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News Release Distribution and Archives • Multimedia and Photos • Media-only Web Site • Expert Database © PR Newswire Association LLC 2006 CONTENTSFEATURES 18 LEAD THREAT 20 DEATH PENALTY THE IRE JOURNAL Water regulations not enforced; Small weekly newspaper’s investigation contaminated water found system-wide unearths consumer complaints on funerals TABLE OF CONTENTS By Pat Stith By Rick Anderson NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer Seattle Weekly 4 IRE’s transformation, 22 - 33 PEOPLE AND PROFILES commitment continue By Brant Houston, IRE FAKE I.D. Nailing down details shows psychologist 6 IRE members featured created false life, professional credentials in new PBS series By Ruth Teichroeb By Beth Kopine Seattle Post-Intelligencer For The IRE Journal DEADLY DOC 7 Katrina books provide Supervisor of state’s lethal injections has context to disaster questionable professional record By Steve Weinberg By Jeremy Kohler The IRE Journal St. Louis Post-Dispatch 8 Arizona Project highlighted by DIRTY DEALINGS new generation of investigative journalists Weekly records check snowballs into probe By Debrin Foxcroft of million-dollar looting, murder For The IRE Journal By Michael Levensohn (Middletown, N.Y.) Times Herald-Record 9 HOUSING SCAM Developers pocket millions targeted UNHOLY RIPOFF to house county’s poorest citizens Money adviser who stole from top athletes By Debbie Cenziper paroled early, runs large church operation The Miami Herald By Brent Schrotenboer The San Diego Union-Tribune 12 LEGAL MISSTEPS Flawed judicial system results PEOPLE SKILLS in high conviction rate, errors A treasure trove of investigative tools for By Julie Patel profi ling anyone from John Doe to the famous San Jose Mercury News By Duff Wilson The New York Times 16 KILLER CURE Unusual statistic leads to series RESOURCES on methadone overdose deaths Tools to help track, background and interview people By Scott Finn and Tara Tuckwiller By Kate Rainey The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette The IRE Journal 34 SECURITY RISK 40 DATA DIVE ABOUT THE COVER Persistent FOI battle nets numbers Basic community services Putting together an on missing TSA badges, uniforms measured in unique series on investigative story on a By Brian Collister city performance WOAI-San Antonio By Michael Mansur person who doesn’t want to The Kansas City Star talk to you can be a challenge 37 Campaign coffers fi ll with money – but it can be done. gained through gambling 43 KILLER PRICE By Brent D. Wistrom Murder costing taxpayers Cover Story The Wichita Eagle millions; wide variety of Pages 22-33 services impacted 39 DUPED VOTERS By Melvin Claxton Records show residents tricked The (Nashville) Tennessean Cover photo illustration by into switching party affi liations Wendy Gray, The IRE Journal By Kimberly Kindy, Tony Saavedra and Brian Joseph The Orange County (Calif.) Register NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 3 FEATURES THE IRE JOURNAL FROM THE IRE OFFICES Volume 29 ❘ Number 6 Managing Editor Anita Bruzzese IRE’s transformation, Publications Coordinator Megan Means commitment continue Art Director Brant Houston Wendy Gray s we fi nish 2006 – the year of so-called “transformation” (a term sweeping newsrooms Senior Contributing Editor A across the country these days) – we thought it would be worth doing a quick inventory of Steve Weinberg what at IRE is “transforming” and not transforming. We have kicked off a new initiative to provide Watchdog Workshops and other training Contributing Legal Editor and resources for ethnic media newsrooms that will not only bring investigative skills to those David Smallman journalists but also create bridges between those newsrooms and mainstream newsrooms. Editorial Intern This initiative, we believe, has great potential both to encourage and improve investigative Kate Rainey work. At the same time, it improves the overall coverage of communities that are increasingly multicultural. This effort also will extend the work we began with IRE en Español, (www.ire.org/esp) our effort to build Web pages and training programs for Spanish-speaking journalists. IRE Our Web site and publications are becoming more accessible. Specifi cally, we are develop- IRE Executive Director ing a redesigned Web site that will be easier to navigate and search, while making The IRE Brant Houston Journal, Uplink and other publications available online so they will become more timely, lively and valuable. We are focusing on our online tutorials, especially to prepare journalists for our BOARD OF DIRECTORS workshops and to give them follow-up assistance. We also are implementing a new business plan to ensure that we package our resources and President training in forms that make them more useful. For example, conference tipsheets are compiled James V. Grimaldi, The Washington Post quickly for distribution on CD-ROM, and audio fi les of panel discussions can be downloaded Vice President from the Web or ordered on a CD. We also want to improve the marketing of our services and products and to reach out to editors and producers to encourage deeper involvement in our Cheryl Phillips, The Seattle Times organizations’ efforts. Treasurer Further, we are engaging in our biggest membership drive ever to increase the diversity and Dianna Hunt, Fort Worth Star-Telegram range of media in IRE. We want to make sure IRE itself is multicultural and international, that its membership refl ects every media type and size, that it has young and experienced journal- Secretary ists, and that it is inclusive of all those who are interested in seeing more credible investigative Stephen C. Miller, The New York Times work in the future. As part of that effort, we are creating Web pages and resources for citizens who want to David Boardman, The Seattle Times understand how investigative reporting is done, how to work with investigative reporters and Wendell Cochran, American University how they can get skills that would allow them to be investigative journalists. Renee Ferguson, WMAQ-Chicago So, what are we not transforming? IRE continues as an organization that works to maintain and improve the standards of inves- Manny Garcia, The Miami Herald tigative reporting. It continues to be the premier trainer in practical and measurable skills. Mark Katches, Milwaukee Journal-Sentienl We still will do numerous Watchdog Workshops, computer-assisted reporting seminars and Duane Pohlman, WEWS-Cleveland sessions on money and politics. Workshops both in the United States and abroad will continue, as Lea Thompson, NBC will IRE’s collaboration with other journalism organizations to help maximize our resources. Nancy Stancill, The Charlotte Observer In addition, we will continue to provide tools and services journalists can use every day. We Duff Wilson, The New York Times will maintain and improve the Resource Center and the Database Library. Tracking the legal challenges and freedom of information issues – and helping journalists deal with whatever the latest hurdles or attacks may bring – will continue to be a top commitment. The IRE Journal (ISSN0164-7016) is published We will continue to raise money for our endowment, particularly in the fi nal year in which six times a year by Investigative Reporters and we can receive $1 from the Knight Foundation for every $2 we collect. The endowment has Editors, Inc. 138 Neff Annex, Missouri School of Journalism, Columbia, MO 65211, 573-882-2042. crossed the $3 million threshold and already is providing investment income for our operations E-mail: [email protected]. U.S. subscriptions are – meaning that we are starting to counterbalance the cuts in newsrooms’ training budgets. $70 for individuals, $85 for libraries and $125 And the board and the staff will continue to listen and be responsive to the needs of all for institutions/businesses. International sub- our members and supporters so that we can offer the best training and resources during these scriptions are $90 for individuals and $150 for years of “transformation.” all others. Periodical postage paid at Columbia, MO. Postmaster: Please send address changes to IRE. USPS #451-670 Brant Houston is executive director of IRE and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted © 2006 Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. Reporting. He can be reached through e-mail at [email protected] or by calling 573-882-2042. 4 THE IRE JOURNAL IFEATURES R E N E W S CAR Boot Camp Russia over the last six years “is an affront to free and heads to South Florida independent media and to democratic values.” MEMBER NEWS IRE and NICAR’s Computer-Assisted Reporting Last spring, Politkovskaya spoke at an investiga- revor Aaronson has moved to The Com- Boot Camp will be in South Florida next month to tive journalism conference in Sweden and expressed concern about whether she would be able to re-enter T mercial Appeal in Memphis as an inves- deliver all the benefi ts of its weeklong CAR curricu- her country. In discussions with IRE, she had spoken tigative/special projects reporter.