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Tulsa World awarded Google Ideas grant to investigate improper mortgage practices
Published: 2/7/2013 2:26 PM
Last Modified: 2/7/2013 2:38 PM

Eight newsrooms around the world will receive funding from Google for investigative journalism. The Tulsa World is one of them.

With a share of a $50,000 Google Ideas grant, the World's Enterprise Team will look into improper mortgage servicing practices in Oklahoma. World Staff Writers Casey Smith and Cary Aspinwall will be the lead reporters on the project along with World Staff Writers Jarrel Wade and Curtis Killman.

Google Ideas is the think tank connected to the popular search engine with a mission to convene stakeholders, research and initiatives to explore the role that technology can play in today's challenges.

"I'm really proud of the initiative that my team took in applying for this grant," said Ziva Branstetter, the Enterprise editor who leads the team. "We have a unique opportunity in Oklahoma to examine whether our state's decision not to be part of the federal mortgage settlement agreement was a benefit to taxpayers. We are also looking forward to digging into the data that will tell the larger story of how individual homeowners have been treated by mortgage service companies, banks and other agencies."

The grant was announced by Investigative Reporters & Editors, a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting.

The World's work will be a data-driven investigation, with the grant helping pay for obtaining, analyzing and confirming the data.

"To me, the Google Ideas fund is a reminder of how lucky reporters and their audiences are to have Investigative Reporters and Editors," said Smith, whose specialty is data journalism. "Most, if not all, of what I've learned so far about data journalism has had some connection to IRE, and I'm thrilled that Google is helping the organization support data-driven reporting worldwide."

Besides the Tulsa World, here are the other news organizations receiving grants:

Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting will build a public web application to provide background checks for political candidates.

Centre for Investigative Reporting (UK) will investigate industrial facilities and emissions in Europe.

The Chicago Reporter will assess how effectively the Chicago Housing Authority has distributed the Section 8 programs funds.

El Pais (Spain) will implement a data journalism training program that will focus on the best processes and tools necessary for collecting, scraping, cleaning, analyzing and visualizing data in anticipation of increased transparency in Spain.

Investigative Newsource will investigate federal, state, and local issues that could severely affect the disabled's potential for employment.

InvestigateWest will be mapping transportation corridors and air quality.

WAVE-Louisville will investigate the role of race in the justice system.

Steve Doig, Knight Chair in Journalism at Arizona State University and a judge for the contest, said IRE and judges have high hopes for the kind of journalism these grants will produce.

"IRE has long been a force for new ideas and tools for doing investigative journalism, and the generosity of this grant from Google recognizes that tradition," he said.

Here are some recent examples of work done by the World's Enterprise Team, which delivers exclusive, in-depth reporting:

OHP troopers graded on number of arrests, tickets: The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is using a formula to evaluate troopers based in part on the number of tickets they write and number of arrests made, records show.

EMSA helps its paramedic provider avoid taxes, investigation shows: EMSA allowed its contractor, a Texas-based paramedic provider, to receive more than $7 million worth of fuel and other items at EMSA's tax-free rate, an apparent violation of state law and the company's contract, a Tulsa World investigation has found.

City of Tulsa employment down 8 percent since 2008: The city of Tulsa had more than 3,900 active full-time employees less than a month before investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2008, an event that marked a weak economy's snap into full-blown global recession.

Murder was the case: Though 13 and not the shooter, Jesil Wilson got life in prison. Was justice served?

Arrests in Tulsa decline except near two Walmart stores: Tulsa police are arresting fewer people in midtown and more people in outlying areas of the city, the latter in part due to more bookings linked to Walmart larcenies, a Tulsa World analysis shows.

Little progress apparent in Narconon Arrowhead probe: Narconon Arrowhead is the flagship branch of an international drug-rehabilitation organization rooted in the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

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Reader Comments

3 Total

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Danomite Dandy Dan (last week)

Oh yes....this might be good.
Particularly the methods used to jerk mortgages from under those applying for help.
Lots of money to be had from those harried homeowners with equity.

Bville (last week)

Investigative journalism? Pfft.

The conclusions have already been decided. All that's left (pun intended) is to construct the story to support the template. Just look back at the way the TW covered the and opined about Scott Pruitt's decision a year ago.

Seriously, does anyone honestly believe that the TW will dig deep and discover that not joining the settlement was a GOOD idea?

Yawn.

Thunder196 (last week)

I consider this good news.

Congratulations to all of those selected to receive funding for investigative journalism.

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Press Forward

The focus of this blog is to write about what we are doing at the Tulsa World to continue to serve readers in a digital age and how the Internet is changing journalism.

Jason Collington is the web editor at the Tulsa World, where he works on the company's digital products with a team of four web designers, two web production techs, a web content coordinator, a web advertising coordinator and nine web developers. Before moving to web editor in 2006, he was the web content coordinator for tulsaworld.com.

He also teaches a class at his alma mater, Oklahoma State University, called Internet Communications, where students learn to use online tools to create offline results.

Follow Jason Collington on Twitter

Contact by email: jason.collington@tulsaworld.com

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