Story ideas

Follow moving companies to understand your local housing market

By Melissa Preddy on Jul 30, 2010 in Beats, Economy, Featured, Real estate | Econ development, Story ideas, Transportation | Airlines | Travel

We’re coming to the tail end of the busiest residential moving season of the year, and it’s a fine time to get to know your local van lines.
Moving companies are fonts of data that you can use as local economic indicators and context for jobs and housing stories.
The major companies like United Van Lines and [...]

BBC, ICIJ: asbestos industry ‘exporting an epidemic’ to developing world

By Rosland Gammon on Jul 30, 2010 in Best Practices, Energy | Utilities | Mining, Featured, Health care, Investigation, Story ideas

The BBC and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) investigated how a global network of lobbyists has spent nearly $100 million since the mid-1980s to preserve the market for asbestos, especially in the developing world where use of the cheap — but carcinogenic – building material is growing.
Among the key findings of their investigation:
“Despite waves of asbestos-related disease in [...]

What does FOIA exemption for SEC in financial reform act mean?

By Melissa Preddy on Jul 29, 2010 in Beats, Featured, Investigation, Investing | Banking, Personal finance, Story ideas

We knew the 2,319-page “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” would contain some interesting surprises once all the legal lingo was parsed.
Well, the president’s signature was barely dry on the financial regulatory reform signed into law last week when a new stir erupted.
Fox Business pronounced yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is [...]

NPR proves even a new playground can be a business story

By Rosland Gammon on Jul 29, 2010 in Best Practices, Featured, Real estate | Econ development, Story ideas

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Proving that you can find a business angle in almost any story, NPR headed to a new $7 million playground in New York for a piece on how “Imagination Playground” fits into economic development. The segment by Robert Smith says:
“Manhattan is undergoing a baby boom. And Adrian Benepe, New York’s parks commissioner, says building fancy, innovative [...]

ESPN checks eatery inspections at stadiums to find mold, slime

By Rosland Gammon on Jul 28, 2010 in Best Practices, Featured, Health care, Retail | Lifestyle, Sports, Story ideas

Take me out to the ballgame, but check the food-safety inspections first. Paula Lavigne of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” finds some vendors at sports stadiums aren’t passing food inspections. She writes:
“ESPN’s ‘Outside the Lines’ reviewed health department inspection reports for food and beverage outlets at all 107 North American arenas and stadiums that were home [...]

Finding fresh angles amid the business of death

By Melissa Preddy on Jul 28, 2010 in Beats, Economy, Featured, Personal finance, Small | Private | Non-profit, Story ideas

One of my long-time sources, a respected financial adviser, likes to cackle at his own plan for being slid into a crematory oven to the carnivalesque notes of The Doors’ “Light My Fire.”
Maybe most people won’t opt for the same final musical tribute, but choosing cremation over burial is an increasing trend – especially after [...]

Need help investigating stimulus or lenders? Check these training videos

By Reynolds Staff on Jul 27, 2010 in Best Practices, Economy, IRE 2010 Blog, IRE CAR 2010, Investigation, Investing | Banking, Story ideas

We’ve posted two training videos that may be helpful if you’re investigating the stimulus or tracking mortgage lenders. They are graciously provided to us by Investigative Reporters and Editors from sessions at its Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR) Conference in Phoenix in March.
In the video on the federal economic stimulus, reporters Tom Grabell of ProPublica.org and Ben Poston of the [...]

Find financial stories in the business of higher education

By Melissa Preddy on Jul 27, 2010 in Beats, Economy, Featured, Investigation, Personal finance, Story ideas

With little more than a month to go before Labor Day, back-to-school business topics are hot.
For business writers, financial aid is a rich field to mine, from how-to personal finance articles (see FinAid.org for a wealth of resources) to scams. This Federal Trade Commission report released earlier this month says fraudulent “financial aid consulting services” are [...]

The power of the folo leads LAT to high-flying city salaries

By Rosland Gammon on Jul 27, 2010 in Best Practices, Featured, Investigation, Story ideas

Just like KISS (keep it simple, stupid), this reporting tip never gets old: Follow up.
That doesn’t always mean an update. Following up can also mean checking up on new characters or following a component of a story, as the Los Angeles Times did in this story about salaries for city officials who earn two to three times [...]