Ben Mook

Metro DC area

Award-winning investigative journalist with multimedia, document-driven and reporting skills. Experienced in: biotech, finance, banking, healthcare, police, state and federal courts. Currently pursuing a master's degree in interactive journalism from American University. Extensive experience using a host of sources including SEC filings, court documents, real estate tax records and IRS Form 990s and other documents to drive enterprise reporting.

Ben Mook

Metro DC area

Beneath the waves: Decades of military dumping off the coast of Maryland
On Feb. 10, 1919, the USS Elinor set sail from the Baltimore Harbor on a mission to dump tons of grenades, mines and poison gas shells into the Atlantic Ocean. The ship’s journey took it out the Chesapeake Bay and up the Atlantic to New York. According to the ship’s log, once it traveled about 15 miles offshore, crewmembers started jettisoning the weaponry—no longer needed since World War I had ended three months earlier.
www.ben-mook/AU
Lions and tigers and bone wine?
Discovery Communications LLC was ordered to turn over footage from one of its Animal Planet shows about the use of tiger bones in winemaking to help bolster the defense of an animal rights group being sued in China.
The Daily Record
Old Soldiers’ Home losing ground in hopes of a more secure future
Nestled in the heart of Washington, D.C., is the 280-acre campus that serves as the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH), also known as the Old Soldiers’ Home. It has served retired veterans since a decade before the Civil War began. It’s also located in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country.
Donated cars bring big bucks to public stations
This was an enterprise piece looking at car donation companies working with public radio stations.
Current Newspaper
Kernan Sued For Medicare Fraud
This was a story I found using PACER that dealt with alleged upcoding.
The Daily Record
One-branch wonders – knowing the market helps niche banks
A document driven enterprise story about the dwindling number of single branch banks in Maryland.
The Daily Record
Speculators betting big on FCC TV spectrum auctions
A document-driven look at private equity firms gambling on the upcoming FCC spectrum auction.
Let's Get Ready To Rumble
An award-winning enterprise story about a financial advisor who started a pro wrestling league.
The Daily Record
Pricey Potomac street boasts mansions linked to African rulers
Real estate and tax records reveal that a pair of African dictators have mansions in one neighborhood.
The Daily Record
An upbeat trend for classical pubradio despite audience slide
An investigation into the state of classical music as a radio station format.
Current Newspaper
Empty wallets, empty cribs for parents of failed international adoptions
An investigative piece about families suing a Md.-based international adoption agency.
The Daily Record
Constellation Energy, Exelon Corp. to merge in $7.9 billion deal
If Exelon Corp. is successful in its acquisition of Constellation Energy Group Inc., Baltimore could become a hub of energy trading and benefit from the addition of jobs, but it would come at a cost — the loss of the city’s only Fortune 500 company headquarters. On Thursday, the boards of directors of Exelon and Constellation signed off on an all-stock deal valued at $7.9 billion.
The Daily Record
Lawyer sentenced for distributing child pornography
A disbarred Baltimore lawyer was sentenced to five years in prison late Wednesday for distributing child pornography. David Bart Goldstein, 55, received the jail sentence in Baltimore’s U.S. District Court as part of a plea agreement that includes five years probation after his release. Goldstein must also register as a sex offender after his release.
Eye On Annapolis
Rockville co. races to market malaria vaccine
This story won first place for health story in the 2011 National Newspaper Association's Contest.
The Daily Record
Community founded by freed slaves sues for restoration of blocked road
Sparked by a court filing, this story looks at road that exists in memory and in-person, but not officially.
The Daily Record
Gains, losses spread unevenly across pubcasting stations
This story uses a graphic to highlight the changing fortunes of public radio and public TV stations.
Current Newspaper

About

Ben Mook

I am an award-winning reporter with 10+ years in enterprise, features and breaking news.
Knowledgeable about business, law, government, public agencies and the nonprofit sector.
Strong interest in data-driven reporting and storytelling that captures relationships between nonprofit funding, public service and organizational missions.
Prior to starting at Current in September 2012, I covered trial courts in Baltimore City as well as federal district court at The Daily Record in Baltimore for seven years.
While at The Daily Record I also served as the interim web editor and edited the Saturday edition of the paper, which has since ceased production.
I started in journalism at the Maryland Coast Dispatch in Berlin, Md. covering police, courts, local government and tourism in the Ocean City area.
I have also worked for, and/or contributed to: The Associated Press, the Boston Herald, North Carolina Lawyers Weekly and the Altoona Mirror.