New England Center for Investigative Reporting

Devon Summersgill, right, believed her baby Kate, left, would be born with Down syndrome based on a prenatal test that turned out to be wrong.

Questionable calls? Genetic counselors seen as downplaying false alarms

March 8, 2016Health

Little Kate Summersgill certainly didn’t look like a child with Down syndrome — no upward slanting eyes or telltale flat facial features. Even after the birth, when their baby looked fine, their genetic counselor, Laura Limone, insisted that the result of the test was not a mistake.

Medway High School's brilliant green artificial turf field uses controversial crumb rubber — chopped up tires, that sometimes contain materials believed to be carcinogenic. April 2015.

Toxic turf? Momentum grows against synthetic turf

May 11, 2015Health

Stacie Chapman’s son was born healthy, despite the results of a prenatal screening.

Concern rises over new generation of prenatal tests

December 17, 2014Health

The New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR) is a nonprofit investigative reporting newsroom based at Boston University and at the studios of WGBH News. Our mission is to ensure the survival of serious, in-depth investigative journalism in New England and to train a new generation of investigative reporters.NECIR produces high-quality, high-impact multi-media investigative stories that require time and resources few mainstream news outlets can provide. All of our reporting is done by experienced, professional journalists with the assistance of student researchers.Through NECIR’s monthly investigative reporting subscription service, called “The Public Eye,” our stories reach about one million readers, viewers and listeners. Our stories appear in newspapers and on TV and radio stations across Massachusetts, New England and the nation.NECIR training programs include a Summer Investigative Journalism Workshop for high school students which attracts participants from throughout the U.S. and across the globe. This two-week workshop has introduced hundreds of high school students to the field of investigative reporting and has taught them the critical thinking skills necessary for success in college.NECIR also offers an Investigative Reporting Certificate Program for journalists in the U.S. and from around the world, student internships as well as workshops for professional journalists, bloggers and citizen journalists. Since NECIR's launch in 2009, the center's journalists have trained more than 300 aspiring investigative reporters. NECIR also conducts training programs in partnership with Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE).NECIR was founded by Joe Bergantino and Maggie Mulvihill, two veteran Boston journalists. Along with Boston University College of Communication Dean Tom Fiedler, a former Executive Editor and investigative reporter for The Miami Herald, Bergantino and Mulvihill launched NECIR to address the precipitous decline in investigative reporting due—in part– to newsroom downsizing. NECIR now has a staff of nine people including an Executive Director/Managing Editor, three full-time reporters, a Training Manager, a part-time Investigations Editor, a part-time Development Consultant and two student researchers along with several interns. The center is overseen by an Advisory Board that includes prominent journalists, financial experts, business consultants and marketing specialists.NECIR was at the forefront of a national movement that led to the creation of dozens of nonprofit investigative reporting centers across the U.S. NECIR staff have played a significant role in helping launch many of those newsrooms. NECIR is also a founding member of the Investigative News Network (INN), a national organization dedicated to supporting nonprofit centers.