Many toxic substances harm people slowly, causing serious illnesses years after repeated exposure. But methylene chloride’s fumes are so dangerous, the chemical can kill you in a matter of minutes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned consumer sales of paint strippers with this ingredient in 2019 after an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity […]
Posted inEnvironment
Protecting people’s health in the era of global warming
As the nation’s most populous state, California has long influenced environmental-health protections outside its own borders. And its environmental challenges sound all too familiar in other states, from extreme heat and flooding to lead contamination and air pollution. Now its environmental-protection agency has a secretary with a history of advocating on behalf of vulnerable communities […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
How drag bans fit into larger attacks on transgender rights
At least 14 state legislatures have proposed bills targeting drag performances, part of the record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed this year. Tennessee and Arkansas have both enacted laws placing strict limits on drag shows. They share similar language, restricting “adult-oriented” performances — sometimes explicitly including “male or female impersonators” in the definition. The bulk […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity podcast nominated for a Peabody Award
A Center for Public Integrity podcast about one woman’s quest to chip away at an enduring American injustice has been nominated for a Peabody Award. “The Wealth Vortex” season of The Heist podcast, in partnership with Transmitter Media, is among 60 nominees selected from nearly 1,300 entries across broadcasting and digital media. Thirty winners will […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity’s Yvette Cabrera wins 2023 Paul Tobenkin Award
Yvette Cabrera has won the 2023 Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award for a powerful Center for Public Integrity narrative she wrote last year about the personal battle a Navajo activist faced as he sought accountability for federal government uranium mining that has sickened generations of his people. The award, administered by Columbia University and honoring the […]
Posted inDemocracy
‘What the court misunderstood is just how fragile our democracy is’
It was a crowning achievement of the civil rights movement: the Voting Rights Act of 1965. For decades, it gave the federal government the power to shut down potentially discriminatory voting changes before they took effect. And on June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted it. The court ruled that the formula behind the […]
Posted inThe Heist
Revisiting a journey to open a Black-owned bank and battle the wealth gap
A year after being the subject of an award-winning Center for Public Integrity podcast, ReShonda Young said she “definitely” feels closer to her goal of opening the only Black-owned bank in her state. Young was featured in “The Wealth Vortex,” Public Integrity’s second season of The Heist podcast. The series followed her efforts to confront […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity board member, contributor receive 2022 Vernon Jarrett Medal
Center for Public Integrity board member Wesley Lowery and contributor Yanick Rice Lamb received the 2022 Vernon Jarrett Medal for Journalistic Excellence.
Posted inImmigration
How U.S. policy drives child migrants into dangerous jobs
Recent stories of migrant children working long hours and under dangerous conditions in the United States have shed light on how pervasive migrant child labor has become in this country. In December, Reuters published the third part of a year-long investigation about migrant children as young as 12 working in Alabama chicken plants and in […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity ‘Attacked Behind the Wheel’ investigation wins Gracie Award
An investigation the Center for Public Integrity produced with Scripps News has won a Gracie Award in recognition of the country’s best work “created by women, for women and about women in all facets of media and entertainment.” “Attacked Behind the Wheel” found a “disturbing pattern of workplace violence in an industry that has tried […]
Posted inThe Heist
A new tool to find and stop discrimination in small-business lending
It took an act of Congress, at least one lawsuit and a very long wait. But today — decades after lenders were required to disclose mortgage-application information that brings hidden patterns of discrimination to light — the federal government enacted a rule to mandate that type of reporting about small-business lending, too. “Many local businesses […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Two Public Integrity projects honored by Shaufler Prize
Center for Public Integrity journalists accepted awards at Arizona State University on Thursday night for two projects that illuminated the impacts of — and the fight against — discrimination. “The Wealth Vortex” — about one woman’s efforts to combat the racial wealth gap in her community — and “Cheated at Work” — about wage theft […]
Posted inUnequal Burden
If you’re Black, saying ‘I do’ can increase your taxes
While race intersects with every aspect of American life, hard data on that is limited when it comes to taxation. The IRS does not collect taxpayers’ racial or ethnic identity. New research using novel methodology — starting with Survey of Consumer Finances household survey data, creating tax units and running a tax calculator against it […]
Posted inGhosts of Polluters Past
Lead keeps poisoning children. It doesn’t have to.
Read the Spanish version here. Lea la versión en español aquí. SANTA ANA, California — The news came as a shock: Lead, lurking somewhere in Nalleli Garrido’s home, was poisoning her 1-year-old son. His pediatrician instructed her to clean all the toys of her toddler, Ruben, keep the home dust-free and prevent him from playing […]
Posted inGhosts of Polluters Past
Eight ways to take action on lead contaminating your community’s soil
Read the Spanish version here. Lea la versión en español aquí. Is lead lurking in the soil around you? Dangerous lead contamination continues to plague the soil of urban centers, particularly in high-traffic, older neighborhoods where particles and airborne dust from leaded gasoline and lead paint accumulated during the 20th century. Industrial areas where both […]
Posted inGhosts of Polluters Past
El plomo sigue envenenando a los niños. No tiene que ser así.
Lea la versión en inglés aquí. Read the English version here. La noticia fue un shock: el plomo, escondido en la casa de Nalleli Garrido, estaba envenenando a su hijo de un año. Su pediatra le dijo que limpiara todos los juguetes del pequeño Rubén, mantuviera la casa libre de polvo y evitara que jugara en […]
Posted inGhosts of Polluters Past
Ocho medidas que puedes tomar cuando el plomo contamina los suelos de tu comunidad
Lea la versión en inglés aquí. Read the English version here. ¿Hay plomo acechando en los suelos que te rodean? La peligrosa contaminación con plomo sigue plagando el suelo de centros urbanos, particularmente en vecindarios antiguos y de alto tráfico, donde durante el siglo XX se acumularon partículas y polvo transportado por el aire proveniente de […]
Posted inGhosts of Polluters Past
Toxic churn: The legacy of long-gone industry pollutes U.S. cities
On a crisp, fall day in Santa Ana, California, Mary Acosta Rodriguez Martinez Garcia steps forward gingerly, leaning on her cane as she walks to the spot along the railroad tracks that intersect with Santa Ana Boulevard. This is where her grandfather’s house once stood, before it was swallowed whole by the expansion of the […]
Posted inGhosts of Polluters Past
Ghosts of polluters past
The hot, dry Santa Ana winds that whip through Orange County’s Logan barrio are fierce and temperamental. In the mid-20th century, they’d deliver gusts forceful enough to wreak havoc throughout the Southern California region, destroying orange crops, uprooting trees, downing power lines and upending lives. But in the Logan neighborhood, one of the city of Santa Ana’s […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity reporters’ work honored among best data journalism in world
Investigative reporting by Center for Public Integrity journalists about student homelessness and the legacy of pollution in communities of color was recognized among the best data journalism in the world on Friday at the 2023 Sigma Awards. Senior reporter Yvette Cabrera’s work on the toxic legacy of lead contamination in American cities while a journalist […]
Posted inDemocracy
Chicago’s FOIA Fest celebrates open government
Dozens of public records enthusiasts gathered Saturday to kick-off an annual Chicago tradition: FOIA Fest, a public records conference created to celebrate Sunshine Week, which ends today. FOIA — short for Freedom of Information Act — is a federal law that requires the full or partial disclosure of unreleased documents and information controlled by the […]
Posted inHealth parity
Families take drastic steps to help children in mental health crises
An insufficient mental health care system pushes some families to give up custody of their children for care. States look for better solutions.
Posted inEducation
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the crosshairs in GOP-controlled states
In his State of the State address last month, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt moved through several common GOP talking points: support for school choice, a ban on all gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies for minors and continuing a tradition of business-friendly policies. And he singled out the state’s two largest public universities: “Because when […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity and partners win multiple business reporting awards
The Center for Public Integrity won four business journalism awards Thursday for investigations reported in collaboration with other newsrooms. Judges in the Best in Business Awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, or SABEW, selected winners from a “record” 1,182 entries submitted by 193 news organizations. Public Integrity’s winning projects: Attacked Behind […]
Posted inLive Events
The Heist 2 Live: What happened a year later?
Join the Center for Public Integrity for a live conversation about the sharp wealth gap between Black and white Americans on Wednesday, March 29 from 7 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Eastern. The conversation features ReShonda Young, the subject of “The Wealth Vortex,” Public Integrity’s award-winning second season of The Heist podcast. Jamie Smith Hopkins, the […]
Posted inWorkers’ Rights
Religious activists are trying to weaken new protections for LGBTQ workers
Three federal judges in Louisiana could soon decide if some businesses can refuse to hire gay or transgender employees following recent oral arguments in a case that seeks to challenge the landmark Supreme Court ruling — Bostock v. Clayton County. The 2020 ruling determined that LGBTQ employees are protected from workplace discrimination under the Civil […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity acquires tool to make data more accessible to journalists
The Center for Public Integrity will steward and grow a powerful tool that puts public records at the fingertips of journalists across the country, thanks to support from the Reva and David Logan Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The Accountability Project, launched by the Investigative Reporting Workshop in 2019, is […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity staff share expertise in using data to cover inequality
Journalists from the Center for Public Integrity will facilitate discussions and training sessions addressing how data journalism can confront inequality at the Investigative Reporters & Editors’ 2023 NICAR conference March 2-5 in Nashville. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit news organization’s own journalism confronting inequality, Public Integrity works to build investigative reporting capacity and […]
Posted inUnhoused and Undercounted
Funding decisions often shortchange homeless students
Federal funding to support homeless students often comes up short. Before the pandemic, it amounted to about $60 annually per identified homeless student nationwide, according to a Center for Public Integrity investigation in partnership with The Seattle Times, Street Sense Media and WAMU/DCist. That often represents a sliver of what schools spend to support them. […]
Posted inWho Counts?
How one city ended prison gerrymandering
This story is a collaboration between the Center for Public Integrity and Bolts. The Howard R. Young Correctional Institution sits between a creek and Interstate 495 in Wilmington, Delaware. For the last ten years, the prison’s 1,281 residents were counted as constituents of Wilmington’s third city council district. But when local officials sat down to […]