Associated Press reporters analyzed data from the Small Business Administration to reveal that the government's $5 billion effort to help businesses recover from the Sept. 11 attacks was so loosely managed that it gave low-interest loans to companies that didn't need terrorism relief - or even know they were getting it.
The data was incorporated into an online presentation that allowed citizens to determine whether money was loaned to businesses in their communities.
The stories, which prompted a congressional investigation, and the database in the presentation were published first on the Web, where they were used widely by hundreds of news organizations.
Because The Associated Press does not have its own destination site, and instead provides content to hundreds of news organizations for their sites, the link provided with this entry will take you to a Web page created to show the material that was generated.
Lou Ferrara
Online Editor
The Associated Press
Click here for the Online Investigative entry