Finding people and Vetting Facts
Agustin Armendariz and Kendall Taggart
At the University of South Carolina, March 2014
Project Checklist
By Michael Berens, Seattle Times
#1 Is it new?
- Google news searches -- go back a decade
- LexisNexis (public libraries and public university libraries)
- IRE stories database (Student membership $25)
Finding Sources
- Employees and former employees
- LinkedIn for Journalists
- State pension databases
- WayBack machine
- Court records
- Federal court records are available on PACER
- State court records search
- South Carolina - Richland County
- Pet license database
- Voter registration database
Example: Ruben Santiago
These are leads not facts
Backgrounding people and organizations
**Be methodical. Have a checklist.
-Criminal background checks
- South Carolina
- Court records and sex offender databases
-More lawsuits
- Docket search: http://www.justia.com/
- Divorce records
BACKGROUNDING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
Web
- Twitter advanced search
- Whos Talkin
-
Pipl.com -- a search engine designed specifically for finding information about people
- CSPAN: Archive of federal government proceedings
- Beyond Google - DuckDuckGo (removes personalized results), Bing, USA.gov (just government websites),
BACKGROUNDING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
Advanced Google tips:
- site searches
- site:.gov "ruben santiago"
- site:sc.edu
- file type
- site:sc.edu filetype:xls
- Advanced Google search page (i.e. recent updates):
- http://www.google.com/advanced_search
BACKGROUNDING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
600 Assembly Street
BACKGROUNDING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
**think about every government agency an organization would have to file paperwork with
-Securities and Exchange Commission (i.e. how much are CEOs paid)
- 10-K (annual report)
- DEF-14-A (proxy statement)
-Licensing
-Enforcement records
-Nonprofits
BACKGROUNDING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
Global records:
Offline Tools
**Pick up the phone. Visit in person
-Call the local paper and ask for a clip search that will go back further in archives. Obituaries can give you relatives.
-DMV - News organizations can sometimes run a license plate.
-Call the county clerk
Additional Tips from exPerts
Henk van Ess: https://twitter.com/henkvaness
Paul Myers: https://twitter.com/researchclinic
Margot Williams: https://twitter.com/MargotWilliams
Questions
Augie:
email: aarmendariz@cironline.org
phone: 510.809.3173
Kendall: