Alec MacGillis
I have been reporting for ProPublica since 2015, most recently covering the post-pandemic schools crisis.
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What I Cover
In recent years, I have covered gun violence, economic inequality and the post-pandemic crisis in public education.
My Background
I worked for six newspapers, including The Baltimore Sun and The Washington Post. In 2011, I switched to magazines, at The New Republic, before arriving at ProPublica in 2015. My work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The New York Times Magazine, among others. I won the 2016 Robin Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, the 2017 Polk Award for National Reporting and the 2017 Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award. A resident of Baltimore, I am the author of “The Cynic: The Political Education of Mitch McConnell” and “Fulfillment: America in the Shadow of Amazon.”
Why the Perfect Red-State Democrat Lost
Taylor Sappington is exactly the kind of candidate his party should want in Ohio. But he couldn’t get union support.
How Struggling Dayton, Ohio, Reveals the Chasm Among American Cities
As a ProPublica/Frontline documentary shows, the economic and social gaps among cities are growing as dramatic as the gaps between urban and rural areas.
Kushner Companies Loses a Key Motion in Class Action Filed by Baltimore Tenants
A state judge declined to dismiss the suit filed by apartment residents who claim they were charged inappropriate and excessive fees.
How Mitch McConnell Made Donald Trump
The president owes both his election and his long-term impact to the Senate majority leader, who not only engineered the strategy that will let Trump make two Supreme Court appointments, but also created the circumstances that facilitated his rise.
Forced to Choose Between a Job — and a Community
As the largest employer in Adams County, Ohio, closes its coal-fired power plants there, politicians and companies have thrown up their hands. Families know that finding work means leaving the place they know.
Before the Blankenship-McConnell Feud, the Senator Aided the Mining Executive
Mitch McConnell helped Don Blankenship’s company avoid dire regulatory consequences for a disastrous spill in 2000.
Billion-Dollar Blessings
How Jerry Falwell Jr. transformed Liberty University, one of the religious right's most powerful institutions, into a wildly lucrative online empire.
Addiction Drug’s Side Effect: More Overdoses?
Researchers suggest people getting Vivitrol shots may be more susceptible to a fatal overdose if they halt the regimen early and resume using opiates.
How Political Pessimism Helps Doom Tougher Gun Laws
Saying ‘nothing will change’ has empowered the NRA and ignores its declining punch.
Kushner Companies Decides to Fight Tenants in State Court Rather Than Reveal Its Investors’ Identities
The move follows a federal judge’s ruling in favor of disclosure.