We measure the success of our work by impact, by which we mean real-world change spurred by our reporting. A fuller exploration of how ProPublica thinks about impact can be found in our white paper, Nonprofit Journalism: Issues Around Impact. Examples of how our stories have produced such change — from the resignation of corrupt officials to the passage of new laws — are compiled in our annual reports. We also report on the impact of our work throughout the year. The latest stories are available below.
Impact
Stories
California Regulators Require Auto Insurers to Adjust Rates
The state changed its approach in response to ProPublica’s finding that minority neighborhoods were paying higher premiums than white areas with the same risk.
Facebook Moves to Prevent Advertisers From Targeting Haters
Following our report that advertisers could use Facebook to reach self-identified anti-Semites, the company said it would remove all audience categories based on users’ reports of their interests, education and employment.
Demócratas de alto nivel exigen investigación de operativos mortales liderados por la DEA
Legisladores citan una investigación de ProPublica y un informe del inspector general que detallan como equipos policiales extranjeros entrenados por la Administración Antidrogas de Estados Unidos (DEA) están ligados a las muertes de inocentes en México y Honduras.
Top Democrats Demand Inquiry Into Deadly DEA-Led Operations
Lawmakers cite a ProPublica investigation and an inspector general report that detail how teams of foreign police officers trained by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration were linked to innocent lives lost in Mexico and Honduras.
Florida Lawmakers to Review Law Targeting Injured Undocumented Workers
Citing an NPR and ProPublica investigation, a top Florida lawmaker and a national insurance fraud group criticized a law used by insurers to turn in injured undocumented workers and avoid paying workers’ comp benefits.
Service Provider Boots Hate Site Off the Internet
The web services company Cloudflare appears to have ended its relationship with the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer.
Senator Demands Answers From Case Farms
An investigation by ProPublica and The New Yorker documented how the chicken company turned to immigrants to work at its plants. Then, when they got hurt or fought back, it used America’s laws against them.
Houston Police End Use of Drug Tests That Helped Produce Wrongful Convictions
The cheap kits were often the sole evidence used to win guilty pleas, against the innocent as well the as guilty.
A Federal Regulator Is Probing Wells Fargo’s Mortgage Practices
A consumer watchdog agency is following up on ProPublica’s reports that the scandal-ridden bank improperly charged fees to customers from Los Angeles to Oregon. Meanwhile, the bank is conducting its own inquiry.
California to Investigate Racial Discrimination in Auto Insurance Premiums
The state’s insurance department is following up on our findings that eight auto insurers charge more in minority neighborhoods than in other neighborhoods with similar risk.
Lawmakers Seek Stronger Monitoring of Racial Disparities in Car Insurance Premiums
In response to our report that minority neighborhoods pay higher premiums than white areas with the same risk, six members of Congress and two Illinois state senators are pushing for closer scrutiny of insurance practices.
New Jersey Seeks to Sanction Psychologist for Disclosing Patients’ Diagnoses in Court Filings
Lawsuits filed on behalf of a psychologist and his practice had disclosed details of patients’ mental health diagnoses and treatments, including those of children. Psychologist Barry Helfmann denies wrongdoing.
California Group Home Liable for Millions in Case of Abused Boy
A jury hit FamiliesFirst, one of California’s largest mental health care providers, for neglect and fraud.
Bellwether Behavioral Health Is Controversial Group Home Operator AdvoServ — With a New Name
After two deaths of teenage residents in less than four years, AdvoServ has quietly taken a new name that makes it harder to follow the trail of media coverage, including ours.
Former Lobbyist With For-Profit Colleges Quits Education Department
Under fire from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Taylor Hansen quit the department three days after ProPublica revealed his hiring.
Florida to Examine Whether Alternative Charter Schools Underreport Dropouts
State officials are following up on a ProPublica report last month that Orlando uses alternative charter schools to boost ratings and hide dropouts.
Wells Fargo Places L.A. Exec on Leave Amid Rate-Lock Fee Inquiry
The bank is investigating a ProPublica report that its Los Angeles region improperly charged customers for delays that were its own fault. The problem extends beyond Los Angeles County, current and former employees now say.
New York City Set to Pass Sweeping Nuisance Abatement Reforms
An investigation by the New York Daily News and ProPublica prompts changes that guarantee residents and businesses targeted in NYPD nuisance actions more due process rights.
Ivanka Trump Also Promised to Resign From Family Business, And Hasn’t Filed Paperwork
President Trump’s eldest daughter said she’d give up management of her businesses. We checked.
