CAR fuels TV, other division winners

An overview of 2002 IRE Award winners and finalists across television and magazine categories that used computer-assisted reporting to investigate corruption, medical malpractice, and fraud.

By Rachel Schaff, University of Missouri

IRE received a flood of entries for its 2002 investigative reporting contest. Many of the entries used computer-assisted reporting, along with traditional reporting techniques. The following is an overview of some of the winners and finalists that used CAR in the television, other media and special categories.

Television

Top 20 Market – Finalist WFAA-Dallas: "Fake Drugs, Real Lives" by Brett Shipp, Mark Smith, Kraig Kirchem and David Duitch. This investigation examined the legitimacy of drug busts made by Dallas police. The journalists found that nearly half of the police department's cocaine seizures contained little or no illegal drugs. (Story No. 19889 in the IRE Resource Center).

Instead, the substance seized was gypsum, a main component of billiard chalk. Further, the arrests often involved recent Mexican immigrants. The reporters developed a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet of Dallas County felony drug cases for 2000 and 2001. Reporters used the spreadsheet to separate defendants with Hispanic surnames and determine whether the seizures involved illegal drugs.

The story has won many other awards, including a George Foster Peabody Award; an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton; a Harvard University Goldsmith Award Finalist for Investigative Reporting; Texas Gavel Award; the Katie Legacy Award; and Katie Award for Television Investigative Reporting.

Below Top 20 Market – Certificate WTVF-Nashville: "Friends in High Places" by Phil Williams and Brian Staples. This seven-month investigation exposed the questionable relationship between Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist and some state contractors. Journalists used Microsoft Excel to analyze spreadsheets of all noncompetitive contracts awarded by the state of Tennessee. (Story No. 19649)

This story has also won a George Polk award, a National Headliner Award and a Sigma Delta Chi award.

Below Top 20 Market – Finalists WITI-Milwaukee: "The Pain Doctor" by Bob Segall and Diane Carbonara. This investigation focused on a local doctor who used questionable medical and billing practices and acted abusively toward his patients. Journalists used CAR to analyze information acquired through interviews with dissatisfied patients and to analyze pharmacy prescription data to determine the amounts and types of medications prescribed by the doctor. "The Pain Doctor" also has won a regional Edward E. Murrow award, Best Series Reporting from the Wisconsin Associated Press, and Best Investigative Report from the Milwaukee Press Club. (Story No. 19674)

WOAI-San Antonio: "Councilman & Judge – A Cozy Connection" by Brian Collister, Joe Ellis and Stephanie Kline. This piece investigated a San Antonio criminal defense attorney (who is also a city councilman) and his relationship with a female judge. The journalists used Microsoft Access and Excel to analyze databases of criminal court records and county payment records. They determined which attorneys received the most court appointments and made the most money, both in each court and across all courts. Eventually the results helped show that the councilman and the judge had a romantic relationship, shared a bank account, shared an address at one time, and possibly committed fraud together. This story received an Honorable Mention in the Investigative category from Texas Associated Press Broadcasters and also won first place for Best Continuing Coverage by the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters. (Story No. 19671)

Other Media

Magazine/Specialty Publication – Finalists Time Magazine: "Look Who's Cashing in at Indian Casinos" by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele. This investigation revealed that Indian reservation casinos do not benefit the majority of Native Americans; most of the proceeds go to non-Indian investors and a handful of small tribes with fabulously profitable casinos. CAR played a large role in the investigation; Barlett and Steele made extensive use of databases, the Internet and spreadsheets. One of the most important databases, the Indian Labor Force Report, contains information about individual tribal enrollment as well as the employment rate and poverty levels of each tribe. (Story No. 19517)

U.S. News and World Report: "The New Math of Old Age: Why the Nursing Home Industry's Cries of Poverty Don't Add Up" by Christopher Schmitt. The nursing home industry has long contended that the federal aid it receives is inadequate; in 2002 nursing home operators lobbied the federal government for additional billions of dollars of aid. However, this investigation showed that the nursing home industry is, in fact, profitable and growing, with many nursing homes earning 20 percent to 30 percent profit margins. The investigation required many different databases of nursing home cost reports. Schmitt used Paradox for database management, FoxPro for data import and Excel for spreadsheet analysis. (Story No. 19495)

Online – Finalist Center for Public Integrity: "Enron Top Brass Accused of Dumping Stock Were Big Political Donors" by John Dunbar, Robert Moore and MaryJo Sylwester. This investigation looked at the col-