Traditionally, investigative reporters have relied on shoe leather and patience to ferret out the proverbial smoking gun. However, in the computer age, newsmen are enlisting the machine with dramatic results:
In Providence, the Journal-Bulletin used an IBM 4381 to analyze 30,000 low- interest mortgages issued by the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corp. By matching mortgage issue dates with the bond issue that financed them, the machine helped expose a "secret fund" that apparently was used to give out RIHMFC loans to politically connected people like the daughter of former Governor J. Joseph Garrahy (who has since returned the loan)....
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
