Kirsten Berg

I cover the federal government and related national and international issues.

Have a Tip for a Story?

I’m interested in tips about records across federal agencies. I take confidentiality seriously and welcome ideas via secure email, Signal or postal mail.

What I Cover

I’ve contributed to investigations on a range of topics, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hobbled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise and ramifications of Chinese transnational repression and organized crime, and the federal judiciary’s repeated failures to provide ethical oversight for its judges.

My Background

My collaborations with colleagues at ProPublica have received numerous honors, including the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, a Selden Ring Award, an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and medal, and recognition as a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

Prior to joining ProPublica, I was an editor at Future Tense, the deputy director of the New America Fellows program and a reporter at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. I was also once an intern at ProPublica.

The Judiciary Has Policed Itself for Decades. It Doesn’t Work.

The secretive Judicial Conference is tasked with self-governance. The group, led by the Supreme Court’s chief justice, has spent decades preserving perks, defending judges and thwarting outside oversight.

December 13, 2023, 5:00 am EST
Operation Fox Hunt: How China Exports Repression Using a Network of Spies Hidden in Plain Sight

China sends covert teams abroad to bring back people accused — justifiably or not — of financial crimes. One New Jersey family was stalked as part of a global campaign that takes families hostage and pressures immigrants to serve as spies.

July 22, 2021, 5:00 am EDT
Inside the Fall of the CDC

How the world’s greatest public health organization was brought to its knees by a virus, the president and the capitulation of its own leaders, causing damage that could last much longer than the coronavirus.

October 15, 2020, 1:12 pm EDT
How a Chinese American Gangster Transformed Money Laundering for Drug Cartels

Xizhi Li pioneered a new method that enriched Latin American drug lords and China’s elite. A DEA investigation found the Chinese government may have been involved.

October 11, 2022, 5:00 am EDT