Big news this week about the Supreme Court dismissal of the mammoth class-action sex-discrimination suit against Walmart. Whatever the ramifications for future sex-discrimination cases will result from this 5-4 ruling, one thing is certain right now: The ruling was a financial setback for attorneys representing the plaintiffs. That must sting if they are comparing themselves [...]
As a domestic correspondent at The New York Times, Ron Nixon has covered a variety of stories from government contractors to the intricacies of political earmarks. Nixon recently spoke to journalists during a McCormick Specialized Reporting Institute on census data in Phoenix, providing an overview of what to watch in the 2010 numbers. The two-day [...]
Technology. What started out as simple stone tools for newly bipedal creatures has evolved into the ubiquitous smart phone for the cosmopolitan urbanite. Everywhere we look technology plays a role in our daily lives as a globalized society, especially within business and commerce. Increasingly, technology is playing more and more of a visible role in [...]
I was talking the other day with a local convention-industry executive, and he noted that Detroit hotel-occupancy rates had plunged post-recession by the most in the nation – some 15 percent. The good news, he said, is that a rebound started last year and that this year demand in Metro Detroit is up a hefty [...]
Shannon Behnken of the Tampa Tribune won the award for Best Overall Entry by an Individual from the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Her story, which was among several she wrote exposing fraud within the state’s largest foreclosure law firm, found lenders were overcharged and lawsuits were served to people who didn’t exist.
The story cites internal files so I asked Shannon about tips to help reporters gather these documents. Her answer: old-fashioned beat reporting.
Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) is offering the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s injury and death database.
The 2006-2009 data includes records on more than 13,500 deaths, 100,000 injuries or potential injuries, and more than 17,000 in-depth investigations relating to consumer products.
If you haven’t explored TRAC, you’re in for a treat. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse is a two-decades-and-going-strong project of former New York Times investigative reporter David Burnham and statistician and FOIA expert Susan Long. Funded by foundation grants, user fees and other support, TRAC is affiliated with the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse [...]
By Salvador Rodriguez This summer has been hit with an epidemic of cybercrime. Hackers all over the world have stood up to the biggest of companies and government organizations, and broken into their systems. This topic has taken over most of the reporting I have done as an intern at the Los Angeles. I’ll even [...]
Ryan Holeywell is a staff writer for Governing magazine, a publication that covers state and local governments nationwide. The George Washington University graduate has covered the Troubled Asset Relief Program extensively, and in a BailoutSleuth.com article he revealed that nearly 10 percent of all banks receiving funding were later cited by federal regulators for various [...]
