White Collar Prosecutions Fall to Lowest in 20 Years – “The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during April 2018 the government reported 494 new white collar crime prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, this number is down 14.4 percent over the previous month. Examining trends over the first seven months of FY 2018, the government reported a total of 3,249 new white collar crime prosecutions. If this level of activity continues at the same pace, the annual total of prosecutions will be 5,570 for this fiscal year – down from last year. These recent trends continue a long term slide in the level of federal fraud prosecutions. Indeed, current levels represent the lowest number of white collar prosecutions in more than 20 years. Overall, the data show that prosecutions are down 31.3 percent from the level of 8,108 reported in 2008 and down 40.8 percent from the level of 9,412 reported in 1998….”
See also ProPublica and The New York Times co-published report: Why Manafort and Cohen Thought They’d Get Away With It – It takes a special counsel to actually catch white-collar criminals. “…Resources have been stripped from white-collar enforcement. The FBI shifted agents to work on international terror in the wake of 9/11. White-collar cases made up about one-tenth of the Justice Department’s cases in recent years, compared with one-fifth in the early 1990s. The IRS’ criminal enforcement capabilities have been decimated by years of budget cuts and attrition. The Federal Election Commission is a toothless organization that is widely flouted. No wonder Cohen and Manafort were so brazen. They must have felt they had impunity…”
CIR’s Pyle to join unit, which will expand on a core mission
USA Today is tripling the size of its investigative reporting
staff and has hired Amy Pyle of the Center of Investigative Reporting to help
run its expanded operation.
The goal is to “up our cadence” on stories that affect
readers across the country, says Nicole Carroll, editor-in-chief of USA Today.
The move follows a Pulitzer Prize this year in explanatory reporting for the
USA Today Network and Carroll’s old paper, The Arizona Republic, for their
immersive look at the planned wall and its effects on the U.S.-Mexico
border.
“It’s our mission,” Carroll says of investigative reporting.
“It’s what we’re here to do. It drives audience,” such as engaged minutes on
the stories and the impact of response of officials and communities. “When you
grow audience, and your quality, you grow your business."
The move from eight to 24 journalists will be apart from
enhanced ties between USA Today and its network of outlets nationwide, says
Chris Davis, executive editor and vice president of investigations at USA
Today Network.
One example of high-impact work beyond “The Wall” is an
investigation into maternal mortality — particularly of hospitals
skipping established safety practices. Three hundred women wrote in about
their near-death experiences, Davis says.
Other top projects include truck drivers forced
practically into servitude while working for big-box stores, and schools
that have hired teachers with
records of abuse in other districts.
Pyle, CIR’s editor-in-chief, oversaw a team that produced a
Pulitzer finalist for All
Work. No Pay, in which private companies have capitalized on court-ordered
drug rehabilitation programs to coerce people into low-paying jobs. The workers
cannot quit, or they face a violation of their rehab provisions — and perhaps
prison. Her staff also co-produces Reveal,
a weekly investigative podcast and radio show broadcast on 270 public
stations nationwide.
Pyle’s hiring follows that of Matt Doig, formerly of The
Information and the Los Angeles Times, who heads the Network’s investigative
unit, working with local papers and stations.
Davis says Doig and Pyle will head two branches of the
investigative team; engagement editor Anne Godlasky will have a team under her,
and John Kelly will head the data team. There is also a three-member video
unit.
News operations like The Washington Post may focus on
machinations in the nation’s capital, Davis says. “The kinds of stories we’re
looking for are the kinds that impact real people across the country,” he says.
Quick hits
SPEAKING OF INVESTIGATIVE: The Army announced it
would be testing 40,000 U.S. homes on military bases for lead. The
announcement followed a Reuters investigation into dangers
in military-base housing, following looks at “other Flints” nationwide.
MCCAIN THE SNAKE CHARMER?: Hob-nobbing with reporters may
have saved Senator John McCain’s career in the early 1990s, and he didn’t
flinch when challenged by a reporter, said CBS’s Bob Schieffer. “When you spend
five and a half years in a prison camp, you’re not going to be cowed by some
reporter asking you a tough question,” he said. Related: McCain’s
final statement.
WHAT MCCAIN SAW: A Republican presidential candidate, disgusted with Paul Manafort’s
criminal dependence on Moscow, denied
him a key GOP job in 2008. By Franklin Foer for The Atlantic.
MOLLIE TIBBETTS AND US: Monica Hesse writes about all the
times women she knows — and herself — have been approached
by creeps who turn threatening. "When we read about Mollie Tibbetts,”
she writes, “a lot of us weren’t thinking about undocumented immigrants, or
statistics, or policy changes. We were just thinking about the times we have
been approached by strangers in everyday places, wondering if we could reject
them politely and move on with our days, or if this time we would end up in the
trunk of a car."
AND, FROM TUMBLR: The social network says it, too, will
ban hate speech, revenge porn and the glorification of violence such
as school shootings, reports Shannon Liao of The Verge.
COMINGS AND GOINGS: Facebook communications executive Rachel Whetstone is
leaving for Netflix, Recode’s Kara Swisher reports. … Ozy has hired
Michelle Bruton as its new sports editor, based in Chicago. ... Vox Media has
hired Hetal Patel, fomerly of iHeartMedia, as its first head of sales research
and insights.
Government Agency Digital Products Case Study Report Now Available
Federal Depository Library Program (FDPL) – “In the fall of 2016, the Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the Superintendent of Documents entered into an interagency agreement with the Federal Research Division (FRD) of the Library of Congress to develop and test a methodology for identifying agency digital publishing, dissemination, and preservation policies and practices. The final report, “Disseminating and Preserving Digital Public Information Products Created by the U.S. Federal Government: A Case Study Report,” is now available. The results and recommendations found in the report provide Library Services and Content Management (LSCM) a more informed approach to:
Government Agency Digital Products Case Study Report Now Available
Federal Depository Library Program (FDPL) – “In the fall of 2016, the Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the Superintendent of Documents entered into an interagency agreement with the Federal Research Division (FRD) of the Library of Congress to develop and test a methodology for identifying agency digital publishing, dissemination, and preservation policies and practices. The final report, “Disseminating and Preserving Digital Public Information Products Created by the U.S. Federal Government: A Case Study Report,” is now available. The results and recommendations found in the report provide Library Services and Content Management (LSCM) a more informed approach to:
- Foster productive, collaborative relationships with agencies
- Develop strategies to improve and transform its operations and services to facilitate a more effective and efficient proactive approach to increased discovery and access to Government information
- Ensure all in-scope content is acquired for the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), the Cataloging & Indexing Program (C&I), and GPO’s System of Online Access (FDsys/govinfo)…”
