Crooked politics is a state government specialty. Just look at Illinois. But what about the other 49 states? We’re undertaking an unprecedented look at transparency and accountability in the upcoming State Integrity Investigation.
Unlike previous rankings, the investigation does not rely on the number of scandals or a tally of recent officials sent to prison for graft. Rather, it grades every state on its risk of corruption by gathering data on a checklist of over 300 risk indicators across fourteen categories of state government -- from campaign finance, ethics laws and lobbying regulations to management of state pension funds -- as they apply in each state.
We’ll be ranking every state on March 19, but you can get a peek at the data now at www.stateintegrity.org. The project is in partnership with Public Radio International and Global Integrity.
Until next week,
William E. Buzenberg Executive Director
Four Obama lieutenants ready to shill for PACs At least four Cabinet members appear ready and willing to answer President Barack Obama’s call to help fill the coffers of Democratic outside spending groups, which have to date been badly outgunned by better-funded Republican organizations. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk have all indicated they would be open to participation in activities designed to help the nascent Democratic super PACs, like “Priorities USA Action,” raise money.
The ultimate goal of investigative journalism is impact. We want our reports to change laws, effect policy – and even alter the way people understand issues. At the Center for Public Integrity, we dig deep and swing for the fences.
Our Looting the Seas series on global overfishing has helped lower quotas for Atlantic blue fin tuna, started government investigations in Europe, and called attention to rampant over fishing of the lowly jack mackerel in the Southern Pacific. The oily fish is increasingly being scraped from the world's oceans to feed farmed salmon. Our International Consortium of Investigative Journalists will continue to report on the global debate we've stirred up.
Meanwhile, we were also gratified to see that the Costa Rican government is now studying the causes of a mysterious and chronic kidney disease among Central American sugarcane workers. Our stories on this illness have led the country’s biggest sugar producer to revamp its worker safety and health policies. The epidemic was the subject of our Island of the Widows investigation.
January 31st was the deadline for super PACs to file their latest expenditure reports. The Center dug into the numbers quickly to identify the major donors – and their special interests. These are the people who, in many respects, are attempting to buy the 2012 election. One thing is obvious: Most of these donors aren’t part of the 99 percent.
The Supreme Court Citizen’s United decision has made it possible for individuals, labor unions and corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on advertising for or against specific candidates. Worse, that money can now come from anonymous sources. The Center has dedicated itself to tracking this special interest money in a new project called Consider the Source. Please bookmark the page and visit often. --Bill Buzenberg, executive director
Pro-Romney PAC surges with $30M - mostly from investors Restore our future, the super PAC backing presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, received nearly $30 million in donations in 2011. The investment industry was far and away the most generous donor to the group. Supporters included several buddies from Romney’s old employer, Bain Capital, who gave a combined $750,000. Restore our Future has spent $17.5 million so far in the primary races, just about double that of pro-Gingrich PAC Winning Our Future. The super PAC has poured millions of dollars into advertising criticizing the former House Speaker as the Republican presidential nomination race heats up.
The Center for Public Integrity and NPR News have been named a finalist for the prestigious 2012 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. The two organizations collaborated on a major air pollution investigation called Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities.
The Goldsmith Prize is conferred by the Joan Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. The Investigative Reporting prize honors the journalist or journalists whose investigative reporting in a story or series of related stories best promotes more effective and ethical conduct of government, the making of public policy, or the practice of politics.
“It is a distinct honor for the Center for Public Integrity and our partner NPR to be a finalist for a Goldsmith Prize, one of the top journalism awards in the country,” said Executive Director William E. Buzenberg. “Our year-long investigation clearly shows how toxic air pollution menaces communities across the country, and how state and federal regulators have not done enough to address this threat to the health of millions of citizens.”
Two decades ago, Congress sought to protect Americans from nearly 200 dangerous chemicals in the air they breathe. That goal remains unfulfilled. Today, many communities are still exposed to the pollutants, which can cause cancer, birth defects and other health issues. A secret EPA ‘watch list’ underscores what government knows about the threat — and how little it has done to address it.
Free-for-all in southern Pacific decimates fish stocks
Asian, European and Latin American fleets have devastated fish stocks in the southern Pacific, once among the world’s richest waters, a new investigation by the Center’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has found. Governments with the power to stop the plunder have stalled for years, and no binding rules are in place. The result: Stocks of jack mackerel are down 90 percent to less than 3 million metric tons in just two decades. The oily fish is a staple in Africa, but people elsewhere are unaware that it is in their forkfuls of farmed salmon. Jack mackerel is a vital component of fishmeal for aquaculture. Today, industrial fleets bound only by voluntary restraints compete in what amounts to a free-for-all in open waters from the west coast of South America across much of the southern Pacific. The investigation also found that in Peru, at least 630,000 metric tons of anchoveta have vanished over the past two and a half years between the holds of boats and factory scales. That is more than all the fish British fleets land in a year.
The Center's Politics Editor John Dunbar appears on PBS NewsHour to talk super PAC impact on the Republican primary race with Robert Kelner of the Covington & Burling law firm.
The Center's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has added 41 new members to its roster, expanding the network’s reach to 158 news professionals working on an array of media platforms in 61 countries. ICIJ is a global network of reporters who collaborate on in-depth, cross-border stories and is a project of the Center for Public Integrity.
The new members are reporters, editors and journalism entrepreneurs in 28 countries on five continents. They bring a new wave of talent to the world’s oldest global network of investigative journalists — from cutting-edge computer-assisted reporting to multi-media skills. They also represent new business models and non-profit investigative centers that today are diversifying the media landscape from South Africa to Latvia.
“These additions to ICIJ mark the ambitious expansion of an already stellar team of journalists,” said ICIJ Director Gerard Ryle. “It is notable that in this group of dedicated professionals are courageous women and men who’ve helped investigate and explain some of the most important events and issues of our time, from the repressive regimes that led to the Arab Spring uprisings to the inner-workings of multi-national drug cartels. This is experience and ability that will invigorate our plans for cross-border investigations with global impact.”
Jesus Sosa Mancia, a CKD patient in Bajo Lempa, El Salvador, during a home visit by a medical team from the national health ministry.Sasha Chavkin/ICIJ
In case you missed them, catch up on this week's top investigations from iWatch News.
