be willing to offer Then the second plane hit. I was all right, and asked them for the location of your input and ideas. I called my office again. I told them I was in the reporter and crew I was supposed to hook up • Make it your business to know what report- Hoboken. They told me to go to the World Trade with near the towers. I spoke with Jean Woody, ers are working on and keep your eyes peeled for resources that might help. Center. I got dressed, kissed Jake and ran toward the WNBC assignment manager, and she told me • When you find a good resource for a story, the Path train. she had no communication with the reporter. She send it to the appropriate reporters – solic- As I approached the train, I saw huge plumes of suggested I head to West Street where I might ited or not. If you haven’t heard back after smoke from the towers in the sky. Thick. Dark gray. find them. two or three submissions, grab them in the A lot of people were standing around the station, When I got to West Street, I saw a rush of activity elevator or stop by their desk to ask what trying to place calls on their cell phones or joining the by firefighters, police and emergency medical crews. they thought. lines already forming at the phone booths. There were no civilians. (Somehow, by coming in • Work one-on-one with reporters. Share The train to the World Trade Center had been from a few blocks east, I bypassed any barricades Internet searching skills, teach how to focus stopped. My cell phone was dead. I went to a nearby set up to prevent people like me from getting that searches on Lexis-Nexis and show them bank, but that phone wasn’t working either, so I ran close.) I was the only TV journalist. I saw no sign how to search PhoneDisc by SIC code. back to the train. Miraculously, I managed to get of any other reporters or producers, just emergency TIPS FOR REPORTERS and EDITORS: one into the city – one that did not go directly to the workers. Some were coughing. Some were wearing • Involve news researchers in project story World Trade Center. white hospital masks to cover their mouths and meetings from the beginning of the process. Getting off at Christopher Street, I was walking noses. Some were wearing full white protective suits • If you’ve spent 15 minutes searching with- and running down Hudson Street toward the towers. and boots, some were wearing full black rubber out finding what you want, go find a As I got closer, people were rushing past me in breathing gear – looking like they were going into researcher. the opposite direction, crying and staring at the some sort of chemical or biological war zone. I • Seek out a tutorial from a researcher. A sky. When I was about eight to 10 blocks away, I was wearing nothing but beige slacks, a beige linen researcher’s purpose is to help you do your job better. Take advantage. saw the first tower implode right before my eyes. I shirt and navy blue tank top and brown slip-on • For daily stories, give researchers a heads heard the rumbling. I saw the clouds of white ashen leather shoes. up as early as possible. The more time they debris. I was scared. By now I was maybe two blocks from the remain- have, the more fruitful the research. ing tower, and I began interviewing emergency • If a researcher has made a significant con- Eerily alone workers while looking for my crew and a reporter. tribution to a story, credit him or her for the I needed to get to a phone and call Mark and my I grabbed papers full of soot from the ground to see work. Everyone likes to be recognized for a office. Was Mark OK? There was not a phone booth CONTINUED ON PAGE 31 × job well done. Allison Gilbert is an award-winning producer with WNBC-New York.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 27 FEATURES

than anybody on the chain’s national about Chrysler and the savings and loan bailout, staff. But as a business reporter the latter of which I had covered bits and piece BAILOUTS and editor for the past 13 years, I of as a younger reporter. I had forgotten about Industries line up to get also had some experience covering the bailouts of Lockheed Aircraft Corp. and companies and knew a bit about Penn Central Railroad, which with other failed congressional money corporate bailouts. (Perhaps most Northeastern train lines, later formed Conrail. important, I was a free body at a time At the same time, simply reviewing history By Bob Keefe when all my East Coast colleagues as other journalists had recorded it yielded some Cox Newspapers were swamped.) interesting voices from the past – and present. Even on the other side of the Specifically, in testimony before Congress in hen you’re giving away money, the lines country, finding background information was 1971 a guy named Alan Greenspan – then just can get deep pretty fast. pretty easy – given some of the electronic tools a private consultant – warned against bailing Nowhere has that been more evident lately we all have in our journalistic tool kit today. out Lockheed because that industry was already than on Capitol Hill. After approving $15 billion For example: in bad shape. Two years later, then-Treasury in cash and loan guarantees to the beleaguered • Using Editorsweb.org, the excellent online Secretary George Schultz similarly warned that it airline industry, Congress was inundated by service that compiles daily news releases in was not a good idea to bail out the Penn Central industries requesting aid to keep their businesses Washington – introductions of bills, government Railroad, because it would change the rules for afloat in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks agency actions, even politicians’ chicken-dinner the railroad industry. and the increasingly lousy economy. proclamations – I electronically examined With a Republican president and a pro- Everybody from travel agents to Amtrak everything I could find since Sept. 11 that business Congress, the idea of government managers followed the airline money trail to looked like a terrorism-related aid request. bailouts today seemed pretty ironic. With a Washington and queued up before Congress, That’s where I found the “I Love New York Tax capitalistic icon like Greenspan and former looking for help. Representatives of industries Deduction Act.” Reagan Secretary of State Schultz warning of ranging from agriculture to steel also renewed • Going to the ’ Thomas site, bailouts in the past, it made the story all the their pleas for government aid, using the terrorist http://thomas.loc.gov/, I was able to review more interesting. attacks and the damage inflicted on the economy specific bills, such as Florida Rep. Alcee I also learned from clips how past government – and Congress’ quick-to-spend airline bailout – Hasting’s “Ancillary Airline Industry Relief Act interventions in corporate affairs had turned into as fresh fodder for their own SOS calls. of 2001,” which would give $4 billion in grants boondoggles. The government did OK in the Pork-barrel politics also was evident. New to travel agents, car rental agencies and other Chrysler bailout, history showed. But the Conrail York Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Thomas travel-related businesses. I could also research fiasco cost it – and taxpayers – at least $5 billion. Reynolds introduced the “I Love New York Tax other pending financial aid bills, such as those Depending on who you talk to, it could take Deduction Act,” which would give tax breaks for the agriculture and steel industries. With the until 2019 for taxpayers to finish paying the to tourists. names of sponsors and supporters of those bills, hundreds of billions it cost to bail out the S&L Noted University of Dallas economist I talked to aides who cautiously told me how industry – although that action, aimed at insuring Michael Cosgrove: “Anytime people can find a they were forming their pleas for funding in the consumers’ funds as much as anything else, was reason to get cash out of the government trough, wake of the Sept. 11 tragedies. under much different circumstances than today’s they’ll do it.” • With the help of Profnet.com, I tracked down business bailouts. The questions from John Q. Public were clear: economists and business school academics Why should airlines get government aid when who had studied the effects of bailouts, such as Temporary help their chief executives make so much money? Cosgrove. A simple search on Google.com led I wanted to talk to some of the beneficiaries Shouldn’t I get a tax break if my small business me to an essay on the airline bailout package by of past bailouts, but – probably in part given dropped off after the attacks? Why should only another insightful academic, Suffolk University the rising controversy over corporate aid – I certain industries get government breaks when professor C. Gopinath, whom I interviewed. didn’t have much luck. I tried several former everyone is struggling? These and others who have studied economic Chrysler executives. I tracked former Chrysler My editors and I knew that in this economy, intricacies told me that propping up businesses chief Lee Iacocca to Las Vegas, where he was where virtually every business is hurting, the in a competitive market – no matter what the attending a trade show. But he never returned corporate handout line would clearly only get circumstance – was taking the government and my calls. Likewise with former Chrysler right- deeper if Congress let it. Further, propping the U.S. economy down a tricky road. hand man Robert “Steve” Miller, now chief up industries in a country built on capitalism • Combining information from LexisNexis and executive at Bethlehem Steel Corp. Miller and competition would certainly have some the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s research apparently was busy with other problems; I far-reaching aftereffects once the country got staff, I got some clips, congressional records later learned he put Bethlehem into Chapter 11 out of this mess. and other background from past bailouts. I knew bankruptcy court protection a few days after I tried to talk to him about Chrysler. A tricky road Striking out with direct beneficiaries, I next Covering the West Coast from San Diego for tried to talk others who had benefited to try and Cox Newspapers, I was further from Washington give some perspective as to whether they were

28 THE IRE JOURNAL FEATURES Making the link considered bailout packages. Minnesota law- makers are considering ways to help struggling to campaign finance Northwest and Sun Country airlines, which are By Aron Pilhofer both based in the state. The Assem- The IRE Journal bly approved $10 million in loan guarantees to With all the industries devastated by the help Midwest Airlines and Air Wisconsin. And events of Sept. 11, why were the airlines first New York lawmakers already have passed a $5 in line for a bailout? billion general aid package. Perhaps because the air transport industry For journalists following the ripple effects of is one of the nation’s most generous campaign Sept. 11, here are some things to consider: contributors and hires some of the best lobby- • Not all pressure on lawmakers will come from ists roaming Capitol Hill. domestic sources. Foreign interests are barred That was one of the conclusions New York from making campaign contributions, but Times reporters Leslie Wayne and Michael they are not restricted from hiring lobbyists. Moss came to in an Oct. 10 article detailing Among the more interesting recent filings, the way the airline bailout package came Political Money Line (www.politicalmoneyline together. .com) noted that the Afghanistan Northern Air transportation companies ranked 16th Alliance Junbish Party had hired Philip S. Smith in total campaign contributions last year & Associates to lobby Congress on its behalf. among the 80 industries tracked by the Center The Secretary of the Senate puts these for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based forms into a searchable database, which is watchdog group. Since 1992, the industry has found online at http://sopr.senate.gov. The given more than $65 million in total contribu- forms are searchable in several ways, including tions, the center found. by filing date, filer and client. The airline industry may have been the • Any group working on behalf of a foreign first, but certainly will not be the last to press agent must file with the federal government, lawmakers for help. and those filings are available online through Travel agents approached Congress shortly the Department of Justice, www.usdoj.gov/ after the World Trade Center disaster, asking criminal/fara/. for a $4 billion grant and loan program to help • Federal campaign finance reports covering their struggling industry. Airline maintenance the period after Sept. 11 are trickling in to workers, rental car agencies, insurance com- the Federal Election Commission because panies and other groups have made similar some committees report their activities requests. monthly. Most committees are not required On the immediate horizon are insurance to file electronically. Find the data at http:// companies, which are probably next to receive herndon2.sdrdc.com/dcdev/. some kind of government support. In January, • A number of watchdog organizations a majority of commercial insurance contracts have been closely monitoring congressional will be up for renewal, and many companies action on Sept. 11-related items, including are saying they will explicitly exclude insurance the Center for Responsive Politics for losses due to terrorism. The industry wants (www.opensecrets.org), the Center for Public Congress to develop some sort of system that Integrity (www.publicintegrity.org) and helps limit the potential losses as a result of Common Cause (www. commoncause.org). future attacks. Not everything will focus on Congress. At Aron Pilhofer is director of IRE’s Campaign least three state legislatures have already Finance Information Center. worth it. I knew that the city of Marietta, Ga., said. But ultimately, not even government- was a Lockheed town, so I tried tracking down backed loans could keep the airplane maker the mayor. Using the Internet, I also found City from shutting down the local factory a few Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy in Santa Clarita, years ago. Calif., another Lockheed town. In the end, the piece gave some insight into Darcy ran the chamber of commerce there the news of the day – that the airline industry back when the government agreed to guarantee certainly isn’t the only business hurting and $250 million in Lockheed loans to keep the looking for help – and some indication of what company afloat. She told me that government Congress’ actions hold in the future, based on the intervention did make a difference in her results of past bailouts. central California town – temporarily. Lockheed planned to cut 40 percent of its local workers Bob Keefe covers the West Coast for Cox Newspa- there if it didn’t get the government help, she pers, focusing on business and technology.

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from a list of letters at the top of the page. Information on a topic page varies. For example, if anthrax is selected, the information includes a fact sheet, general agent informa- tion, medical information, surveillance case definitions, and links to related sites. Also, there is a news and media section with the latest CDC summary of confirmed cases of anthrax. The fact sheet contains information about symptoms, possible treatment and vaccination recommendations. If flu is selected, that page lists general information about the flu, the vaccine, antiviral drugs for influenza and the influenza vaccine supply information for the winter season. The page includes surveillance reports and a tipsheet about preventing the spread of influenza among travelers. Some historical data is available in narrative reports. Publications and data The CDC Web site includes disease fact sheets. In the “Publications, Software and Products” site is a good place to start when section, links include the CDC Fact Book looking for current disease-related 2000/2001, the MMWR, and publications from Exploring the CDC information. Many sections of the related agencies. In the “Data and Statistics” site are updated regularly. Often section, links are available to several statistical Web site the date the page was last reviewed sources, including searchable databases. The is posted at the bottom of the page. link to CDC Wonder leads to information By Carolyn Edds Some pages do not necessarily need on a variety of CDC reports and data from The IRE Journal to be updated such as a fact sheet AIDS to leading causes of death to sexually ith terrorism-related stories breaking on chicken pox. The cause and characteristics transmitted disease reports. Depending on at a record pace these days, more and of chicken pox will not change. the topic, statistics are available at the city, more reporters are being assigned stories in county, state or national level. Although recent which they have little background. The Web The latest on health statistics often are not available, the historical often has made the difference in getting them On the CDC home page menu on the left, data can be useful. quickly up to speed on an unfamiliar topic. several topics are listed. The “In the News” Turning to the “training and employment” One Web site that has been helpful is run by section provides links to news releases, Morbid- section, journalists might be interested in the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMRW) link to the Bioterrorism Preparedness and (www.cdc.gov). summaries, telebriefing transcripts, and daily Response Network or information about the The Centers for Disease Control and Preven- updates. In the “Traveler’s Health” section, Knight Journalism Fellowships at the CDC. The tion is a federal agency responsible for protect- select a geographic area to get the latest on “subscriptions” section has a list of electronic ing the health and safety of people, at home health information covering that area. Other mailing lists that anyone can join. Topics and abroad, providing information about health information is available about outbreaks, include the MMWR, Hospital Discharge and and promoting health through partnerships. diseases, vaccinations, and cruise ship or air Ambulatory Surgery Data List, and Minority The CDC has more than 8,500 employees in travel. Links for the cruise ship information Health Statistics Grants Program. locations around the United States, in state and lead to a searchable database on sanitation The “other sites” section lists links to local health agencies, quarantine offices and in inspections of international cruise ships. CDC resources, public health partners and other countries. Originally established in A quick and easy way to get information related agencies including state and local health 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center, in on a disease is by visiting the “Health Topics departments. Finally, the “hoaxes and rumors” 1980 it was renamed A to Z” page. Disease and health topics are section provides such things as consumer alerts NEW FEATURE the Centers for Dis- arranged in alphabetical order. Jump to a topic about buying antibiotics online. This edition of The IRE Journal ease Control and in by clicking on the first letter of the desired topic Carolyn Edds is the Eugene S. Pulliam research marks the debut of a new 1992 “Prevention” director for IRE. She directs the IRE Resource feature that will focus on a was added to its Center and helps maintain Web resources. She Web site of particular value name. formerly worked as a news researcher for daily to journalists. The CDC Web newspapers.

30 THE IRE JOURNAL C O V E R S T O R Y

Guest Column yelled back. I heard other people screaming for coming. But we were some of the few injuries CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 help. I knew I had to make it over to the guy with they treated – there were too many dead. what clues there might be to what happened and the radio. If we were trapped, he was my only hope I was whisked into the emergency room who might be hurt or killed. of communicating with the people who could save where all of my wet, soot-filled clothes were I felt proud of myself for staying focused and us. We found each other and he insisted I slow cut off and thrown away. I was put on an IV, doing my job. I felt sick to my stomach for doing my breathing down. I was breathing too deeply my blood drawn to check the carbon monoxide my job. Looking at the papers on the ground, I and too fast. I was taking in too much smoke. The levels, and an endoscope – without any anesthesia asked mysel: “Am I a journalist looking for real smoke finally began to clear and I was taken to – was stuck down my nose and throat to see clues or was I a grave robber?” I couldn’t help a makeshift emergency station a few feet away. if my lungs were burned. They placed me on feeling like a vulture. I’m not sure if that man took me or someone else. maximum oxygen. And I couldn’t stop thinking about Mark and I never saw him. why I risk my life for a job. I thought about Jake. The emergency shelter was actually a deli. I was Doing a job But I kept doing my job. rushed into the back where firefighters and police I kept asking to call my husband and my I was on top of a little hill when an emergency were helping each other – and me – to breathe office, but my requests were denied because worker told me to move away from the area. I again. Our faces were being hosed down to rid most of the phone lines were down and any slowly made my way toward him, continuing to them of white ash. I was given water to swish open ones were needed for emergency calls. look at what was on the ground. I think I was around my mouth and to drink. I was instructed Once they considered me stable, I was taken to on the corner of West and Vesey when all of a by a police officer – who herself was hacking up a makeshift intensive care unit. sudden we all heard the second building begin soot – to keep coughing, blowing my nose and to In this ICU, there were only three other to collapse. vomit if I could. Anything to get the thick ash out beds. We all looked like we’d been through It sounded like a rumble. Deafening thunder. At of my lungs, throat and nose. Even though I was war. We were all covered in ash and the room that moment, everyone around me started running. now indoors and among professional rescuers, I began to smell like a smoldering fire. I was I was facing away from the building when it started was terrified. Was this building safe? Would it, too, kept there under observation for about four to fall and I never looked back. I kept running, disintegrate? Would it bury us alive? I needed to hours, and then was transferred into a regular trying to outrun a falling skyscraper. I did not get out. I needed to head away from the area. I hospital room. know then the building was falling straight down. needed to get to an ambulance. I finally got to a phone, but I couldn’t I thought it was going to fall like a tree and would I was taken by a police officer to a triage post reach Mark. I left him a message on his work smash me into the ground. I ran so fast, I ran inside what I would later find out was the lobby of voicemail that I was fine, but in Bellevue. I literally out of my shoes. I was barefoot and the Embassy Suites hotel. I was immediately put then called my office. I did a phone interview running over falling debris, soot, papers, garbage, on oxygen to help me breathe and was given an with news anchor Chuck Scarborough from my pieces of concrete and metal. I didn’t feel anything emergency tag around my neck to identify me and hospital bed at about 3 p.m. I felt doing the – just fear. my injuries. It said “smoke inhalation.” A stranger interview made sense. It wasn’t for nothing. It who worked inside the World Financial Center made me feel like I didn’t just risk my life for Smoke inhalation appeared out of nowhere and began holding my my job – I was doing my job. I was running next to firefighters and ambulance hand and consoling me. His name was David True When Mark got to the hospital, I cried. workers. I saw a concrete barricade of some sort – in my opinion, one of the thousands of World I guess, up until that point, I was holding it and was trying to get to it for cover when I fell Trade Center heroes. He was physically fine. He together. He helped me take a shower. It took down. I slammed face down into the ground. I was staying in that triage center to see if he could me nearly a half dozen shampoos to get my hair think I used my pocketbook to cover my head. I help. He got me through the scariest moments of free of soot and half an hour to get all the dirt don’t remember exactly. What I do know is that my life. But it was just about to get scary again. off my skin. The hospital gave me clothes and within seconds I was covered in a tornado of thick We all had to evacuate because there were reports shoes to wear home. black smoke and being pelted by debris. I could of a gas leak. But there was no way to get home to New not see anything, not even my own hands. I could Barefoot, bleeding and covered in ash, the smell Jersey. Both tunnels and the bridge home were not breathe. I was gasping for air. My mouth was of so much soot was starting to make me sick. closed and the Path trains were not operating. full of so much soot I could bite it. It felt like Taken onto the street by rescuers, I was told to wait We called our babysitter and she assured us thick sawdust. It sucked all the moisture out of and keep on my oxygen mask. That’s when I saw she would stay with Jake as long as we needed. my mouth. I did not know if I was ever going to an ambulance being loaded with two firefighters Mark and I left Bellevue on foot at about 6 p.m. see the sky again. and one other emergency worker. I saw an empty and started walking to my father’s apartment. I was not sure if the building was on top of me seat. As they were about to close the doors and We got to my dad’s, but found out later that and I was just in an air pocket, or if it had missed leave, I knew I had to be on that ambulance to the Path trains were once again running. The me. I started feeling the space around me, trying not only get treatment, but to get me safely out news report said it would be temporary, and they to figure out where I was and whether there were of the area. I got on board, and we headed to might close again tomorrow. We immediately any big pieces of building around me. I thought at Bellevue Hospital. left and headed back to Hoboken. that very moment I might live. When we got to the hospital, it was eerie. It We got home about 11 p.m., and it had never I remember hearing the crackling of an EMS seemed like hundreds of doctors and nurses were felt so good. And Jake? He was fast asleep worker’s radio in the dark. I yelled to him. He waiting for us and any other victims who were in his crib.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 31 FEATURES

written by three New York Times The journalists learned “that the anthrax journalists, will win the prize for decision was part of a much larger government TERROR IN PRINT relevance. effort to combat what officials believed was Books already have plowed When international correspon- a growing danger from germ weapons. Over much ground where reporters dent Judith Miller, investigative the next three years, we followed the story projects editor Stephen Engelberg from Washington to Kazakhstan to Russia…. are digging since Sept. 11 and science writer William Broad The issues were as complex and intellectually finished the manuscript in mid- challenging as any we have ever examined, By Steve Weinberg August, they had no idea what cutting across science, intelligence and foreign The IRE Journal would happen in New York City, affairs. We came to see the debates of the any previous books have been published rural Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., 1990s over what to do about germ weapons about biological and chemical warfare, on Sept. 11. Nor could they have known that in a much larger context – a half century of the shame of supposedly civilized nations. in the wake of the massive death toll, the largely secret history.” Undoubtedly, many more books on the deadly conversation about the unimaginable body phenomena will be published in the future. count that could result from illegal biological Germ terrorism But, through a coincidence of timing, it and chemical warfare would reverberate The research of Miller, Engelberg and is quite likely that “Germs,” reported and around the globe. Broad derived from a few dozen previously How did these reporters happen to write published books listed in a useful bibliog- GERMS: Biological “Germs” when they did? Their decision raphy. The journalistic trio expanded on Weapons and followed a Pentagon announcement during that research impressively, as demonstrated America’s Secret War December 1997 that about 2.4 million sol- by their 42 pages of source notes. They By Judith Miller, diers and reservists would be vaccinated write clearly, popularizing the science Stephen Engelberg and William Broad against anthrax. “Why then?” the journalists behind germ weapons without sounding Simon & Schuster, wondered. After all, it was six years after condescending. 382 pages, $27 reports of biological weapons being used The prose style is often flat, no surprise during the Persian Gulf War and two years given the compromises in language that after the specifics of ’s arsenal frequently occur during a collaborative effort. became public knowledge. The book’s organization leaves much to TERRORISM-RELATED BOOKS

“Germs” is perhaps the most timely book available to journalists in the • James Bamford • Yossef Bodansky aftermath of Sept. 11, but is just one of hundreds of useful books about Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared terrorism and obviously related topics. Here is a slice of the rest from the Ultra-Secret National Security War on America past decade. It perhaps is not a totally idiotic reminder to journalists in Agency From the Cold War Through (Prima) a rush that books – usually the result of many years research by serious, the Dawn of a New Century talented authors – can be far more substantive than Web sites, periodical (Doubleday) • Mark Bowden articles and television news magazine segments. Black Hawk Down: • Benjamin R. Barber A Story of Modern War vs. McWorld: (Atlantic Monthly Press) How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World • Mark Bowden (Times Books) Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw • Christiane Bird (Atlantic Monthly Press) Neither East Nor West: One Wom- an’s Journey Through the Islamic • Geraldine Brooks Republic of Iran Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden (Pocket Books) World of Islamic Women (Anchor) • Jonah Blank Mullahs on the Mainframe: • Richard Butler and Modernity Among the The Greatest Threat: , Weapons Daudi Bohras of Mass Destruction and the Crisis (University of Chicago Press) of Global Security (PublicAffairs) • Paul Blustein The Chastening: Inside the Crisis • Andrew Cockburn and Patrick That Rocked the Global Financial Cockburn • Len Ackland • Karen Armstrong Out of the Ashes: The Resurrection Making a Real Killing: Rocky Flats System and Humbled the IMF The Battle for God (PublicAffairs) of Saddam Hussein and the Nuclear West (Knopf) (HarperCollins) (University of New Mexico Press)

32 THE IRE JOURNAL FEATURES be desired, too, as the authors shift from a cult known as the Rajneeshees soon becomes chronological account to a thematic account obvious, however. The cult members are and back again, over and over. During those ated. retaliating against their opponents in govern- shifts, significant players in the numbingly By far the best-written chapter is the first, ment and business by poisoning the salad large cast of characters disappear for many although initially its relevance to the title bars in local restaurants with a strain of pages, to be reintroduced later. Given all those of the book seems questionable – set as it is salmonella. problems, this important book is probably in rural Oregon during 1984. The relevance “It was the first large-scale use of germs best read one chapter per day, so that all of the hostility between the area’s long-time by terrorists on American soil, the union of the information can be absorbed and evalu- residents and the members of a religious CONTINUED ON PAGE 34 × TERRORISM-RELATED BOOKS

• Richard L. Garwin and Georges • Eric Margolis • Nicholas Regush Charpak War at the Top of the World: The Virus Within: Megawatts and Megatons: A Turn- The Struggle for Afghanistan, A Coming Epidemic ing Point in the Nuclear Age? Kashmir and Tibet (Wildcat) (Knopf) (Routledge) • Barry M. Rubin • Robert Alan Goldberg • Robert S. McNamara and James G. The Transformation of Palestinian Enemies Within: The Culture of Blight Politics Conspiracy in Modern America Wilson’s Ghost: Reducing the Risk (Harvard University Press) (Yale University Press) of Conflict, Killing and Catastro- phe in the 21st Century • Elaine Sciolino • Larry P. Goodson (PublicAffairs) Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face Afghanistan’s Endless War of Iran (University of Washington Press) • Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck (Free Press) American Terrorist: Timothy • Bradley Graham McVeigh and • Charles M. Sennott Hit to Kill: The New Battle Over the Oklahoma City Bombing The Body and the Blood: The Holy • John Conroy Shielding America From Missile (ReganBooks) Land at the Turn of a New Mille- Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary Attack nium – a Reporter’s Journey People: The Dynamics of Torture (PublicAffairs) • Pat Milton (PublicAffairs) (Knopf) In the Blink of an Eye: The Inside • David Halberstam Story of the FBI’s Investigation of • Michael Shermer • John K. Cooley War in a Time of Peace: TWA Flight 800 Why People Believe Weird Things: Unholy War: Afghanistan, Amer- Bush, Clinton and the Generals (Random House) Pseudoscience, Superstition and ica and International Terrorism (Scribner) Other Confusions of Our Time (Pluto Press) • Benny Morris (Freeman) • Adrian Havill Righteous Victims: A History of the • Dusko Doder and Louise Branson The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Zionist-Arab Conflict • Dan Stober and Ian Hoffman Milosevic: Portrait of a Tyrant Cold: The Secret Life of Accused (Knopf) A Convenient Spy: (Free Press) Double Agent Robert Hanssen Wen Ho Lee and the Politics of (St. Martin’s) • Benjamin Netanyahu Nuclear Espionage • Jason Elliot Fighting Terrorism: How Democ- (Simon & Schuster) An Unexpected Light: • Khidhir Hazma and Jeff Stein racies Can Defeat Domestic and Travels in Afghanistan Saddam’s Bombmaker: International Terrorists • Gordon Thomas (Picador) The Terrifying Inside Story of (Noonday) Gideon’s Spies: The Secret History the Iraqi Nuclear and Biological of the Mossad • James Fallows Weapons Agenda • Paul R. Pillar (St. Martin’s) Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a (Scribner) Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy New Age of Travel (Brookings Institution Press,) • Milton Viorst (PublicAffairs) • James F. Hoge Jr. and Gideon Rose, In the Shadow of the Prophet: The editors • Ahmed Rashid • Robert I. Friedman Struggle for the Soul of Islam How Did This Happen?: Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fun- Zealots for Zion (Westview) Terrorism and the New War damentalism in Central Asia (Random House) (PublicAffairs) (Yale University Press) • Jeff Wheelwright • Mark Fritz The Irritable Heart: The Medical Lost on Earth: • Stephen Kinzer • Simon Reeve Mystery of the Gulf War Nomads of the New World Crescent and Star: Turkey The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, (Norton) (Little, Brown) Between Two Worlds Osama bin Laden and the Future (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) of Terrorism • David Wise • Laurie Garrett (Northeastern University Press) Cassidy’s Run: The Secret Spy War Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of • Tom Mangold and Jeff Goldberg Over Nerve Gas Global Public Health Plague Wars: The Terrifying • Ed Regis (Random House) (Hyperion) Reality of The Biology of Doom: (St. Martin’s) The History of America’s Secret • Robin Wright Germ Warfare Project The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil (Holt) and Transformation in Iran (Knopf)

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 33 FEATURES REQUIRED Terror books Houston column CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 a modern phenomenon and an age-old means These are just a few examples of agencies READING of destruction,” the authors comment. “The that are lagging in protecting public safety and For Your Newsroom unusual case exposed numerous shortcomings. are removing databases that could show how One was the ease with which pathogens could badly they fall short of their mission. The cover be ordered from a germ bank…. The case story package in this edition of The IRE Journal ORDER NOW! revealed another problem. The partnership details the many fine stories that have been done between law-enforcement officials and their and those that are at risk in the future. scientific colleagues was rocky, a clash of cultures. Information was not shared; Contributor thanks opportunities were missed. It proved difficult The IRE Journal’s recent first-place award The IRE to establish that a crime had been committed. in the publishing/journalism category in the Even to trained eyes, a natural outbreak Folio: Editorial Excellence Awards was not only Beat Book and a germ assault look much the same – a tribute to the hard work of its mostly part-time Series large numbers of people become violently staff. It also was a tribute to the investigative ill. The inquiry underscored the importance work of our members and their generosity in of intelligence from insiders. Investigators sharing how they do it. cracked the case only after members of the For each issue, we count on members to BY PHONE cult came forward and confessed their crimes. find the time to share and often write about Quietly, the small cadre of experts and federal how they did an investigative story. For those Call 573-882-3364 officials who understood the power of germ unfamiliar with IRE, the idea of journalists with your VISA or weapons began to wonder if the attack in sharing techniques and tips is a shock. But MasterCard Oregon was an anomaly or a harbinger.” this organization is based on cooperation and The book moves far beyond Oregon, to support. national capitals, scientific laboratories, We thank all our volunteer members and BY MAIL terrorist bunkers and other sites across the contributors who help make each issue valuable Send your globe. Verifiable incidents of biological and and unique. check to IRE: chemical warfare are told in depth. 138 Neff Annex There is little reason for optimism. As Members-only Missouri School the authors note, government and military To increase the value of an IRE membership, of Journalism officials in the United States and other nations we have made the long-awaited move to shift Columbia, Mo. 65211 have known for decades that they were poorly some of our Web site resources into a members- prepared for biological and chemical weapons only area. assaults, yet have done little to protect the Most of our Web pages remain public, BY WEB public. “A half century ago, a group of eminent but some key services require membership, Visit our Web site at citizens warned James Forrestal, the first including the online Journal pages, indexes www.ire.org secretary of defense, that the United States for past Journal and Uplink articles, reporting for online ordering was defenseless against germ attacks. But its tipsheets, the latest online news projects, listserv or order form recommendations for better intelligence, more archives, videostreamed tape clips, many educator downloads research, drug stockpiles and medical surveil- resources and more. lance systems were largely ignored. Over the next five decades, a series of American Help a colleague IRE MEMBERS: presidents confronted the problem, considered Also, in the spirit of this organization, IRE $15 each various remedies, and shuffled the issue into and our employed members are reaching out to NON-MEMBERS: the ‘too hard’ box. Such denial is understand- help those members who have been recently laid $25 each able. Biodefense has no natural political off. Under the Help A Colleague Program, a fund constituency in Washington. The military- has been set up to finance discounted fees for Plus Postage: industrial complex that supports weapons those who have lost their jobs. First Class- systems has little interest in vaccines and The program allows recently laid-off members $4 for the first book, public health.” who are still unemployed to renew their member- $2 for each ships for a year at half price – $25. It also additional book Steve Weinberg is senior contributing editor to allows generous working members to help out The IRE Journal, a professor at the Missouri by sponsoring out-of-work colleagues who apply School of Journalism and a former executive for help. director of IRE.

34 THE IRE JOURNAL MEMBER NEWS IRE SERVICES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS AND EDITORS, INC. is a grassroots nonprofit organization partisan studies on international security, dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting within the field of social policy, education and the humanities. journalism. IRE was formed in 1975 with the intent of creating a networking tool and a Leah Samuel is now a staff reporter for The forum in which journalists from across the country could raise questions and exchange Chicago Reporter. She was formerly a reporter ideas. IRE provides educational services to reporters, editors and others interested in for Labor Notes, a nonprofit magazine dedi- investigative reporting and works to maintain high professional standards. cated to labor issues. South Florida Sun Programs and Services: Sentinel investigative editor Fred Schulte and IRE RESOURCE CENTER – A rich reserve of print and broadcast stories, tipsheets and guides to help senior writer Jenni Bergal won the National you start and complete the best work of your career. This unique library is the starting point of Health Care Anti-Fraud Association Award for any piece you’re working on. You can search through abstracts of more than 17,000 investigative Excellence in Journalism for “Crashing for Cash,” reporting stories through our Web site. Contact: Carolyn Edds, [email protected], 573-882-3364 a series detailed in the July-August edition of The IRE Journal. David Stoeffler has been DATABASE LIBRARY – Administered by IRE and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting. The library has copies of many government databases, and makes them available to news promoted to the newly created position of organizations at or below actual cost. Analysis services are available on these databases, as is help in vice president for news at Lee Enterprises. deciphering records you obtain yourself. Stoeffler, who served as editor of the Lincoln Contact: Jeff Porter, [email protected], 573-884-7711 (Neb.) Journal Star for four years, began his CAMPAIGN FINANCE INFORMATION CENTER – Administered by IRE and the National Institute for career with Lee as a reporter for the La Crosse Computer-Assisted Reporting. It’s dedicated to helping journalists uncover the campaign money (Wis.) Tribune in 1979. As vice president for trail. State campaign finance data is collected from across the nation, cleaned and made available news, Stoeffler will focus on improving edito- to journalists. A search engine allows reporters to track political cash flow across several states rial content in Lee’s 23 daily newspapers and in federal and state races. Contact: Aron Pilhofer, [email protected], 573-882-2042 will oversee recruitment and training efforts. ON-THE-ROAD TRAINING – As a top promoter of journalism education, IRE offers loads of training opportunities throughout the year. Possibilities range from national conferences and regional DNA bank workshops to weeklong bootcamps and on-site newsroom training. Costs are on a sliding scale and fellowships are available to many of the events. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 Contact: Ron Nixon, [email protected], 573-882-2042 In the weeks before our series aired, Michi- gan lawmakers announced their decision on the Publications DNA samples, ordering hospitals to continue THE IRE JOURNAL – Published six times a year. Contains journalist profiles, how-to stories, reviews, administering the newborn blood screening investigative ideas and backgrounding tips. The Journal also provides members with the latest news tests without parental consent. The law allows on upcoming events and training opportunities from IRE and NICAR. researchers access to the databank of blood Contact: Len Bruzzese, [email protected], 573-882-2042 drops, provided scientific study meets federal research standards and preserves the confiden- UPLINK – Monthly newsletter by IRE and NICAR on computer-assisted reporting. Often, Uplink tiality of test subjects. The Department of stories are written after reporters have had particular success using data to investigate stories. The Community Health also was charged with columns include valuable information on advanced database techniques as well as success stories developing a schedule for the retention and written by newly trained CAR reporters. disposal of blood samples. Contact: Jeff Porter, [email protected], 573-884-7711 When we broadcast our findings, no date had REPORTER.ORG – A collection of Web-based resources for journalists, journalism educators and been set for the large-scale disposal of newborn others. Discounted Web hosting and services such as mailing list management and site development screening cards. As a result of our series, are provided to other nonprofit journalism organizations. however, Dr. Johnson insisted his department Contact: Ted Peterson, [email protected], 573-884-7321 would develop a plan for parents requesting that individual samples be destroyed. Bonnie For information on: Prestin’s request was among the first granted. ADVERTISING – Pia Christensen, [email protected], 573-884-2175 MEMBERSHIP AND SUBSCRIPTIONS – John Green, [email protected], 573-882-2772 Paul Newton joined WNEM as a reporter in 1996. CONFERENCES AND BOOT CAMPS – Ev Ruch-Graham, [email protected], 573-882-8969 In 1999, he became part of the station’s first special LIST SERVES – Ted Peterson, [email protected], 573-884-7321 projects/investigative unit, where his work has been honored with serveral awards. Mailing Address: IRE, 138 Neff Annex, Missouri School of Journalism, Columbia, Mo. 65211

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002 35 NEWMarch 14-17, DATE 2002 National Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference Philadelphia, Pa. • March 14-17, 2002 Doubletree Hotel Philadelphia, Broad Street at Locust, 215-893-1600 More than 50 panels that touch on every beat: Census, law enforcement, transportation, education, local government, health and more Hands-on classes: Internet, spreadsheets, databases, mapping, SPSS, SAS Late additions: New sessions will focus on terrorism, aviation safety and other issues currently top of mind with readers and viewers PLUS! Exhibitors, networking and computer software demonstrations

Hosted by: The Philadelphia Inquirer, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting Sponsors include: The Gannett Foundation and Knight Ridder

REGISTRATION FORM. To register, please complete this form. Visit our Web site at www.ire.org or call 573-882-2042 for the latest details. Please write carefully! This information will be used to make your nametag.

Name: ______To attend this conference, you must be a current IRE member through 4/1/02. Employer/Affiliation/School: ______Memberships are non-refundable.

Address:______$150 I’m an IRE professional member and would like to attend the conference ______March 14-17.

City, State: ______Zip: ______–______$100 I’m an IRE student member and would like to attend the conference Office Phone (required):______E-mail (required):______March 14-17.

Home Phone: ______Fax: ______$200 I would like to attend the conference March 14-17 and need to join or renew my To register, mail this form and a check to IRE, 138 Neff Annex, Missouri School of Journalism, U.S. membership. Columbia, MO, 65211. To register by credit card, you must have a Visa or MasterCard. We cannot accept American Express. You may fax your credit card registration to (573) 882-5431 or ____$205 I would like to attend the conference March 14-17 and need to join or renew my register online at www.ire.org/training/philly. international membership.

Cancellations need to be sent via e-mail to [email protected]. There is a $50 processing fee for all ____$125 I would like to attend the conference cancellations until March 13, 2002. Refunds will not be given for cancellations after March 13. March 14-17 and need to join or renew my student membership. Card Number:______Expiration Date:______$25 Late fee for registrations postmarked Card Holder Name:______or faxed after February 18.

Card Holder Signature:______TOTAL $______