Zhaozhou (Jovi) Dai has joined the Center for Public Integrity as a data journalist supporting the investigative nonprofit newsroom’s partnership with the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative in California. Dai has worked as a data reporter at Storybench, a chatbot developer at the Boston Globe for The Emancipator, a reporter for The Global Observer and a […]
Posted inLGBTQ+
‘If you don’t count us, we don’t count’: the effort to queer the census
During the 2010 census, some responses were submitted to the government with bright pink stickers on the envelopes. The labels carried a request for the Census Bureau: include LGBTQ+ identities in the questionnaire. This grassroots effort was carried out by the National LGBTQ Task Force, a nonprofit that organizes and promotes queer activism. Its Queer […]
Posted inHigh Courts, High Stakes
America’s state supreme courts don’t look like America
Over the last three-plus decades, America’s state supreme courts have become less — not more — reflective of the nation’s racial and ethnic makeup. This story also appeared in USA TODAY That’s according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of data from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law […]
Posted inEnvironment
Taking the highway to right wrongs of the past in urban areas
Roads might not seem like an obvious solution to structural inequalities. But for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, addressing those inequalities requires restoring Black and brown communities torn apart by freeways and highways during the building boom of the mid-20th century. Over the last year, Buttigieg has crossed the country visiting cities where the Biden administration […]
Posted inUnhoused and Undercounted
Public Integrity, partners win award for work on student homelessness
A collaborative Center for Public Integrity investigation that put a sobering number on local school districts’ failure to help homeless students — and showed ways to improve — is being honored with the Stewart B. McKinney Award recognizing contributions to the understanding of homelessness in the U.S. “Unhoused and Undercounted,” in partnership with The Seattle […]
Posted inUnhoused and Undercounted
Homeless students needed help. Schools showed them the door.
This story also appeared in Chalkbeat The two boys should have been in elementary school. But for 71 days, the Bristol Borough School District in suburban Philadelphia would not enroll them. Attorneys for the students later explained they were newcomers. They first lived with a relative in New Jersey but couldn’t stay without risking her […]
Posted inUnhoused and Undercounted
What we know about Maryland’s homeless education dispute process
Our investigation into Pennsylvania schools shows the costs to kids when school officials disagree with parents and other guardians about which homeless education protections, if any, their children are entitled to receive. Those kinds of disputes are not unique to Pennsylvania. School system personnel in Maryland also doubted guardians’ claims of homelessness, according to summaries […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
In a historic Black business district, ‘death by a thousand cuts’
JACKSON, Miss. — Farish Street has an all-too-familiar story. Once a booming Black-owned entertainment and business district that drew Black customers from all over Mississippi, it struggled after segregation ended. Today, it suffers from the same blight and infrastructure issues as many other Jackson neighborhoods — and far too many once-segregated communities across the country. […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity journalists win Nonprofit Newcomer, Breaking Barriers awards
The Center for Public Integrity has won the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Breaking Barriers Award, and Audience Engagement Editor Ashley Clarke has been named Nonprofit Newcomer of the Year. At an awards ceremony in Philadelphia Wednesday, Clarke was honored for helping transform the mission, workplace culture and partnerships of one of the country’s oldest nonprofit […]
Posted inUnequal Burden
The long struggle over taxing the rich
This story also appeared in Mother Jones ABERDEEN, Wash. — Under an overcast sky, Patty Flores led a group of colleagues to an empty lot in the mobile home park where she lived. A bare patch of grass traced the outline of a home set ablaze in an electrical fire. She saw it as a […]
Posted inUnequal Burden
State tax systems contribute to inequality. These states are doubling down.
This story also appeared in Mother Jones JACKSON, Miss. — Amia Edwards lives here because she wants to make a difference. But in this majority-Black city, long starved for funding by the state’s mostly white Legislature, that’s proved a steep challenge. The city’s recent water crisis came after years of chronic underfunding of Jackson’s aging […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Fundraising ‘schemes’ investigated by Public Integrity lead to arrests
Two men investigated by the Center for Public Integrity for a story about groups that fundraise for causes like childhood leukemia but keep virtually all the money have been charged in connection with “schemes to defraud donors,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Richard Zeitlin, 53, and Robert […]
Posted inInequality
‘Disability is an often forgotten piece of the court’s docket’
In the past year, the Supreme Court has made several decisions that have radically reshaped essential rights for Americans spanning from abortion access to gun rights to the separation of church and state. The higher court rulings have prompted an array of analyses of how some of these decisions will disproportionately impact some already marginalized […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity podcast honored with NABJ award
Season 2 of the Center for Public Integrity’s podcast, “The Heist,” has won a 2023 Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists. “The Wealth Vortex,” which confronted America’s racial wealth gap through the story of an Iowa woman attempting to open the country’s first Black-owned bank in decades, was recognized by […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity wins Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence
The Center for Public Integrity has won a 2023 national Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence. It recognizes a body of work by the nonprofit investigative newsroom that confronts widening inequality in the U.S. through reporting that’s rooted in innovative data analysis, powerful storytelling, historical context and collaboration with local journalists and sources closest […]
Posted inInstitution of One
Public Integrity event explores “What is Home?” with storytellers and panel
One of Leah Mapstead’s favorite things about living independently is decorating her own space. Her condo offers a unique and adventurous theme in each room, from an African safari living room to an ocean bathroom. But Mapstead’s sense of home goes beyond the physical space of her Phoenix condo, located in a gated community for […]
Posted inInstitution of One
Disabled storytellers share what ‘home’ means to them
Leah Mapstead lives by herself. She likes decorating her home in different ways. Her living room looks like an African safari. Her bathroom has an ocean theme. But home is more than just her space. Leah said: “Home is not just a place.” Leah also said: “It’s loved ones, memories, somewhere to feel safe and […]
Posted inInstitution of One
In their own words: Disabled storytellers share what ‘home’ means to them
The Center for Public Integrity held an event on July 26 — the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act — called “What is Home?” that explored the challenges of finding safe homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At the event, there were four storytellers with disabilities who shared what “home” means […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity nominated for ‘general excellence’ Online Journalism Award
The Center for Public Integrity is a finalist for the Online Journalism Awards’ coveted general excellence award. The nonprofit investigative news organization is one of three finalists in the small newsroom category, alongside Honolulu Civil Beat and The Markup. Finalists in the award’s larger categories include The New York Times and The Washington Post. Public […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
How guaranteed basic income can reduce infant mortality
A city’s infant mortality rate indicates the general health of a population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is especially the case in Philadelphia, which has the highest infant mortality and poverty rates among the nation’s 10 most populous cities. In their first year, Black infants die at more than triple […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity launches effort to support local investigative reporting
The Center for Public Integrity is setting out to strengthen local investigative reporting across the country, through partnerships with local newsrooms designed to systematically exchange knowledge and provide ongoing support. The initiative will prioritize news organizations serving communities that are traditionally under-resourced yet have the potential to produce groundbreaking stories exposing systemic inequalities affecting their […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
Renters less likely to be kicked out where eviction filing fees are higher
Places with higher fees for filing eviction cases have lower eviction rates — even when other factors are considered, new research from the Eviction Lab at Princeton University shows. The research, published in the journal Housing Policy Debate in May, showed higher filing fees motivate landlords to work with tenants rather than turning to the […]
Posted inInside Public Integrity
Public Integrity’s Jin Ding named AAJA Member of the Year
Center for Public Integrity Chief of Staff and Operations Jin Ding was named 2023 Member of the Year by the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) at the organization’s annual convention on Saturday. Ding’s contributions to AAJA and support of fellow journalists have had a far-reaching impact. Ding first joined AAJA in 2017 while working at […]
Posted inHigh Courts, High Stakes
‘Lose the courts, lose the war’: The battle over voting in North Carolina
This story also appeared in USA TODAY NEW BERN, N.C. — As the daylight faded on April 12, 2018, a Craven County sheriff’s deputy pulled over a white pickup. Heather French was sitting in the passenger seat. The deputy began tailing the truck on the other side of the Trent River, in a location he […]
Posted inHigh Courts, High Stakes
State high courts get limited attention. Here’s how to change that.
State supreme courts have the final word on interpreting state constitutions. Their decisions have massive implications for abortion access, taxes, LGBTQ+ rights, labor, policing and other issues that affect people’s lives. So why do these courts fly under the radar? That’s partly by design. Justices rarely seek public attention, preferring to let their opinions do […]
Posted inHigh Courts, High Stakes
How Republicans flipped America’s state supreme courts
This story also appeared in USA TODAY In 2018, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution included a right to abortion, finding that “nothing could be more fundamental to the notion of liberty.” Just four years later, the court reversed itself. Iowa’s constitution does not, the justices decided, guarantee a right to abortion […]
Posted inWatchdog newsletter
Memoir: The ER reveals “unvarnished truth” of broken system
Dr. Thomas Fisher’s memoir, “The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER,” offers a firsthand critique of the country’s unequal healthcare system. The Chicago South Side native has been an emergency room doctor at the University of Chicago Medical Center for two decades. Thomas’ vivid account of the early days of […]
Posted inCriminalizing kids
Fighting back against racial bias in school policing
Two U.S. agencies are urging school districts “to confront the issue of race discrimination in student discipline,” releasing a report highlighting federal investigations that found evidence of bias in school policing over the past decade. “Discrimination in student discipline forecloses opportunities for students, pushing them out of the classroom and diverting them from a path […]
Posted inAccountability
One simple solution to tackle the gender pay gap
Millions of job seekers may soon have access to closely guarded information about pay. Six states recently approved wage transparency laws that require most employers to include pay ranges in job ads. Colorado debuted the policy in 2021 as a strategy to help shrink the persistent gender wage gap. California and Washington enacted similar laws […]
Posted inLive Events
What is home? Public Integrity event will feature disabled storytellers
This event is called “What is Home?” It will take place on July 26 at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The event will have: Amy Silverman will lead the event. Amy wrote a story for the Center for Public Integrity last year. The story was about how hard it was to find safe homes for people […]