Many consider homeownership a symbol of the “American Dream” — one of the building blocks to grow your wealth. It doesn’t work the same way for everyone, though. Research has shown that, for decades, homes in predominantly Black neighborhoods have been appraised at lower values than those in majority-white neighborhoods, even when comparing similar houses […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity expands audience team
Charlie Hsing-Chuan Dodge and Vanessa Lee are joining an expanding audience team at the Center for Public Integrity that is working to reach, engage and partner with those most affected by the U.S. inequality the nonprofit newsroom investigates. Dodge, an upcoming graduate of New York University who created her 21st century storytelling major by combining […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Yvette Cabrera, Aaron Mendelson join Public Integrity
Award-winning investigative reporters Yvette Cabrera and Aaron Mendelson will join the Center for Public Integrity as the newsroom expands its reporting on inequality in the U.S. Cabrera, a senior writer at environmental journalism nonprofit Grist, will start work May 9 as a senior reporter covering inequality in economic and social well-being. Mendelson, senior reporter for […]
Posted inDemocracy
Indigenous journalists make way for sunshine
This story also appeared in The Investigative Reporting Workshop Lori Edmo just wanted to find out how her tribe was spending federal COVID-19 relief money. As a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, on the Fort Hall Reservation in southeastern Idaho, she knew her tribal government had received more than $17 million in CARES Act funding […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity joins call for Pulitzers to require transparency on diversity
The Center for Public Integrity has joined more than 60 organizations representing journalists across the U.S. in calling on the Pulitzer Prizes to make participation in an annual diversity survey a condition of eligibility for awards. The group is a mix of professional journalism associations, labor unions and publishers and also includes the National Association […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
What does it take to narrow racial health gaps in the U.S.?
Black women in the U.S. were 3.5 times more likely than white women to die of causes related to childbirth from 2016 to 2017, a new study published last week found — a gap that is wider than previously estimated. It’s just one of a long list of racial health disparities in a nation that […]
Posted inIn public view
Confronting complex problems with investigative reporting
Deconstructing complex societal problems, explaining their real-world, human impact, helping the public understand why they should care and equipping them to take action. It’s what the best investigative reporting does, and what has motivated Jennifer LaFleur in a career that has included stints at some of the nation’s most prominent nonprofit investigative news organizations. LaFleur […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
How federal tax law hurts Black Americans
President Joe Biden recently proposed a new “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax” that would raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans. The measure would require households worth more than $100 million to pay a new tax at a rate of at least 20% of their income and on unrealized gains in the value of liquid assets, like […]
Posted inIn public view
‘People will tell your story wrong if you’re not in the room’
What she experienced growing up in Baltimore and how she saw her community being portrayed to the rest of the country fueled Ashley Clarke’s interest in investigative journalism. As audience engagement editor at the Center for Public Integrity, she’s helping lead the newsroom’s focus on reporting with and in service to the people and communities […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
The struggle to help Medicaid patients get vaccinated
Washington, D.C., resident Michael Tyree wasn’t sure about getting the coronavirus vaccine at first. “I thought about it for a little over a month,” said the 70-year-old retiree, who relies on Medicaid for health care. But his sister insisted that he get vaccinated before visiting her. So he walked into a CVS for his shot […]
Posted inUkraine in crisis
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is at the end of its beginning
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, just six weeks ago. While Russia’s positioning of forces near Ukraine was for months visible from space before the war began, what will happen next is hard to know, and the balance of forces may yet again shift. What can be said with more certainty is that however long […]
Posted inIn public view
How data helps investigative reporters ‘see the forest’
The individual circumstances of a single mother laid off due to COVID-19 and facing eviction from her apartment can move a reader to understand and connect with an acute societal need. But comparing the common ground of those circumstances — timing, geography, occupation, race, ethnicity, gender — with hundreds of thousands of others can be […]
Posted inUkraine in crisis
The past and future of the drones that monitor ceasefires in Ukraine
A week before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, artillery fire crossed the static front line between Ukrainian and Russian-backed separatist forces in Eastern Ukraine. A Reuters photographer, in Kadiivka, reported hearing artillery fire on Feb. 17 but could not determine which side had fired. This story also appeared in Popular Science The exchange violated the […]
Posted inUkraine in crisis
Bombs dropped on Ukraine today pose danger to future generations
On March 22, a construction crew in Germany found an unexploded bomb in Essen, Germany, decades after it had been dropped during World War II. The area was evacuated, including part of a nearby hospital and a home for seniors. Late that night explosive ordnance disposal crews defused the bomb. This story also appeared in […]
Posted inUkraine in crisis
Cold War tactical nuclear weapons cast a long shadow over Ukraine
Russia’s war on Ukraine has brought renewed attention to tactical nuclear weapons, with the White House announcing on March 24 that it had a team of experts briefing NATO on contingency plans in case any such weapon is used. This story also appeared in Popular Science As a defensive alliance, NATO has formally stayed out […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
A lifeline for Florida students amid ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law
As a teenager, Leo Lam Haines wanted to be left alone. When they came out as transgender in Miami public schools in the 2010s, Haines faced discrimination and bullying. But they found a safe space to express their identity at the local nonprofit Pridelines, which offers health and social support services for LGBTQ youth. Haines, […]
Posted inUkraine in crisis
Russia attacks cities with widely condemned cluster munitions
The city of Mykolaiv sits just northwest of the mouth of the Dnieper River, in southern Ukraine. While the city has not yet been occupied by Russian troops, it has not been spared from attack. A Russian missile tore through a government building in the city Tuesday, leaving at least 12 dead. Just over two […]
Posted inUkraine in crisis
What to know about the Russian device reportedly captured in Ukraine
On the northern edge of the town of Makariv, roughly 30 miles from the center of Kyiv, Ukrainian forces in March reportedly captured a Krasukha-4 electronic warfare system brought by the invading Russian army. While it looks like a shipping container with irregular panels, it is actually a sophisticated signal jammer, designed to incapacitate the […]
Posted inIn public view
Investigating inequality with a grounding in history, solutions
Behind just about every racial disparity — in health, education, housing, access to voting, economic well-being — is hundreds of years of American history, including very recent history, that got us here. It’s something April Simpson centers in her work as a senior reporter covering racial equity for the Center for Public Integrity because it’s […]
Posted inUkraine in crisis
How drones in Ukraine help fuel propaganda and shape perception
On March 4, eight days into its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense tweeted a video purporting to show a Russian-made Orion drone conducting an air strike against enemies inside the Donetsk region. This story also appeared in Popular Science Then there’s drone use by the other side: A Turkish-built drone that has […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
Shootings shape the debate on school policing
When he heard the news of a shooting at his old high school, Endi Montalvo-Martinez fell into a panic. Montalvo-Martinez has a cousin who attends Des Moines’ East High and an aunt who works as a paraprofessional there. His relatives were unharmed, but it wasn’t a victimless crime. The incident marked the first fatal school […]
Posted inUkraine in crisis
Urban warfare turns neighborhoods into battlefields, leaving only ruin
The evening of Feb 24, outlying military sites of Mariupol, a Ukrainian city on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, came under Russian assault. That assault has intensified in the days and weeks since, as Russian forces advancing from Crimea in the southwest and occupied Donetsk in the east encircle the city, making […]
Posted inThe Heist
How can we close our racial wealth gap?
It’s a stark comparison. This story also appeared in Word In Black Eleven years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the difference in median wealth between white and Black families — in today’s dollars to account for inflation — was about $47,000. More than half a century has passed since 1960s laws banned racial […]
Posted inThe Heist
Carrying the load (transcript)
JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS, HOST: On a quiet street corner on Waterloo’s east side, there’s an old former school. It’s a huge, drafty brick building – stately, with the message “For God and Country” over the door. And on one side of the building, there’s a church attached. It’s called the Ambassadors for Christ Church. [Audio […]
Posted inIn public view
Investigative reporting and asking questions of the data
Data can be the starting point, the basis for or the thing that conclusively proves out the premise behind investigative journalism. It can also be misinterpreted, used selectively to make a case that’s technically accurate but contextually false or misleading. In his job as a data journalist at the Center for Public Integrity, Joe Yerardi […]
Posted inUkraine in crisis
Why American jets are not the answer for Ukraine’s sky
On the morning of March 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the U.S. Congress. Through an interpreter, he described the present reality of life in his invaded country: “Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people. Russian troops have already fired nearly 1,000 missiles at Ukraine, countless bombs, […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
Public Integrity observes Sunshine Week year-round
Tomorrow marks the end of Sunshine Week, an annual effort to promote and spotlight transparency in government. Of course, at the Center for Public Integrity, those efforts are year-round. Public Integrity has repeatedly ranked as a leader among news organizations using litigation under the Freedom of Information Act, known as FOIA, to obtain data and documents […]
Posted inElections
Redistricting: Tribes fight for an equal voice
This story also appeared in Investigate West and The Investigative Reporting Workshop The Columbia and Okanogan Rivers to the east, south and west of the Colville Indian Reservation form natural borders on a map of north-central Washington. On the ground, the reservation’s forested hills and lakes juxtaposed with vast grasslands have fueled the tribes’ economic […]
Posted inIn public view
Visualizing the impact of investigative journalism
Soon after the Center for Public Integrity focused its mission on investigative reporting that confronts inequality in the U.S., Janeen Jones joined the newsroom as design editor and set out to reimagine how photography, illustration and website design could heighten the impact of that work. It took on a greater sense of urgency as the […]
Posted inThe Heist
The racist history that helps explain our present wealth gap
Do you know the history of discrimination in your community? We delved into Waterloo, Iowa, for a podcast about the country’s racial wealth gap. What we saw included two types of real estate racism that played out coast to coast in the United States. Both erected barriers to wealth-building that still hurt people today, Black […]