In the wake of the Sago Mine disaster, the Charleston Gazette goes deep inside the coal mining industry to reveal the lax safety measures and lack of oversight by a federal agency that can create deadly working conditions.
Two of the TV news teams featured in EXPOSÉ's "Security Theater" used hidden cameras to get the inside scoop on airport security.
The ethical debate over the use of hidden cameras in journalism is a heated one. ABC's Primetime Live has used hidden cameras to uncover spoiled meat in supermarkets and abuse in nursing homes. And let's not forget Dateline NBC's wildly popular and controversial "To Catch a Predator" series, in which hidden cameras and sting operations are used to bust pedophiles on the Internet.
The hidden camera is an invaluable tool for reporters seeking to acquire proof of wrongdoing, abuse, and fraud. But it can also be a dangerous tool if used for the wrong reasons. And the many lawsuits filed against news organizations charging invasion of privacy, trespassing, and fraud because of the improper use of hidden cameras show just how dangerous a tool it can be. (In the most famous case, a jury ruled in favor of Food Lion, purveyor of the above cited spoiled meat, against ABC’s Primetime Live for the show’s fraudulent use of undercover reporters and hidden cameras -- to the tune of $5.5 million in punitive damages.)
Local television news may have a soft reputation when it comes to hard-hitting investigative journalism. However, some television newsrooms are chasing leads and cultivating inside sources as they undertake investigations that often have national importance. On this edition of Exposé, the investigative teams at KNXV in Phoenix, KUSA in Denver, and KHOU in Houston go undercover, go on stakeouts, and go the extra mile to unearth government documents and plumb knowledgeable sources revealing shocking lapses in the nation's airport security.
>>Watch some of the original television reports that "Security Theater" is based on:
"Serious security questions at Sky Harbor Airport"
Lisa Fletcher reports on lax overnight security at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, where TSA agents turn off the metal detectors and X-ray machines and close the checkpoints between midnight and 4:30 AM.
"Is Houston a sitting duck for terrorism?"
Jeremy Rogalski finds that some smaller general aviation airports in Houston, TX have no government security requirements, only suggestions. Private and corporate jets and planes are readily accessible and available to anyone who makes it past the lax security.
Going undercover, using hidden cameras, and obtaining government documents, local television news reporters reveal lax security, sleeping guards and failed security tests at some of the nation's busiest airports.
>>Also: A web- exclusive audio interview with reporter Jerry Kammer of Copley News Service: "I think I learned a long time ago that one of the best things that journalism can do is inform the people about how power is used, especially when it’s abused."
What exactly is "earmarking"? The reporters who broke the Duke Cunningham story explain how Congress has become a "pay-to-play" system.
>> Watch a web-exclusive video interview of Keith Ashdown, chief investigator at Taxpayers For Common Sense, and reporters Jerry Kammer, Marcus Stern, and Dean Calbreath.
On November 28, 2005, California Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned from office after pleading guilty to taking more than $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors seeking government contracts.
The story of Cunningham's downfall-from legendary Vietnam War ace pilot to federal inmate-was publicly credited by the U.S. District Attorney's Office to the Pulitzer Prize-winning team of reporters from Copley News Service and The San Diego Union-Tribune. Starting with the story of Cunningham's suspicious house sale to defense contractor Mitchell Wade, and using court records, Congressional travel databases, confidential sources, and even scans of a high school yearbook, the reporting team uncovered the Congressman's track record of illicit backroom deals. EXPOSÉ follows the reporters' trail to reveal how the contract game is played in Washington and how willing lawmakers are to play it.
The Copley News Service and The San Diego Union-Tribune go inside the Beltway and expose the bribes-for-government-contracts scheme that made Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham a rich man, and ultimately landed him in jail.
Warning Signs: Web Interview with Jeffrey Henthorn's Parents
When Jeffrey Henthorn, 25, returned from his first tour of duty in Iraq, his family noticed that something was not right. He woke up with nightmares and laughed callously at photos he took of Iraqis who had been shot and dismembered. When he was called up for his second tour of duty, he sobbed to his mother that he didn't want to go back. Two months later Henthorn’s family received the grim news that he had shot and killed himself with an M-16 rifle at an Army camp in Balad, Iraq.
Reporters Lisa Chedekel and Matt Kauffman talk about their very different reporting styles and conducting tough interviews, "some of the toughest either of us has ever done."
With the families of troops who had committed suicide in Iraq, most of them had never talked about the circumstances of the death of their son or daughter or husband.... Some had never even told relatives or close friends. There we were, strangers calling them from a newspaper in New England, asking them about one of the most taboo topics imaginable—suicide. You'd think most of them would hang up. And yet few did.
On the military's pre-deployment health assessment form, there is only one question regarding mental health that a recruit is asked before deploying. Question 7 asks, "During the past year, have you sought counseling or care for your mental health?" Matt Kauffman and Lisa Chedekel of the HARTFORD COURANT spent a year investigating mental health screening, depression, and suicide in the military. Are American soldiers mentally fit to fight? What happens if the answer is no?
Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman of the HARTFORD COURANT investigate a disturbing trend in the mental health condition of military personnel returning sent to Iraq and Afghanistan—suicide rates are up, and the military has inadequate mechanisms to care for those in need of help.
EXPOSÉ producer Joe Rubin has reported from five continents for programs such as ABC Nightline and PBS FRONTLINE/World. In 2000, on assignment for Nightline, Rubin immersed himself amongst the then unknown Otpor (Resistance) student movement that went on to oust Serbia's ruthless dictator Slobodan Milosevic. He produced a follow-up piece for FRONTLINE/World about the legacy of war in Serbia and Bosnia called "Dark Shadows." He's also reported for FRONTLINE/World in El Salvador and Sri Lanka.
In 2004 Joe was a Knight Fellow teaching video journalism in El Salvador, Panama, and Ecuador. Rubin was also a Pew Fellow in International Journalism in 2001. A versatile reporter, Joe has also reported for the New York Times, Mother Jones, CMJ Music Magazine, and National Public Radio.
After "Scouts’ Honor" was published in the Idaho Falls POST REGISTER, powerful sectors of the community launched a public relations campaign against the newspaper, questioning the reporting and focusing on the sexual orientation of the series reporter, Peter Zuckerman.
The Post Register is a wee dory of a newspaper: With 26,000 daily circulation, it's not buoyed by any corporate chain and has an opinion page often reviled in this livid corner of reddest Idaho for its reliable dissent.
Last year, by exposing Boy Scout pedophiles and those who failed to kick them out of the scouting program, we energized three of our community's big forces against us, including those most able to punish our newspaper - the community's majority religion, the richest guys in town, and the conservative machine that controls Idaho.
Reporter Peter Zuckerman won the Livingston Award for his coverage of a pedophilia scandal within an Idaho Boy Scouts council (featured in this and last week's EXPOSÉ: "In a Small Town"). At 26, he was one of the youngest journalists ever to win the award.
After winning the award, Zuckerman wrote up 10 tips for young journalists. Rule number 8: "Learn the secretary’s kids’ names and the janitor’s birthday. Secretaries who like you will go out of their way to get you access. So will janitors."
Meet Peter Zuckerman, the Idaho Falls POST REGISTER reporter who led the investigation of the Boy Scouts of America. In an interview with EXPOSÉ, Zuckerman says of his experience:
It was scary and exhilarating at the same time ... I used to think reporters aren't part of the story. That's how it should be. It isn't. By just doing your job, some people will love you, some people will hate you, and some people will drag you in and make you part of the news.
>>For more of EXPOSÉ's recent talk with Zuckerman and to listen to a bonus interview from Poynter podcasts, click here.
Funders for Exposé: America's Investigative Reports include: Anderson Family Charitable Fund, The Jacob Burns Foundation, The Betsy & Jesse Fink Foundation, Philip Harper, Park Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Bernard & Irene Schwartz, and Tracy & Eric Semler.
