Despite the low-tech nature of The Seattle Times' investigation into HUD's Indian housing program, electronic journalism played a crucial role in the work that won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. The investigation, reported by Eric Nalder, Alex Tizon, and Deborah Nelson, highlighted pervasive waste and mismanagement in low-income housing funds amidst Native American communities.
The federal aid was misdirected towards affluent tribal members' homes instead of aiding the genuinely needy. Weak regulations allowed incidences like the construction of a 5,300-square-foot house for a tribal executive right under HUD’s supervision. Examples across the U.S. demonstrated overlooked violations in the use of HUD funds. Correspondingly, e-mail served as a critical information source, revealing institutional failure and regulatory oversights.
Furthermore, spreadsheets and a range of electronic resources aided in the manual tracking and analysis of funding data and granted quick access to crucial details for case studies. But the investigation entailed visiting communities where access to information through traditional reporting measures was restricted.