December 2011 Archive
Top MuckReads of 2011: Domestic Surveillance, Shell Companies and College Sports Corruption
Our rundown of this year’s best investigative or accountability journalism.
Fracking Cracks the Public Consciousness in 2011
The year brings a bumper crop of studies, intensifying health concerns, and a landmark development when environmental regulators conclude hydraulic fracturing likely caused groundwater contamination for the first time.
Oh, Canada's Become a Home for Record Fracking
While furious debate over fracking rages in the U.S., the controversial practice has been embraced across the border. British Columbia and Alberta have offered incentives and loosened regulations to attract drilling. The result: record fracking operations and rising concerns about the environmental cost.
Invasion of the Body Scanners: They're Spreading, But Are They Safe and Effective?
One type of scanner uses X-rays, and ProPublica and PBS NewsHour revealed questions about whether it might increase cancer cases. But a safer type of scanner has its own problems. ProPublica investigated the biggest change to airport security since the metal detector.
Still Waiting for Cleanup in Foreclosure Mess
If last year was the year in which faulty foreclosures and bank errors became a full-blown scandal, this has been the year of waiting for something to be done about it.
Military Still Struggling to Treat Troops With Brain Injuries
Defense Department leaders and lawmakers have taken steps to improve the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injuries since ProPublica and NPR began a two-year investigation, but progress remains incremental.
Ring Out the Year With a Donation to ProPublica
This has been a year of impact for ProPublica’s journalism. We’re making a difference. So as 2011 comes to a close, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help ProPublica continue this important work.
Answering Your Questions on Our California Redistricting Story
We answer your questions about our California redistricting story.
Top MuckReads: Gang-Politician Alliances, Adoption Fraud and NATO’s Bungled Bombing
Our rundown of this week’s best investigative or accountability journalism.
The Champion of Painkillers
The annual death toll from overdoses of painkillers has reached almost 15,000, prompting the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to term it an "epidemic." But the American Pain Foundation continues to claim the risks are overblown. The advocacy group's biggest supporter? The drug industry.
Two Leaders in Pain Treatment Have Long Ties to Drug Industry
American Pain Foundation board members Scott Fishman and Perry Fine, both physicians, have lectured and authored publications funded by makers of narcotic painkillers. They say the support doesn’t bias them.
Just How Good Are the TSA's Body Scanners?
While the Transportation Security Administration says that airport body scanners are highly effective at detecting explosives hidden underneath clothing, some studies and a congressman briefed on classified research suggest the machines could miss carefully concealed plastic explosives.
California Republicans Call for Official Investigation of Dems’ Redistricting Tactics
Early reactions to ProPublica’s report on the ways California Democrats manipulated the state’s citizen redistricting commission split along partisan lines.
How Democrats Fooled California’s Redistricting Commission
To get the districts they wanted, Democrats organized groups that said they represented communities, but really represented the party.
Gone Without a Case: Suspicious Elder Deaths Rarely Investigated
An investigation by ProPublica and PBS "Frontline" finds the system to examine unusual fatalities often fails seniors, leaving them vulnerable to neglect, abuse and even murder.
Rep. Jerry McNerney's District
Democrats recognized that they could protect Jerry McNerney from being redistricted out of office by the Citizen's Redistricting Commission.
