The Center for Public Integrity has received a second Paycheck Protection Program loan as part of Congress’ effort to protect jobs amid the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative news organization, received a PPP loan of $657,600, which was forgiven under the terms of the program. The organization received confirmation of a second loan this week, for $566,669. This loan can also be forgiven if certain spending restrictions and payroll provisions are met.
Other media organizations, including the Los Angeles Times and numerous smaller newspapers, have also accepted loans under the program.
Public Integrity was in the position of accepting PPP funding while successfully suing the Trump administration to demand full transparency about loan recipients.
The organization published a series of investigative stories in 2020 about the PPP program, including:
- A look at how larger firms got earlier access to PPP funding.
- An investigation into how the PPP program didn’t prioritize small businesses in low-income areas as promised.
- And an investigation that found more than 900 companies took PPP loans totaling $1.8 billion while laying off or furloughing at least 90,000 workers.