As reported by Guy Taylor in Salon.com, the federal government has been rubber stamping Big Pharma’s requests to increase production of the much-abused prescription drug, Oxycodone: “One of the most disturbing things about the prescription pain pill abuse epidemic is that it could have been avoided, or at least mitigated, if the DEA had fulfilled the responsibilities vested in it ...
Rave review in Barron’s for “All The Justice Money Can Buy,” a Fund for Investigative Journalism Gene Roberts book award winner: “Author Snigdha Prakash was embedded in the legal team representing two plaintiffs, who in turn served as test cases for a large pool of people making similar claims. The seven-week trial determined whether Merck failed to warn doctors adequately ...
WASHINGTON – (October 6, 2011) The Board of Directors of the Fund for Investigative Journalism has awarded $40,000 in grants for nine independent investigative projects in the United States and overseas. The grants cover travel and other reporting expenses for investigative stories that otherwise would not be told. Significant support from the Park Foundation, the Gannett Foundation, the Ethics and ...
WASHINGTON (October 3, 2011) — The Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) is seeking grant proposals for independent investigative projects from journalists who need support for travel and other reporting expenses. The deadline for proposals is 5 p.m. EST, Tuesday November 1. FIJ is interested in proposals from reporters investigating issues in the United States, especially those relating to governmental accountability, ...
McNelly Torres reports for the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting: As part of the 2009 economic stimulus package, millions of federal dollars flowed to Florida’s public school districts. The money was intended to benefit low-performing schools as way of closing the so-called achievement gap. Starved for cash as a result of plummeting real estate values and dwindling property tax revenues, ...
Jason Berry – author of Render Unto Rome, is the subject of a Washington Post profile in its Style section. The article focuses on the how Berry continues to practice his faith, while investigating the sexual abuse of children by priests, and most recently in this book, lifting the veil of secrecy that has cloaked the church’s financial affairs. Berry has received several awards from the Fund ...
Kristin Palitza reports in The Guardian on child laborers in the tobacco fields of Malawi: At the height of the tobacco harvest season, Malawi’s lush, flowing fields are filled with young children picking the big green-yellow leaves. Some can count their age on one hand. Since the handling of the leaves is done largely without protective clothing, workers absorb up to ...
The winner of the Robert I. Friedman award, Stealth of Nations by Robert Neuwirth, is coming out this fall. When we think of the informal economy, we tend to think of crime: prostitution, gun running, drug trafficking. Stealth of Nations opens up this underground realm, showing how the worldwide informal economy deals mostly in legal products and is, in fact, a ten-trillion-dollar ...
The Chicago Reporter’s investigation of the State of Illinois’ contracts with minority and disabled business owners has found limited impact, missed goals. Photo by: Jason Reblando. “Empty Jackpot“: Illinois celebrates its program to steer state contracts to businesses owned by minorities, women and people with a disability. But a closer look shows the state may not be fulfilling its goals. “Less ...
In its September/October issue, City Limits, an investigative magazine based in New York City, explores whether the New York Fire Department has learned lessons from Sept. 11 and – as important – after firefighters die in routine fires. “The prospect of another Sept. 11 is as unlikely as it is terrifying. Fires in basements and factories and two-story homes, however, will happen all the time. So ...