Alec Klein, an award-winning investigative journalist and Northwestern University professor, presents tips for accessing and utilizing public documents in investigative projects during the free, full-day workshop, "Finding Your Best Investigative Business Story." This training event was hosted by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and the the SPJ Madison Pro Chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Sept. 28, 2013. For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit http://businessjournalism.org. For more tips on how to develop investigative business journalism stories, please visit http://bit.ly/investigativebiz2013.

1. Presented
by
Alec
Klein
Professor,
Medill
School
of
Journalism
Northwestern
University
Madison,
Wis.,
Sept.
28,
2013
What
documents
to
look
for
and
where
to
find
them

2. ¡ The
secret
to
investigative
business
reporting
is…
¡ Start
with:
§ Lexis-­‐
Nexis
§ Google

3. ¡ You
don’t
need
to
know
where
all
the
public
documents
are.
¡ You
need
to
know
what
questions
to
ask
to
find
them.
¡ To
wit:
192.com

4. ¡ Baltimore
Sun
investigation:
Supermarket
bankruptcy
¡ Words
of
wise
editor:
“The
good
reporters
know
what’s
missing.”
¡ Thinking:
I
never
know
what’s
missing.
¡ Did
you
check
for
hidden
depositions?
¡ Not
in
court
record:
wads
of
cash
in
brown
paper
bags
¡ Before
the
jump
on
A1

5. ¡ What
are
they?
¡ Where
do
you
get
them?
§ SEC's
Edgar
§ Company
website

6. ¡ 10-­‐K
¡ 10-­‐Q:
What’s
the
first
thing
to
look
for?
¡ Proxy:
What’s
the
first
thing
to
look
for?
¡ SEC
public
filings
only
go
so
far.
¡ What
is
considered
“material”
to
investors?
¡ Material:
Any
information
related
to
a
particular
business
that
might
be
relevant
to
an
investor's
decision
to
buy,
sell
or
hold
a
security
¡ A
company
can
slice
its
business
into
small
sectors
that
don’t
require
disclosure.
¡ To
wit:
AOL

8. Check
out
Robin
Phillips’
webinar
on
LinkedIn,
sourcing
through
social
networking
at
http://
businessjournalism
.org/2012/02/29/
getting-­‐linkedin-­‐
sourcing-­‐through-­‐
social-­‐networking-­‐
self-­‐guided-­‐
training/.

9. ¡ Former
employees
¡ Sworn
testimony
¡ Copies
of
contracts
¡ Business
strategy
¡ Where
to
find
lawsuits
§ State
and
federal
suits
▪ Many
online
§ If
not
online,
check
Lexis-­‐Nexis
§ If
not
there,
check
Pacer
for
federal
suits
§ http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov
(not
free)
¡ Pulling
documents
§ Big
issue?
§ Money

10. ¡ Gold
mine
§ Pacer
¡ For
what?
§ Creditors,
assets,
debts,
lawyers,
suppliers,
vendors
¡ Key
kinds?
§ Chapter
7:
liquidation
§ Chapter
11:
reorganization

11. ¡ SEC
¡ FCC
¡ FDA
§ Key:
on
almost
every
investigative
business
story,
there
is
a
government
body
that
has
some
connection
to
it.
¡ Congressional
Testimony
¡ Contradictions
¡ Remember
the
tobacco
executives
who
claimed
they
didn’t
know
anything
about
the
addictive
power
of
cigarettes?

12. ¡ Company
email
¡ Internal
newsletters
§ Get
on
the
mailing
list,
if
possible.
¡ Remember:
Don’t
steal,
don’t
lie,
don’t
break
into
computer
system.
§ Chiquita
Banana
case
¡ Wall
Street
analyst
reports

13. ¡ Property
records:
§ County
or
other
local
office
§ Many
online
§ Good
to
check
for:
§ Size,
details
of
executive’s
home
¡ Other
great
resources:
§ Planning
department
§ Zoning
§ Construction
§ Driver
records
▪ Depends
on
state;
e.g.,
Maryland,
need
permission
of
driver
for
records

14. ¡ Better
Business
Bureau
§ Consumer
complaints
¡ Uniform
Commercial
Code
§ State
records,
secretary
of
state
usually;
shows
who
has
borrowed
money,
what
used
as
collateral,
etc.
¡ Incorporation
records
§ Usually
secretary
of
state;
records
of
founding
of
the
business,
including
who
owns
it,
its
executives,
etc.
§ Reynolds
guide
to
where
to
find
them
in
50
states
¡ Hoovers:
Hoovers.com
¡ OpenCorporates.com:
company
records
from
75
jurisdictions
around
the
world

15. ¡ Can
get
detailed
tax
filings—
990s—of
their
finances
from
the
nonprofits
themselves
¡ Or
try
Guidestar
at
www.guidestar.org

16. ¡ Airplane-­‐ownership
search
§ Landings.com
¡ Finding
lawyers
§ Martindale.com
¡ Message
boards,
blogs
¡ Website
ownership
§ http://www.whois.sc/
¡ Internet
archive:
old
websites
§ www.archive.org
¡ HARO:
Helpa
ReporterOut.com
¡ ProfNet:
email
queries
for
experts.
§ www.profnet.com

17. ¡ Referenceusa.com
¡ Superpages.com
¡ AnyWho.com
¡ Switchboard.com
¡ Infobel.com:
international
directory
¡ Lexis
and
other
pay
sites:
§ Expensive
§ Even
at
The
Washington
Post:
key
holder
§ But
good
resource
for
investigative
or
beat
reporting
▪ Personal
information:
telephone
numbers
▪ Neighbors
▪ Legal
judgments

18. ¡ Opensecrets.org:
Center
for
Responsive
Politics
¡ Tray.com:
Political
Moneyline
¡ Publicintegrity.org:
Center
for
Public
Integrity
¡ Followthemoney.org:
National
Institute
on
Money
in
State
Politics
¡ Lobbyists
and
Other
Legislative
Resources:
§ http://www.fara.gov/
lobbying
on
behalf
of
foreign
entities
§ Congressional
Research
Service:
http://www.opencrs.com
§ GAO
Reports:
www.gao.gov
§ Thomas
website:
http://thomas.loc.gov/:
basic
legislation,
Congressional
reports
and
records

19. ¡ www.reporter.org/desktop/
tips/johndoe.htm
§ Born,
married,
died
§ Previous
addresses,
relatives,
associates
§ Lawsuits,
bankruptcies,
divorce,
criminal,
traffic
§ Home
phone
§ Attended
college
§ Real
estate
§ Etc.
¡ Courtesy
of
Duff
Wilson
¡ Truth
About
Criminal
Records:
§ There
is
a
national
criminal
record
database,
but
it
is
not
available
to
the
public.
§ FBI
database
§ Public
access
to
criminal
records
controlled
at
the
state
level
§ Each
state
has
different
rules
about
who
may
access
records
and
what
records
will
be
available.
§ Some
records
handled
at
the
county
level.

20. ¡ FOIA:
the
good
and
the
bad
§ Secret
bonuses
§ “Oh,
that
bonus”
§ Reprocessors
▪ List
of
reprocessors
▪ No
List
▪ List
▪ Names
missing
from
list
¡ FOIAs
can
be
used
to
acquire
data.
Check
out
The
Seattle
Times’
Michael
J.
Berens'
Oct.
22-­‐23
webinar,
Data
Journalism
101,
at
http://businessjournalism.org/
2013/03/11/data-­‐journalism-­‐101-­‐
online-­‐oct-­‐22-­‐23/.
¡ Beware:
§ They
might
leave
stuff
out.
§ Of
fishing
expeditions
§ Of
unexpected
costs
¡ Sample
FOIA
letters:
www.nfoic.org/sample-­‐foia-­‐letters
¡ FOIA-­‐letter
generator:
www.rcfp.org/foialetter/index.php

22. ¡ Not
public
¡ They
may
say
“Confidential.”
¡ You
need
to
interpret,
analyze,
translate.

24. ¡ Please
feel
free
to
contact
me
at
alecklein@gmail.com.