The Shipbreakers

The compelling series on the international shipbreaking industry revealed the dangers posed to workers and the environment when discarded ships are dismantled.

Health Care Behind Bars

Reporters William Allen and Kim Bell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch asked Skolnick to assist them in completing a special report on prison healthcare. Skolnick, along with Allen and Bell, wrote or contributed to three articles that were published in the September 27, 1998 edition of the paper: “Physicians with troubled pasts have found work behind bars;” “Two key posts in Alabama were filled by doctors with checkered histories;” and “Prisoner, doctor who treated him, both had drug arrests”.

Dirty Votes: The Race for Miami Mayor

Revealed corruption in Miami’s city administration, exposing the irregularities of the city’s electoral contest in 1998, such as buying votes and falsifying votes of deceased persons and of criminals.

Inside Tibet: A Country Tortured

Account of the flight of 15 Buddhist monks from Tibet through the Himalayas.

Health Care’s Giant

The New York Times’ examination of Columbia, including a computer analysis of more than 30-million billing records, casts some light on the government’s concerns. One of the findings was that many Columbia hospitals bill Medicare for high-paying respiratory treatments far more often than do competing hospitals serving similar populations. Federal authorities called such findings an indication of possible overbilling of the program.

Investigation into Chicago City Hall Ethics Abuses

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that lawyer and Chicago Alderman Edward Burke, chairman of the city council’s Finance Committee, was paid at least $189,000 in fees while helping developer Joseph Beale, who got a $1.2 million subsidy and other aid from City Hall. Investigative reporters Chuck Neubauer and Charles Nicodemus wrote in their November 15 story that the total paid to Burke may have exceeded $300,000, and that Burke’s wife, Anne, a state appellate judge, also received at least $17,000 from the developer. They also reported that Burke’s lobbying efforts on Beale’s behalf included writing a letter to a state official on city stationery.

Broken Trust: The Failed Cleanup at the Massachusetts Military Reservation

A six-day series of articles entitled “Broken Trust” was published by the Cape Cod Times in January 1997. The articles discussed the mismanagement and other problems associated with the MMR cleanup.

Abuse of Campaign Finance Laws

Duffy, Novak and Weisskopf labored at the nexus of big money and politics. This required them to pore for days at a time over cartons of Federal Election Commission and court documents, to wheedle information from reluctant sources a sentence at a time. Their persistence paid off in three dozen pathbreaking stories on campaign finance in 1997, many of which were picked up and credited by major newspapers and TV news shows.

Fear in the Fields – How Hazardous Wastes Become Fertilizer

A Seattle Times investigation found that, across the nation, industrial wastes laden with heavy metals and other dangerous materials are being used in fertilizers and spread over farmland. The process saves dirty industries the high costs of disposing of hazardous wastes.

Armed for Profit: The Selling of U.S. Weapons

An expose by Charles Sennott detailing the complicity of the US government and corporates in marketing advanced conventional weapons the world to boost profits. This came at the expense of jobs at home and the threat of global instability.