Investigating a person, place or entity JRN275 Quinnipiac University Fall 2017 Dr. Molly Yanity

Overview Private individuals leave a trail of public records Elected officials leave many searchable documents that could reveal waste, corruption Government reports, annual reports offer linkage and opportunity for stories Reporters have written and unwritten ethics

Investigating A Private Person Tracing names: database searches Facebook, Instagram Newspaper archive LexisNexis Accurint Date-of-Birth Records County Recorder’s of Clerk of Courts office Property ownership, transfers, purchases

Private Person (cont.) Licensure Yearbooks State licenses (medicine, real estate broker, barber, exterminator, surveyor, appraiser, insurance agent, pharmacist, etc.) National accrediting bodies/agencies Yearbooks Political Activity - voting records Published Works

Private Person (cont.) Court Records Civil court records - lawsuits Divorce records - clerk of courts Sometimes sealed, but you can request access Probate court records - estate settlements, relatives, inherited property Federal courts - taxes, bankruptcies

Private Person (cont.) Death records Social Security Administration Death Master File www.ssdmf.com (search fee) Obituaries Business holdings - board members in annual reports

Public Officials All private resources before he/she went “public” Petitions Campaign documents Financial disclosure Tax returns do not have to be disclosed (but candidates often do) Financial disclosure for federal election rules

Public Officials (cont.) If elected, official documents escalate Payroll, expenses & budgets, public meeting activities, internal communications

Businesses Not-for-profit Organizations IRS 990 forms – includes key officers, salaries, contact information as well as the organization’s financial statements. It also includes essential information on finances, assets, investments and expenditures, staffing changes over time and sub-organizations. The footnotes can help generate story ideas.  Charitable purpose annual reports ProPublica’s NonProfit Finder Foundation Center’s 990 Finder

Businesses For-profit Businesses Personal corporations - watch for the name Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has a database called EDGAR Moody’s Investor Services Partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability corporations Private - private shareholders, but look for court cases, licenses, public contracts, published reports Publicly traded - SEC filings

Places Property ownership Inspection reports, EPA Google Maps/Old maps Aerial photography History

Ethics Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) rules Typical “house rules” in a newsroom: Certification - no plagiarism Identification - as a reporter Truth - no staging or altering Honesty - no payola Responsibility - no threats Independence - don’t get used Confirmation - attribution Balance - show both sides