Browse Primary Sources
"Fakes, fraud and forgery in Lloyds PPI selling scandal" - James Dean - The Times (London)
". . .An investigation by The Times into Lloyds Banking Group has found that contractors employed at its largest PPI complaint handling unit were taught how to play the system to the detriment of clients. . ."
The London Times Tuesday, June 11, 2013
"Undercover Times probe reveals Lloyds PPI complaints failures" - Daniel Grote - New Model Adviser
". . .An undercover Times reporter went through the recruitment and training process to work as a complaints handler at Royal Mint Court in London.He was told that some bank salesman had faked PPI information in agreements on loan sales, and that complaint handlers should effectively turn a blind eye to the risk of fraud. . ."
New Model Adviser 2013-06-11
"The Bureau applauds the Guardian's pursuit of NI, but undercover reporting is still important" - The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
". . .The Guardian has shown how reporters and investigators working for News International abandoned the principle of public interest and the need for prima facie evidence to justify its investigations. . ."
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism 2011-07-12
"Anthropologist's 'Dick Tracy moment' plays role in arrest of suspected kidney trafficker" - Daily News
"The Brooklyn man arrested Thursday for dealing in black-market kidneys was identified to the FBI seven years ago as a major figure in a global human organ ring. Levy-Izhak Rosenbaum's name, address and even phone number were passed to an FBI agent in a meeting at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan by a prominent anthropologist who has been studying and documenting organ trafficking for more than a decade. . ."
New York Daily News 2009-07-24
Reaction: "ACORN Exposed" - Matthew Vadum - The American Spectator
". . .The sensational undercover video showed ACORN Housing employees in the group’s Baltimore office trying to help the two journalists set up a brothel. The pair told ACORN employees that underage girls from El Salvador were ready to enter the U.S. and start working as child prostitutes. . ."
The American Spectator 2009-09-14
"Three Pinnacol Board Members go on Luxury Company Trip" - CALL7 - ABC News Denver
". . .The video shows three Pinnacol board members Board President Gary Johnson, ethics member Debra Lovejoy and board member Ryan Hettich golfing at $495 a round, staying in rooms that the hotel says start at $695 a night and enjoying dinner and cocktail parties. Johnson brought his wife and Lovejoy was joined by her fiancée. . ."
ABC News 2010-08-12
"A decade of being the man behind the mask" - Unsigned - China Daily/Asia News Network
". . .I have been punched many times and was once exposed while investigating a secret industry. A man threatened to kill me if I reported the truth, so I never did.That's the reason I never use my real name in my articles and am wearing a mask today. . ."
Asia One News 2010-06-01
"A cheap way to deliver quick results as newspapers slug it out in hard times" - Phillip Knightley - The Independent
". . .The ethics about undercover reporting are far from clear. The journalist has to weigh the public interest of the story and the importance of what is being revealed, against the opprobrium of the technique and the victim's feeling, often shared by the reader, that they have been lied to and deceived. Donal MacIntyre, who went undercover many times for the BBC, said: 'The golden rule is this: as an undercover reporter you must never encourage anyone to say or do anything they would not otherwise do if you had not been there' . . ."
The Independent 2010-05-24
"Liberal Democrats to step up demands for lobbyist register as Patrick Mercer scandal grows and peers are snared by undercover reporters" - Brian Brady and Paul Cahalan - The Independent
". . .The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, is expected to demand the Government honours its commitment to establish an official register of lobbyists, in the wake of allegations that Mr Mercer, a Tory MP, lobbied on behalf of Fiji after being paid thousands of pounds by undercover reporters. . ."
The Independent (UK) 2013-06-02
"LSE anger at BBC Panorama over North Korea trip" - BBC News
". . .'For us, this is a matter of student welfare - students were lied to, they weren't able to give their consent.'She said all LSE's future research was 'now at risk'. 'I think the trip was organised by the BBC as potentially a ruse for them to get into North Korea and that's disgraceful. They've used students essentially as a human shield in this situation.' . . ."
BBC News 2013-04-14
"Reporter's notebook: Going undercover inside Bangladesh garment factory" - Holly Williams - CBS News
". . .To get a candid view of Bangladesh's garment factories, we posed as buyers. We told the managers we met that we wanted to source clothes as cheaply as possible.What we saw inside some of their factories was hair-raising. In one four-story facility we noticed there were hardly any fire extinguishers. On a floor where several hundred workers toiled over sewing machines, we counted only two extinguishers. Signs on the wall marked where they should have been. . ."
CBS News 2013-05-23
"MP Patrick Mercer quits Tory whip Over Panorama lobbying inquiry" - Unsigned - BBC News
". . .A clip of Mr Mercer being filmed undercover has been released by Panorama. It shows the MP meeting with an undercover reporter, who was posing as a representative of the fake company.Mr Mercer can be heard saying: "I do not charge a great deal of money for these things. I would normally come out at £500 per half day, so £1,000 a day." The undercover reporter replies: "Ok fine." Panorama said it had paid Mr Mercer £4,000 for working two days a month at a rate of £2,000 per month, but that the money had yet to be declared to the parliamentary authorities. . ."
BBC News 2013-05-31
"Tibet: A Losing Battle? (Part 2)" - Christopher Davis, Mark Thompson and David Boratav - France 24
France 24 2013-05-31
"Journalism: To Sting or Not to Sting?" - Roy Greenslade - The Guardian
". . .These are especially obvious when undercover reporting methods and elaborate subterfuge are used. Editors overseeing such investigations have to ask themselves several questions. The first one is the most crucial of all: is there enough prima facie evidence of wrongdoing by a person to warrant a sophisticated sting operation? . . ."
The Guardian 2013-06-02
"Impact of Mirage Series Still Felt 35 Years Later" – William Recktenwald – St. Louis Journalism Review presents Gateway Journalism Review
"Thirty-five years have passed, but the series is still talked about — not so much as to what was reported, but how it was reported, and its impact not on the crooks that were exposed, but on reporting methods."
Gateway Journalism ReviewSt. Louis Journalism Review 2013-03-01
"The Media's Intrusion on Privacy: Balancing the Rights of Privacy and the Press: A Reply to Professor Smolla" – Erwin Chemerinsky – The George Washington Law Review
The George Washington Law Review 1999-06-01
"The Media's Intrusion on Privacy: Privacy and the First Amendment Right to Gather News" – Rodney A. Smolla – The George Washington Law Review
The George Washington Law Review 1999-06-01
"When a Reporter Is An Uninvited Guest" - Margaret Sullivan - New York Times
"... I would see the case far differently if a Times reporter had been eavesdropping on a private citizens for a salacious story or had illegally broken into a private home. That would be unacceptable -- but it wasn't what happened." "My conclusion: Given the buttoned-down, scrubbed-up way politicians present themselves, it's challenging for reporters to get under the surface. And it's important for citizens that they do. "What Mr. Lipton [the reporter, Eric Lipton] did should not become an everyday practice. But -- seen in this wider context -- it's not nly pretty small stuff, but also reflects some journalistic initiative that serves Times readers well."
The New York Times 2013-04-26
"When a Reporter Is An Uninvited Guest" - Margaret Sullivan - New York Times
"... I would see the case far differently if a Times reporter had been eavesdropping on a private citizens for a salacious story or had illegally broken into a private home. That would be unacceptable -- but it wasn't what happened." "My conclusion: Given the buttoned-down, scrubbed-up way politicians present themselves, it's challenging for reporters to get under the surface. And it's important for citizens that they do. "What Mr. Lipton [the reporter, Eric Lipton] did should not become an everyday practice. But -- seen in this wider context -- it's not nly pretty small stuff, but also reflects some journalistic initiative that serves Times readers well."
The New York Times 2013-04-26
"When a Reporter Is An Uninvited Guest" - Margaret Sullivan - New York Times
"... I would see the case far differently if a Times reporter had been eavesdropping on a private citizens for a salacious story or had illegally broken into a private home. That would be unacceptable -- but it wasn't what happened." "My conclusion: Given the buttoned-down, scrubbed-up way politicians present themselves, it's challenging for reporters to get under the surface. And it's important for citizens that they do. "What Mr. Lipton [the reporter, Eric Lipton] did should not become an everyday practice. But -- seen in this wider context -- it's not nly pretty small stuff, but also reflects some journalistic initiative that serves Times readers well."
The New York Times 2013-04-26
"When a Reporter Is An Uninvited Guest" - Margaret Sullivan - New York Times
"... I would see the case far differently if a Times reporter had been eavesdropping on a private citizens for a salacious story or had illegally broken into a private home. That would be unacceptable -- but it wasn't what happened." "My conclusion: Given the buttoned-down, scrubbed-up way politicians present themselves, it's challenging for reporters to get under the surface. And it's important for citizens that they do. "What Mr. Lipton [the reporter, Eric Lipton] did should not become an everyday practice. But -- seen in this wider context -- it's not nly pretty small stuff, but also reflects some journalistic initiative that serves Times readers well."
The New York Times 2013-04-26
"Tax Lobby Builds Ties to Chairman of Finance Panel" - Eric Lipton - New York Times
"'It allows us to scare off opponents,' Mr. Wilkins told the group, which included former Baucus aides turned lobbyists, at a Capitol Hill townhouse owned by Federal Express. 'It is the basis of everything we do. So thank you for your support and everything you have done for Senator Baucus.'" A New York Times reporter in attendance was asked to leave the private event. . . . "
The New York Times 2013-04-06
"Tax Lobby Builds Ties to Chairman of Finance Panel" - Eric Lipton - New York Times
"'It allows us to scare off opponents,' Mr. Wilkins told the group, which included former Baucus aides turned lobbyists, at a Capitol Hill townhouse owned by Federal Express. 'It is the basis of everything we do. So thank you for your support and everything you have done for Senator Baucus.'" A New York Times reporter in attendance was asked to leave the private event. . . . "
The New York Times 2013-04-06
"Panorama North Korea documentary goes undercover with 5.1 million" – Mark Sweney - The Guardian (UK)
"The BBC's controversial Panorama documentary, North Korea Undercover, attracted an average of more than 5 million viewers on Monday night. The storm of controversy surrounding Panorama journalist John Sweeney, who used a trip organised by the London School of Economics to infiltrate and film in the secretive nation, helped fuel bumper ratings for the BBC."
The Guardian 2013-04-16
"Panorama: North Korea Undercover – TV review" – Sam Wollaston - The Guardian (UK)
"'Journalists are all but banned from North Korea, so I'm going in undercover," says John Sweeney. I think he quite likes saying that. He is of course with a group of LSE students on a study trip, pretending to be a history teacher. He looks the part too. Don't forget they don't really have the internet in North Korea, so they won't have seen his famous Scientology rant on YouTube."
The Guardian 2013-04-15
"BBC denies endangering students with undercover visit to North Korea" - The Guardian (UK)
"The BBC has denied claims that it put students from a London university at risk when an undercover journalist accompanied them on a field trip to North Korea. John Sweeney, a reporter for the Panorama programme, is said to have joined the student group from the London School of Economics (LSE) on a visit to the communist country so he could carry out secret filming."
The Guardian 2013-04-14
"BBC Tactics in Covering North Korea Are Faulted" - Ravi Somaiya - The New York Times
"As tensions escalated between North Korea and the world late last month, a small group of students from the prestigious London School of Economics crossed the border into the reclusive country for what was described by organizers as a government-sanctioned “week of sight seeing, meeting with ministers, government officials” and academics. But among the students, the university announced in an outraged statement over the weekend, were three BBC journalists filming an undercover documentary."
The New York Times 2013-04-15
"North Korea Undercover" – John Sweeney - BBC One Panorama
"While North Korea's 'Supreme Commander' Kim Jong-Un has been threatening thermo-nuclear war against the United States, Panorama reporter John Sweeney spent eight days undercover inside the most rigidly-controlled nation on Earth. Travelling from the capital Pyongyang to the countryside beyond and to the de-Militarised Zone on the border with South Korea, Sweeney witnesses a landscape bleak beyond words, a people brainwashed for three generations and a regime happy to give the impression of marching towards Armageddon."
BBC One 2013-04-15
"23 year-old Homeless Woman Found Dead" – Ishimaru Jiro – Rimjin-gang – ASIAPRESS International
"A 23 year-old woman Rimjin-gang reporter Kim Dong-cheol previously interviewed was recently found dead in a field. Kim was conducting undercover reporting in South Pyongan Province in June 2010 when he met an emaciated, soot-blackened woman in the suburb of the city. With a weak voice, she told Kim she had recently lost her parents, her home, and had since been living in the streets. Kim couldn’t catch her name because of her weak voice."
ASIAPRESS InternationalASIAPRESS English 2011-02-11
"June 2010 South Pyongan Province" – Kim Dong-cheol – Rimjin-gang – ASIAPRESS International
ASIAPRESS EnglishASIAPRESS International 2010-12-03
Blog: "The Way of All Flesh" – Ted Conover - tedconover.com
"A couple of years ago, I applied for a job as a USDA meat inspector. Most inspectors work inside slaughterhouses; I thought it would be a good way to take a closer look at that world. Last fall I finally got hired."
"The Way of All Flesh" – Ted Conover - Harper's Magazine
"The cattle arrive in perforated silver trailers called cattle pots that let in wind and weather and vent out their hot breath and flatus. It’s hard to see inside a cattle pot. The drivers are in a hurry to unload and leave, and are always speeding by. (When I ask Lefty how meat gets bruised, he says, “You ever see how those guys drive?”) The trucks have come from feedlots, some nearby, some in western Nebraska, a few in Iowa. The plant slaughters about 5,100 cattle each day, and a standard double-decker cattle pot holds only about forty, so there’s a constant stream of trucks pulling in to disgorge, even before the line starts up a little after six a.m."
Harper's 2013-05-01
"Alleged Prositution in Philippines" - Nightline - ABC News
ABC News 2013-02-25
"Councillors for Hire Who Give Firms Planning Advice" - Holly Watt, Claire Newell and Ben Bryant - The Telegraph
". . .Despite apparently creating the potential for a conflict of interest, it is not illegal for councillors to work as paid consultants. Councils are expected to face an increase in applications for building when new planning laws take effect at the end of this month. . ."
The Telegraph 2013-03-10
"The Amazon Archipelago" - Ida Ince - Critical Legal Thinking
". . .Control is absolute: the workers are under 24 hour surveillance. They work under guard, they eat at the guards’ behest. They travel under guard. They are put into and taken from their rooms by guards. If they are not ready on time, either because they are asleep or in the shower, the guards enter the cramped quarters to hurry them on their way. . ."
Critical Legal Thinking 2013-02-15
"WHDH Takes and Undercover Look at Medical Marijuana Certifications" - Merrill Knox - TV Spy
". . .Massachusetts law permits doctors to give a marijuana certification to possess and grow a 60 day supply “after a full assessment” of the “patients medical history” they think the “benefits would outweigh the health risks,” according to WHDH. The producer went to three clinics with just the x-rays — which were of a yellow Labrador’s elbow — and no detailed medical records. She was able to obtain a certification at two of the three health clinics. . ."
TV Spy 2013-03-26
"Cruel Fraud" - Pia Malbran, Lamont L. Belton, Jeff Glor - CBS News
CBS News 2013-03-12
"Councillors for Hire Who Give Firms Planning Advice" - Holly Watt, Claire Newell and Ben Bryant - The Telegraph
". . .Despite apparently creating the potential for a conflict of interest, it is not illegal for councillors to work as paid consultants. Councils are expected to face an increase in applications for building when new planning laws take effect at the end of this month. . ."
The Telegraph 2013-03-10
"Undercover Reporter 'Haunted' by Abuse of Patients" - Joe Casey - BBC Panorama
On a near-daily basis, I watched as some of the very people entrusted with the care of society's most vulnerable targeted patients - often, it seemed, for their own amusement. They are scenes of torment that are not easily forgotten.The targets had no way of defending themselves or speaking out. Anyone who questioned the abuse met a wall of silence.
BBC News 2011-05-31
"Battle for the Elephants Episode 1: The Plight of the Elephant" - J.J. Kelley - A Voice for Elephants
"Since the opening up of the Chinese market and the growth of its economy, ivory—once a precious material reserved for the ruling elite—has become increasingly available to the growing Chinese middle class. To help tell this story our team is with one of the top experts in the world, and the author of the upcoming article that coincidentally could get them kicked out of the country, if exposed. . ."
National Geographic 2013-02-08
"Introduction: Battle for the Elephants" - J.J. Kelley - A Voice for Elephants
". . .As a producer on the upcoming PBS Special, Battle for the Elephants, I was part of an international team that went undercover to investigate the illegal ivory trade. Our team knew early on that we had to take a holistic approach to documenting this story. The ivory trade—and it’s devastating impact on elephant populations—doesn’t just come down to “evil” poachers in Africa killing elephants without regard, nor is it merely a lust for ivory in Asia. . ."
National Geographic 2013-02-06
"Battle for the Elephants" - Bryan Christy & Aidan Hartley - National Geographic
National Geographic 2013-02-01
"Ivory Worship" - Bryan Christy - National Geographic Magazine
'“Ivory, ivory, ivory,” says the saleswoman at the Savelli Gallery on St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. “You didn’t expect so much. I can see it in your face.” The Vatican has recently demonstrated a commitment to confronting transnational criminal problems, signing agreements on drug trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime. But it has not signed the CITES treaty and so is not subject to the ivory ban. If I buy an ivory crucifix, the saleswoman says, the shop will have it blessed by a Vatican priest and shipped to me.'
National Geographic Magazine 2013-01-01
"Reporter Goes Undercover with Migrant Smuggling Gang" - Paul Kenyon - BBC News
". . .Using secret filming, he met up with an underground network charging migrants as much as £1,500 to hide them in lorries destined for mainland Europe.Some who use the service have lived illegally in the UK for years, but want to move on in the hope of finding richer pickings elsewhere in Europe. Others are thought to be fleeing the justice system. . ."
BBC News 2013-01-20
"Is Undercover Over?" - Aaron Swartz - FAIR
"The piece on lobbyists, he and his editor insist, was not just done to investigate the particular lobbying firms, but to reawaken journalists to the power of undercover reporting. 'There was this meta level in the planning that asked, 'How will the journalism establishment react?'' Harper's editor Roger Hodge told a reporter (AJR, 10/07). "The fact that undercover journalism has fallen out of fashion seems to be a problem with the profession."
FAIR 2008-03-01
"Immigrants with No Criminal History Get Lengthy Stays at Private South Florida Facility" - Megan O'Matz - WPTV
". . .In a daring move, two young adults, both illegal immigrants brought by their families to the United States as children, turned themselves in to gain access to the center and expose what they claimed were human rights abuses and policy violations by federal authorities.Once inside, they said they found people unjustly arrested and subjected to lengthy and unnecessary confinement, and reported incidents of substandard or callous medical care, including a woman taken for ovarian surgery and returned the same day, still bleeding, to her cell, and a man who urinated blood for days but wasn't taken to see a doctor. . ."
WPTV 2013-01-06
"CBS 5 Goes Undercover to Investigate Black Market Birth Control" - Lindsey Reiser - CBS 5
". . .Yerberias may be a great place to find natural remedies for whatever might be ailing you - maybe a stomachache or a headache. But CBS 5 News has learned some Valley yerberias are also a great place to find birth control, oftentimes brought here from Mexico.We asked for contraceptives at five yerberias in Phoenix, and got some at two of them, for about $20 each, without a prescription. . ."
CBS News 2012-05-08
"The NII Inside Out: A Sociologist Goes Undercover" - Lisa Siregar - The Jakarta Globe
". . .Dewi, a sociologist who graduated from the University of Indonesia, decided to look beyond the headlines to find out what the NII was really about after a few of her friends were recruited by the organization. She went undercover in the group in 2008 and 2009 and turned her findings into a book, “Mengapa Saya Memilih Negara Islam” (“Why I Choose an Islamic State”), which was released last month. In the book, Dewi shares her firsthand accounts of the NII’s recruitment methods and details interviews with six former members of the organization. Perhaps her most surprising finding was that the NII is hardly the threat to the state that is portrayed in the media. . ."
The Jakarta Globe 2011-07-24
"Outrage in Damascus After Israeli Reporters Enter Syria" - Unsigned - France 24
". . .Syria, in the grips of a deadly civil war, is not a safe place for journalists – 17 have been killed there in 2012, according to several NGOs.The country is doubly dangerous for Israelis. Syria is still officially at war with the Hebrew state and Israelis are unable to visit most of their neighbouring Arab countries. . ."
France 24 2012-12-20
"I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave" - Mac McClelland - Mother Jones
". . .Despite moving fast enough to get sloppy, my scanner tells me that means I'm fulfilling only 52 percent of my goal. A supervisor who is a genuinely nice person comes by with a clipboard listing my numbers. Like the rest of the supervisors, she tries to create a friendly work environment and doesn't want to enforce the policies that make this job so unpleasant. But her hands are tied. She needs this job, too, so she has no choice but to tell me something I have never been told in 19 years of school or at any of some dozen workplaces."You're doing really bad," she says. . ."
Mother Jones 2012-03-01
"Cryptic Message Triggers Fears Over Fate of Chinese Reporter's Investigative Team" - Jonathan Watts - The Guardian (UK)
". . .Wang Keqin, a pioneer of in-depth and undercover reporting over the past decade, caused alarm with a cryptic message on his Sina Weibo microblog about taboos and silencing speech. "Where political power burns books, it will also ultimately burn people also," he wrote.Associates said senior officials were targeting his newspaper – China Economic Times – and its investigative news department was being broken up. . ."
The Guardian 2011-07-18
"Cuba's Ladies in White" - Ivan Hernandez - People & Power
"After 53 years of revolution, Cubans are increasingly exasperated by the restrictions imposed on them by the country's change-averse communist regime. In spite of, or perhaps because of, recent modest economic reforms, activism is growing as the government's opponents overcome their fear of arrest and take to the streets. . ."
"How to Rob Africa" - Stanley Kwenda, Clive Patterson, and Anas Aremeyaw Anas - People & Power
"The world's wealthy countries often criticise African nations for corruption - especially that perpetrated by those among the continent's government and business leaders who abuse their positions by looting tens of billions of dollars in national assets or the profits from state-owned enterprises that could otherwise be used to relieve the plight of some of the world's poorest peoples. Yet the West is culpable too in that it often looks the other way when that same dirty money is channelled into bank accounts in Europe and the US.International money laundering regulations are supposed to stop the proceeds of corruption being moved around the world in this way, but it seems the developed world's financial system is far more tempted by the prospect of large cash injections than it should be. . ."
"Undercover in the Theatre: The 'Sexy Lord' of Abortion" - Anas Aremeyaw Anas - Modern Ghana
". . .Having gathered information about the existence of the 'illegal abortion hub,' operated by Drah, we [the Special Investigations Team] of the New Crusading Guide, headed by our ace undercover reporter Anas Aremeyaw Anas, went in to ascertain the truth, during which time we managed to plant our cameras in the 'theatre'.The videos that we got were simply unbelievable. It was a peek into the activities of a man who has for over a decade demeaned womanhood, flouted laws of the land and supervised numerous abortions – some of which have gone horribly wrong leading to complications and death of clients in extreme cases. . ."
"Denver Undercover Investigation: Dentists With a Dark Side" - Heidi Hemmat - Fox 31 Denver
". . .We went under cover with hidden cameras and found practicing dentists who previously had their license suspended or revoked.Dentists including Larry Haws. According to Colorado dental board records, Haws issued “over 130 prescriptions” for powerful pain killers to himself. He pleaded guilty to drug possession and was asked by the state to surrender his license in 2002. In an effort to get his license back, Haws agreed to random drug testing. But then he tested positive for Benzodiazepines, another powerful tranquilizer. . ."
Fox News 2012-11-08
"A Day at the Lincoln Club: My Lunch With the Group Behind Citizens United and Prop. 32" - Matthew Fleischer - Frying Pan News
". . .And here I am, in the teeth of the Conservative movement, surrounded by power suits and blonde bouffants, trying to be the best Republican I can be. In preparation, I shaved my sideburns up above my ears, and slicked my hair to the side–a Chappelle’s Show parody of a white guy. I must look the part, as I spy the blondest, most-intimidating bouffant of them all making its way toward me. It belongs to Teresa Hernandez, a onetime Republican congressional candidate who tried to take Hilda Solis’ seat after Obama appointed her Secretary of Labor. Almost as soon as I sign myself in, Hernandez introduces herself. . ."
Frying Pan News 2012-10-30
"Good News for Farm Animals and the First Amendment" - Brian J. Buchanan - Knox News
". . .That ruling illustrates the occasional tension between First Amendment freedoms of speech and press and some of society’s other values. The 4th Circuit said the news media could not break the law, that the reporters were indeed guilty of trespassing and breach of employee loyalty. Yet the court also refused to countenance what it called 'an end-run around First Amendment strictures' by Food Lion. . ."
Knox News 2011-06-15
"Alone, Among Neo-Nazis" - Igal Avidan - Israel Hayom
". . .Shortly after that first concert near his house in 1997, Kuban began to lead a double life. During the day, he worked as a journalist writing stories about the racist music scene under numerous fictitious bylines. At nights and during weekends, he dug up information about skinheads. . ."
Israel Hayom 2012-10-12
"Cross in the Closet: Straight Christian Lives a Year as a Gay Man" - Susan Donaldson James - Good Morning America
". . .Kurek's reaction ate away at him, and he wondered what it felt like to be gay and so alone. So even though Kurek identifies as straight, he embarked on what one religious writer called 'spiritual espionage.' He would live like a gay man for a year. . ."
Good Morning America Thursday, October 11, 2012
"Mads Brügger, 'The Ambassador' Director, Takes Exploitation to a Whole New Level" - Michael Hogan - Huffington Post
". . .Using some hidden cameras but relying mostly on an in-plain-sight Canon 7D, he surreptitiously filmed his interactions with the many scoundrels eager to fleece him -- from shady brokers of diplomatic credentials to the "assistant" who counsels him to make a disastrous business deal. And he indulged in some exploitation of his own, hiring a village of Pygmies to staff up a matchstick factory that, to their eventual disappointment, would never be built. (Every shady diplomat needs a cover story, after all.) But what bothers critics the most, perhaps, is Brügger's habit of prancing around in a preposterous colonial getup, making offensive remarks and generally playing the part of the amoral white chancer to the hilt. . ."
Huffington Post 2012-08-29
"A Night in a Workhouse" - James Greenwood - Pall Mall Gazette
". . . This mysterious figure was that of the present writer. He was bound for Lambeth workhouse, there to learn by actual experience how casual paupers are lodged and fed, and what the 'casual' is like, and what the porter who admits him, and the master who rules over him; and how the night passes with the outcasts whom we have all seen rowding about workhouse doors on cold and rainy nights. Much has been said on the subject -- on behalf of the paupers -- on behalf of the officials; but nothing by any one who, with no motive but to learn and make known the truth, had ventured the experiment of passing a night in a workhouse, and trying what it actually is to be casual. . . . "
The Pall Mall Gazette 1866-01-12
"Syria Crisis: Aleppo's Deadly Aerial Warfare" - Paul Wood - BBC News (Syria)
". . .A small dot - a bomb - detached from the plane as it disappeared over the buildings on the horizon.We counted to five before it hit, a deafening explosion that rattled the windows. A large black cloud billowed up, blotting out the sky at the end of the road. It was noisy chaos when we got there. A crowd of dozens quickly became a couple of hundred as men ran in from side streets to help. A white pick-up truck was enveloped in flames. A circle of scorched earth, 30-40m across, radiated out from it. Weeds on the edge of the blackened concrete were still burning too. . ."
BBC News 2012-09-17
"Funeral Workers' Insult to the Dead" - Nikki Murfit - Mail Online (UK)
"A shocking new documentary shows staff from one of the country’s biggest funeral firms making lewd and racist comments towards the dead and their families.An undercover reporter spent three months working for Gillman Funeral Services, which has six branches in South London and is part of Funeral Partners Ltd, owners of 70 UK funeral businesses. In scenes certain to upset viewers, staff show a blatant disrespect for the bodies of the deceased in their care, even chanting ‘Chelsea scum’ at one before sealing his coffin. While driving a body in a hearse, staff watch pornography on a mobile phone, and when collecting one woman’s ashes they joke that her favourite song was Shake, Rattle And Roll. . ."
Mail Online 2012-09-22
"Chinese Reporter Goes Undercover at Foxconn on 'iPhone 5' Production Line" - Jon Russell - TNW blog
"A undercover report from the Shanghai Evening Post, which has been translated into English by MIC Gadget, reopens the controversy around exactly what goes on at Apple partner Foxconn's manufacturing facilities in China. . . ."
The Next Web - TNW - blog 2012-09-12
"Chinese Reporter Goes Undercover at Foxconn on 'iPhone 5' Production Line" - Jon Russell - TNW blog
"There is no cast iron guarantee of the report's authenticity -- Chinese media are not unknown to embellish reports, something 'This American Life''s Mike Daisey showed even Western media can be guilty of -- but the claims do appear to line up with previous reports of conditions at Foxconn."
"WATCH: Full Secret Video of Private Romney Fundraiser" - David Corn - Mother Jones
"The complete video demonstrates that Romney was not snippetized and that he was captured raw and uncut. Here it is, in two parts."
Mother Jones 2012-09-19
"How Jimmy Carter's Grandson Helped Leak the Secret Romney Fund-raiser Video" - Joe Coscarelli - New York Magazine
". . .Carter told Intel Daily that 'He put the anonymous video source in touch with the Mother Jones reporter and then butted out, knowing he was on to something. 'Any time you can find a clip that strengthens the narrative already established, that's what becomes a big deal,' Carter explained. 'I've been trying to get paid for this but it hasn't worked out yet. This might help' . . ."
New York Magazine 2012-09-17
"SECRET VIDEO: On Israel, Romney Trashes Two-State Solution" - David Corn - Mother Jones
"Mother Jones has obtained video of Romney at this intimate dinner and has confirmed its authenticity. The event was held at the home of controversial private equity manager Marc Leder in Boca Raton, Florida, with tickets costing $50,000 a plate. During the freewheeling conversation, a donor asked Romney how the 'Palestinian problem' can be solved. Romney immediately launche into a detailed reply, asserting that the Palestinians have 'no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, adn that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish . . . 'I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say there's just no way.'. . ."
Mother Jones 2012-09-18
"SECRET VIDEO: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He Really Thinks of Obama Voters" - David Corn - Mother Jones
"Mother Jones has obtained video of Romney at this intimate fundraiser - where he candidly discussed his campaign strategy and foreign policy ideas in stark terms he does not use in public - and has confirmed its authenticity. To protect the confidential source who provided the video, we have blurred some of the image, and we will not identify the date or location of the veent, which occurred after Romney had clinched the Republican nomination. [UPDATE: We can now report that this fundraiser was held in the Boca Raton home of controversial private equity manager Marc Leder on May 17 and we've removed the blurring from the video. See the original blurred videos here. . . . "
Mother Jones Monday, September 17, 2012
"Romney '47 Percent' Fundraiser Host: Hedge Fund Manager Who Likes Sex Parties" - David Corn - Mother Jones
Mother Jones 2012-09-17
"Mitt Romney '47 percent' Video" - Ellen McGregor - WPTV and WPTV.com
WPTV News Channel - WPTV.com - West Palm Beach, FL 2012-09-18
"Undercover Reporter Reveals Conditions at Foxconn iPhone Factory" - Charlie Osborne - ZD Net
". . .Potentially reopening the controversy around Apple partner Foxconn's Chinese factories, the reporter was put through an intensive 7-day orientation, in which he was shown the living quarters, where he would eat, and how to assemble his assigned portion of the new phone model. . ."
ZD NetThe Next Web - TNW - blogShanghai Evening Post 2012-09-12
"Selling Innocence—entry for the IRE Awards" - Dave Savini - IRE Journal
IRE Journal 2001-01-01
"Working Undercover" - Susan Banda - IRE Journal / Milwaukee Journal
"Eric Szatkowski, a special agent for Wisconsin's Department of Justice, was Schuman's worst nightmare, one he'll be living for the next 35 years in prison. In his role as undercover cop, the 39-year-old Szatkowski (pronounced zat-kow-ski) switches personalities like people change shoes."
IRE JournalMilwaukee Journal 1995-01-01
"Imam Uproar" - Tom Merriman - IRE Journal
"The instructions were simple: Catch a flight to a city on the east coast. Rent a car. Drive to a specific parking garage. Await instructions. The rules were uncompromising: No cameras. No taxis. No disclosure of my ultimate destination. The payoff was unbelievable: Complete access to hidden camera tapes, transcripts, and translations documenting the Islamic terror network in America."ire
IRE Journal 2003-05-01
"Honoring the best in investigative journalism" - 1992 IRE Awards - IRE Journal
IRE Journal 1993-05-01
"Vietnam: Four-Year Jail Sentence For Undercover Reporting Into Police Corruption" - Unsigned - Eurasia Review
". . .Khuong, who has been held since January, was convicted of giving bribes to police officers. He was arrested after writing two stories about police corruption for which he did some undercover reporting, posing as a traffic offender pretending to bribe a policeman. . ."
Eurasia Review 2012-09-07
"Exclusive: Inside Karl Rove's Billionaire Fundraiser" - Sheelah Kolhalkar - Bloomberg Business Week
". . .This rare look at the mechanics of super-PAC fundraising and electoral strategy was likely not intended for reporters. I was invited as the guest of the financier who is a significant Republican donor. The financier knew that I was a journalist. At no point was I presented with, nor did I agree to, restrictions regarding the information I heard. Upon my arrival at breakfast, I was not asked if I was a journalist. I gave my name, identified the person who had invited me, was handed a wristband, and ushered into the dining room. American Crossroads disuptes this version of events, but a spokesman did not immediately return calls to elaborate. . . ."
Bloomberg BusinessweekBusiness Week 2012-08-31
"Undercover with Activists in Syria" - Unsigned - CNN.com
CNN 2012-08-29
"West Papua Resistance Losing Fight for Freedom" - Hayden Cooper - ABC Radio Australia
". . .There are even claims that an elite counter-terrorism unit, one that has been funded and trained by Australia, is operating in West Papua where it is accused of targeting and killing independence leaders.The ABC's Hayden Cooper went undercover in the secretive Indonesian provinces, where he discovered a police state operating with impunity. . ."
ABC Radio Australia 2012-08-27
"Undercover at the GOP's Voter Vigilante Project to Disrupt the Nov. Election" - Steven Rosenfeld - Alternet.org
". . . Since 2004, I have been a national radio producer, investigative reporter, author and consultant - writing about how elections are won, lost bungled and improved, with a big focus on voter registration. But I had never snuck into a meeting of right-wing voting vigilantes who are the frontline of a national voter suppression strategy, and where the main speaker was a man whose new book I'd aggressively debunked days before, in an Alternet article lauded by a leading election law blog and the Washington Post . . . "
alternet 2012-08-24
"Lying to Tell the Truth: Journalists and the Social Context of Deception" - Seow Ting Lee - Mass Communication & Society
"Deception is an illusive and difficult issue. The inverse of deception is truthfulness, which is perhaps the closest to a universal value that we have. Deception is objectionable, but this moral outlook is complicated by the systematic nature of deception in human relationships, from little white lies in social intercourse to the far more capacious deception in international relations or warfare. . ."
Mass Communication and Society 2004-01-01
Letter of Introduction to the Pulitzer Prize Committee - Paul Steiger
"In 1994, Tony Horwitz didn't just write about the plight of America's working poor. He went to work himself, on the kill floor of chicekn plants in Mississippi and Arkanses. The result is a shocking expose of a world in which workers are maimed, degraded and discarded in exchange for a poverty wage. . ."
Wall Street Journal 1995-01-23
"Undercover Video of Cows Being Shocked, Shot, Prompts USDA to Shut Calif. Slaughterhouse" - Tracie Cone - Associated Press
"The case is reminiscent of a 2008 undercover operation by the Humane Society of the United States at the Hallmark slaughter plant in Chino, California, that led to the largest-ever recall of beef and the conviction of two people found to have treated the cows cruelly. In that case, video showed downed cows being prodded with a forklift. . ."
The Associated Press 2012-08-21
"Undercover 'Journalism' in the DPRK" - Tad Farrell - North Korea News
"As most people are aware, Western journalists are not typically welcome in North Korea. The case of Euna Lee and Laura Ling last year was a good example of what can happen to those too eager for an NK scoop. But that didn’t stop David McNeill of London’s ‘The Independent’ travelling to the DPRK just two weeks ago, ostensibly as a tourist attending the Pyongyang International Film Festival, but most likely there to try and cover the impeding Party Congress, initially rumoured to be starting around the same time. He wasn’t the first reporter to enter the country on a tourist visa, and he won’t be the last. But one thing is for sure, his front page story is a classic example of the hyperbolic and sensationalist approach to North Korea reporting that is standard in mainstream media - a standard where fact-checking and normally rigid editorial standards go right out of the window."
North Korea News 2012-10-19
"Face to Face with the World's Most Repressive Regime" - David McNeill - The Independent (UK)
" . . . But off the wide, main boulevards, stories abound of poverty and malnutrition following a botched currency revaluation last year. Food prices, which rose 10-fold after the revaluation, have reportedly fallen back to about twice their old level, bringing enormous hardship to an already crippled economy."
The Independent (UK) 2010-09-27
"Ag-Gag Bills Threaten Our Children, Our Freedom and Our Animals" - Ed Sayres - Huffington Post
". . .Ag-Gag bills criminalize taking photos or videos on farms to expose problems, such as animal cruelty, environmental and labor violations, and other illegal or unethical behavior. Simply put, Ag-Gag legislation poses a danger to the American public -- people and animals. . ."
Huffington Post 2012-03-22
"Undercover Explorations of the 'Other Half,' or the Writer as Class Transvestite" - Eric Schocket - Representations
". . .I have termed such tales of temporary guise, "class-transvestite narratives," a phrase that best describes their attempts to close epistemological gaps through cross-class impersonation. Although Crane's experiment in class transvestism is the best known of this type, its methodology and goals were hardly unique. Between the depression of the early 1890s and the progressive reforms of the 1910s, a number of white middle-class writers, journalists, and social researchers "dressed down" in order to traverse with their bodies what they saw as a growing gulf between the middle class and the white working and lower classes. Like Crane, these disguised investigators recognized the inherent difficulty of social knowledge in an economi-cally segmented society: Perceptions based on a sympathetic middle-class point of view were for them as inaccurate as those informed by the sensationalized reports in the daily press. Recognizing the impossibility of both an Archimedean point outside a classed subjectivity and what WilliamJames called the particular "blind- ness" of "looking at life with the eyes of a remote spectator," these explorers attempted to move "inside" and collapse the distance between subject and object into one performative, narrational "body." . . ."
Representations 1998-10-01
"Undercover in Syria's Kurdish Region" - Orla Guerin - BBC News
". . .The fate of this area has implications beyond Syria. Iraq, Iran and Turkey have their own Kurdish populations. With a combined total of about 30 million, they are the world's largest stateless people.Our Correspondent Orla Guerin has spent 5 days under cover in Syria's Kurdish region and sent this report. . ."
BBC News 2012-08-16
"The Queensland Slave Trade" - George Morrison - The Age
The Age 1883-05-09
"Banana Peel" - Nicholas Stein - Columbia Journalism Review
". . .On July 2, Chiquita filed suit against Gallagher in federal district court for "defamation, trespass, conversion, violations of state and federal wiretapping laws and other intentional misconduct." In addition, Gallagher and several other Enquirer employees have been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, as part of a joint criminal investigation by the FBI and the Hamilton County, Ohio, Sheriff's Office. . ."
"A TV Station's Dirty Trick - Did St. Louis's KMOV Play Pimp to Snare a Priest?" - Howard Kurtz - The Washington Post
". . .'I think it's appalling,' Joyce-Hayes said. 'I don't expect the media to create incidents that create news. This is pretty seamy stuff.' . . ."
The Washington Post 1993-06-03
"Outbreak of Fiction is Alarming News" - Howard Kurtz - The Washington Post
". . .Are these isolated incidents that just happened to erupt around the same time? Or do they suggest something larger about the journalistic culture?One common theme in these mounting embarrassments is the desire to make a big splash in the roiling waters of media competition. Another is the failure of top news executives to heed warning signs until it's too late. . ."
The Washington Post 1998-06-29
"Watchdogs Yelp When Made to Heel" - Howard Kurtz - The Washington Post
"Journalists, the folks who love to dig into other people's lives, are learning what it feels like to be investigated. Not surprisingly, they don't much like it. The adversarial media culture has grown so voracious that it now routinely bites other members of the media culture. Everyone is suspect. Everyone is fair game. Everyone's motives are questioned. Inevitably, many of the journalists who find themselves on the other end of the media microscope feel they have been misquoted or misrepresented or railroaded by someone with an agenda -- precisely the kind of complaints often voiced by their subjects. . ."
The Washington Post 1998-07-13
Follow-Up: "Chiquita Still Under Cloud After Newspaper's Retreat" - Douglas Frantz - The New York Times
". . .This week, in their first lengthy interviews on the subject, top Chiquita executives claimed total victory and portrayed the entire package of articles as unfair and inaccurate, the untrustworthy work of a reporter who stole hundreds of voice-mail messages. But interviews with Government officials, people outside the company and some of those quoted, along with a review of the articles, found that some of the allegations cannot be dismissed so easily, despite the questions raised about the reporting method. . ."
The New York Times 1998-07-17
Reaction: "Mysteries Behind Story's Publication" - Douglas Frantz - The New York Times
". . .Even as intriguing new details of the case emerged in interviews this week, many mysteries remained. One is whether the settlement was made because the newspaper questioned the accuracy of the articles or because the voice mail messages were stolen by its reporter. What is also unclear is how, if he did steal the information, Mr. Gallagher, 40, got the code words for so many voice mail boxes and whether he had inside help. . ."
The New York Times 1998-07-17
Reaction: "Reporter Pleads Guilty in Theft of Voice Mail" - The New York Times
". . .In the Hamilton County courthouse in Cincinnati, the reporter, Michael Gallagher, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful interception of wire communications and one count of unauthorized access to computer systems, which could bring two and a half years in prison and a fine of $7,500. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 19. . ."
The New York Times 1998-09-25