All-you-need to know resources for investigative reporting

Alec Klein

Alec Klein is an award-winning investigative business journalist, bestselling author and journalism professor at Northwestern University.

The following is a handout from his Reynolds Center Webinar on investigative reporting.

The Pulitzer Prizes for examples of investigative business journalism
PACER court service center for federal lawsuits
Guidestar for nonprofit records
WhoIs lookup for domain name and Web site ownership
Archive and Wayback Machine for old Web sites
ProfNet for expert queries
ReferenceUSA for locating people

Superpages for locating people
AnyWho for locating people
Switchboard for locating people
Infobel is an international directory for locating people
SOPR Senate for lobbying reports, requires registration
US Department of Justice Foreign Agents Registration Act for lobbying on behalf of foreign entities

Congressional Research Service
Government Accountability Office reports
Library of Congress THOMAS database for basic legislation, Congressional reports and records
OpenSecrets.org for Center for Responsive Politics
CQ.com Moneyline for Political Moneyline, PACs, 527s, candidates and lobbying
BusinessJournalism.org Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism

Center for Public Integrity, investigative journalism in the public interest
FollowtheMoney.org for the Institute on Money in State Politics
Who is John Doe and where to get the paper on him for background on an individual
National Freedom of Information Coalition for sample Freedom of Information Act request letters
FOIALetter for Freedom of Information Act request letter generator

About the Author

Alec Klein is an award-winning investigative business journalist, bestselling author and journalism professor at Northwestern University. For two decades, Klein worked as a newspaper reporter, most recently at The Washington Post. His investigations have led to significant reforms, congressional hearings, federal law, criminal convictions and more than half a billion dollars in government fines. He’s the author of bestseller "Stealing Time: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Collapse of AOL Time Warner."