Trolling through the web this morning, I ran into an article by Arizona Republic reporter Craig Harris describing the development of what eventually became an award-winning eight-part series on public pensions. It’s always fun to read good reporting, and the inside story on the series is an added bonus.
You might also want to check out a couple of university-based investigative reporting projects. First, “Watchdog New England” at Northeastern University.
One of their recent stories was an eye opener, especially in context of discussions here of the foreclosure mess: “New Haven Independent Report Uncovers Slumlord Section 8 Scam.”
Here’s the summary:
A recent New Haven Independent report has taken the concept of the “slum landlord” to a new level. The Independent found that landlords Janet Dawson and Michael Steinbach were letting their low-income properties fall into disrepair and foreclosure for nonpayment while they continued to collect Section 8 federal rent subsidy dollars from the Housing Authority of New Haven (HANH). In October alone, almost $80,000 was paid to the pair’s various corporate entities for 73 of their properties.
The Independent focused on five of the hundreds of properties owned by Dawson and Steinbach. Visits to the properties and a close examination of public records by an Independent reporter revealed that in each case, Dawson and Steinbach had taken out mortgages 10 or more times the property’s worth, never paid on those mortgages to lenders, and continued to collect rent from tenants – most of which was paid by the federal government under the Section 8 program.
Could it happen here? I doubt the economics of Section 8 in Hawaii would turn out as well for the property owners, but I could certainly be wrong.
How likely is it that we’ll see this kind of reporting? You know the answer.
Back to growing. The second stop is the New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR) based at Boston University.
Their mission: “…to ensure the survival of serious, in-depth investigative journalism in New England and to train a new generation of investigative reporters.”
One of the latest stories: “Suspended! Thousands of Massachusetts Students Tossed Out of School for Minor Offenses.”
Thousands of Massachusetts public school students were suspended during the 2009-2010 school year for smoking, skipping class, tardiness and other minor infractions under “zero tolerance” discipline policies that are creating what critics call a “cradle to prison” pipeline.
From Boston to the Berkshires, the numbers reflect a troubling trend that appears to have continued into the following school year.
Massachusetts logged more than 75,000 in-school and out-of school suspensions in the 2010-2011 school year, a study of state education data by the New England Center for Investigative Journalism has found. Details on the particulars of those suspensions is not yet available, but they do account for thousands of days of lost classroom time for students, many of whom are in danger of dropping out of school, critics say.
Or browse through the latest from California Watch for more stories that dig into the news.
Good reading to start the week.
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Ian, what’s stopping you from doing any of these type of “investigative” stories? Are you saying as a blogger your resources and capabilities are limited even though you are an experienced reporter? Are you saying we must rely on the mainstream reporting for these type of stories? Not trying to be critical, just raising the question.
I suppose I’m pointing out a couple of things. First, I wish mainstream media would/could put more resources into such investigations. And, yes, resources of bloggers like myself are limited. Is that a surprise?
No I suppose it is not a surprise. I only raise the question as so many of your followers say they only get their “news” from reading your blog. Also, many bloggers these days want the same credentials and respect as their mainstream counterparts but then play the other hand where they say we can’t do the same job as the mainstreamers…..leaves me a bit perplexed for a morning morning. Good discussion points for sure. In any event, the real issue though is getting the “mainstream” population to care for more then a day or two about the good pieces that do see the light of day. Too much whatevers….we all need to care more.
While I understand the reasoning behind “zero tolerance” policies, they leave zero room for common sense.
I think our own Civil Beat has done great work with their “Taken for a Ride” that details the non-competitive, and likely collusion of our school bus service providers.
There’s got to be another award in that for them.
What grand award did they recieve already when you mention “another”? What did I miss?
At times Civil Beat seems to place what I see as undue importance on the splinter in one entity’s eye while ignoring the beam in another’s. Overall, I think the good they do over there may outweigh the bad, yet at the same time I find it somehow reassuring that, at least according to something I read somewhere, their readership is not that high. We do need all the eyes we can get in this town though.
Here’s an example of them doing something good by at least mentioning a bill that sounds as if it has the potential for much mischief, I hope they follow and examine this closely. And I hope Ian Lind and his readers will as well.
http://hawaii.news.blogs.civilbeat.com/post/16776899874/two-rail-related-bills-moving-at-ledge
“The first, House Bill 2756, would fast-track transit-oriented development by requiring counties to act on proposals near rail stations within a set number of days and exempting those projects from ordinary zoning and land use laws.”
And the bill itself:
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2012/Bills/HB2756_.HTM
I haven’t had time to look over the bill yet, but I’m already wondering what checks and balances on the transit authority’s power would remain should this bill become law?
And Kalaheo, I do agree that Civil Beat’s “taken for a ride” was very good and a service to the community.
HUD Section 8 requires yearly inspections of units. If there’s a problem, it’s more likely with a crooked inpector.