Investigative Journalism 201

							   Investigative
    Journalism
       201
      May 8, 2010
    Kansas City, MO


     Earl F. Glynn
    Overland Park, KS
earl@KansasWatchdog.org
    @KansasWatchdog       1
http://www.kansaswatchdog.org/
     resources/journalism/



                             2
“The focus is on government waste and inefficiency,
political corruption and anything that goes against free-
market principles and the core values of the U.S. and
Kansas constitutions.”
                                                        3
     Investigative Journalism 201
• Case Studies
• Sources of Information
• Computer-Assisted Reporting
• Reporters’ Equipment




                                    4
               Case Studies

• U.S. House Disbursement Data
• “Top 20” PACs in Kansas
• Registered Voters




                                 5
    Congressional Franking




http://kansasmeadowlark.com/2006/08-06/index.htm   6
         U.S. House Disbursement Data




                               ~3400 pages in 3 volumes

Historically could view at
                                 ~100,000 detail lines



• Legislative Resource Center in DC, or
• US GPO Repository Library, e.g., KU                     7
  U.S. House Disbursement Data



                              Late Nov. 2009




     http://sunlightfoundation.com/projects/expenditures/
http://sunlightlabs.com/blog/2010/explore-houses-expenditures/   8
                U.S. House Disbursement Data




http://watchdog.org/2046/top-food-other-expenditures-by-members-of-u-s-house-in-2009-q3/
                                                                                   9
          U.S. House Disbursement Data




“Chewing Guam”   Hannity: Dry Cleaning   Greta: $6K Dinner




                                                             10
        “Top 20” PACs in Kansas




http://ethics.ks.gov/GECSummaries/Top20PAC2006.pdf   11
“Top 20” PACs in Kansas
          Aug 20, 2007




                          12
                        “Top 20” PACs in Kansas
                                            March 16, 2008




The top 15 PACs account for nearly 60% of contributions received by PACs, about half of the
expenditures, and over 55% of the PAC money in the bank for the 2008 elections.



                                                                                     13
              http://kansasmeadowlark.com/2008/03-16/index.htm
“Top 20” PACs in Kansas




                          14
       Registered Voters




                             Jan 13, 2008
Kansas May Have About 190,000 Phantom Voters:
Could Voter Fraud in Kansas Be Relatively Easy?
http://www.kansasmeadowlark.com/2008/01-13/index.htm




                                                       15
        Registered Voters




                               Feb 21, 2008
Can Google Street Views Be Used to Find Registered Voters at
Empty Lots in Wyandotte County?
http://kansasmeadowlark.com/2008/02-20/index.htm




                                                               16
                 Registered Voters




In 2008 the empty lot at 1725 Greeley was “home” of a registered voter,
who had not voted since 1998. This voter has been delisted.
                                                                          17
         Sources of Information

• Budgets / Financial Reports
• Expenditures Information
• Financial Disclosure Information
• Campaign Finance Information




                                     18
        Budgets




http://statebudgetwatch.org/   19
   Financial Reports: CAFRs




http://www.da.ks.gov/ar/finrept/default.htm   20
Financial Reports: CAFRs




 http://oa.mo.gov/acct/cafr.htm   21
   Expenditures




www.kansas.gov/KanView

                         22
           Expenditures




http://mapyourtaxes.mo.gov/MAP/Portal/23
               Expenditures




http://www.usd507.org/vnews/display.v/ART/4bbb45570383c   24
            Expenditures




www.koamtv.com/global/story.asp?s=11307530
                                         25
                     Expenditures
What else is known about Labette Community College President George Knox?




                                                                            26
         Sources of Information

• Budgets / Financial Reports
• Expenditures Information
• Financial Disclosure Information
• Campaign Finance Information




                                     27
   Financial Disclosure Information

• U.S. House Financial Disclosure Statement
• U.S. Senate Financial Disclosure Report
• Kansas Courts:
  Judicial Financial Disclosure Report
• ~9000 in Kansas Government file
  Statement of Substantial Interest


         http://kansas.watchdog.org/resources/financial-disclosure   28
   Financial Disclosure Information




Online Statements of Substantial Interest
 https://www.kssos.org/elections/ssi/secure/ssi_examiner_entry.asp

                                                                29
Financial Disclosure Information
                          June 24, 2008




                                          30
Financial Disclosure Information




     http://www.mec.mo.gov/EthicsWeb/PFD/PFD.aspx

                                                    31
     Campaign Finance Information

• Federal Election Commission (FEC)
  Candidates, Parties, PACs
• IRS 527 PACs
• State Candidates, Parties, PACs
• Local Candidates, Committees



                                      32
Federal Election Commission (FEC)




       http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/index.php   33
                   IRS 527 PACs




http://forms.irs.gov/politicalOrgsSearch/search/adv8871SearchCriteria.jsp   34
IRS 527 PACs




 Note: No balance reported!   35
Kansas Candidates, Parties PACs
                               Search




http://www.accesskansas.org/srv-campaignfinance/processItemizedForm.do 36
Kansas Candidates, Parties PACs
              Search




                                  37
     Kansas Candidates, Parties PACs
PDF Reports show details from online search




http://www.kansas.gov/ethics/Campaign_Finance/View_Submitted_Forms_&_Reports.html
                                                                            38
Missouri Candidates, Parties, PACs




http://www.mec.mo.gov/EthicsWeb/CampaignFinance/CampaignFinance.aspx 39
Local Candidates, Committees
                           May 5, 2004



    http://www.kansasmeadowlark.com/2004/07-03.htm




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     Investigative Journalism 201
• Case Studies
• Sources of Information
• Computer-Assisted Reporting (CAR)
• Reporters’ Equipment




                                      41
Computer-Assisted Reporting



                  Excel Spreadsheets
                  Access Databases




     www.ire.org/carbook
                                       42
      Computer-Assisted Reporting
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Database Library:
http://data.nicar.org/node/61


Computer-Assisted Reporting
http://www.franklincenterhq.org/resources/com
puter-assisted-reporting-resources/


                                          43
          Reporters’ Equipment:
          “Backpack Journalism”

• Digital Camera

• Video Camera

• Audio recorder

• Computer with wireless Internet connection

• Backpack
                                               44
http://www.bottomlinecom.com/kcnews/kctv5todropiteam.html   45
           Questions?


         Earl F. Glynn
   earl@KansasWatchdog.org


http://www.kansaswatchdog.org/
 resources/journalism/
                             46