Deck 8: Finding and Using Data

Question 1

To "nail down" a story, you must provide court records that attest to the facts you present.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

To reduce their liability, corporations avoid recording the decisions they make on paper.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

A prospectus is a document that a corporation files when it offer new shares to the public.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Court briefs of a messy divorce are examples of information that is too scandalous to be relied on as evidence.

Question 5

Clery Act reports can tell you how much a public official spent during a political campaign.

Question 6

Before you hunt for documents, which of the following is NOT something you should necessarily consider?

A) Who might have received them
B) Who would have created them
C) How can you get them
D) Whether the document is notarized

Question 7

Which of the following can you get from the Federal Register?

A) Data about changes in population in a particular geographic area
B) The financial health of a non-profit organization
C) Information about changes to federal rules and regulations
D) Information about loans between businesses

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT something you should do to make sure a document is authentic?

A) Make sure that when you get a copy of the original, your copy is readable
B) Maintain a chain of custody
C) Check for inconsistencies
D) Find an independent expert

Question 9

"Discovery" is which of the following?

A) The process of finding a piece of evidence in a stack of documents
B) The smoking gun in an investigative case
C) A process by which parties in a lawsuit turn over documents to each other
D) The preliminary research stage of an investigative project

Question 10

The Detroit Free Press broke the story of a $9 million payout to cover up a sex scandal by relying on what type of documents?

A) Internal memos
B) Text messages
C) Expense receipts
D) Hotel bills

Question 11

How can a document help you quantify a problem?

Question 12

How might documents help you to connect dots?

Question 13

Why do you need to understand multi-way communication to understand where you might find documented information?

Question 14

What is a corporate proxy fight, and what can you learn from it?

Question 15

What's a Form 990, and what can you learn from it?

Question 16

Why is it important to get copies of court records while a court case is still pending?

Question 17

What are two things you can learn from a corporation's prospectus?

Question 18

What is an environmental impact report?

Question 19

Why is a state auditor a great source for documents about government activities?

Question 20

What is a chain of custody, and how does that pertain to records you acquire?