Megan Rose

Reporter

Photo of Megan Rose

Megan Rose, formerly Megan McCloskey, has investigated criminal justice and the military for ProPublica since 2013. She won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting with two colleagues for a series examining how Navy and Marine Corps leadership failed to heed warnings and implement reforms leading up to several fatal accidents.

Rose has also examined the billions of dollars wasted by the U.S. government in Afghanistan and how the Pentagon was failing in its efforts to find and identify missing service members from past wars. In a series investigating prosecutorial misconduct, she exposed how rather than exonerating wrongfully convicted defendants, prosecutors instead pushed a little known plea deal that left innocent men with a record.

Rose’s work at ProPublica and elsewhere has resulted in several falsely convicted men clearing their records, Congressional inquiries, and high-level leadership changes.

Previously Rose was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, reporting from the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, a disaster zone in Haiti, and U.S. military bases in Asia. She also worked for the Associated Press both domestically and abroad.

She graduated from the University of Missouri with degrees in journalism and political science, and has received the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Award, a White House Correspondents’ Association award and the Deborah Howell Award for Writing Excellence, and was twice a finalist for the Livingston Award.

Rose lives in Washington with her husband and son.

A Utah Cleft Palate Team Says Its Approach Is Innovative. Others See a Pattern of Unnecessary Surgeries on Children.

At Primary Children’s Hospital in Utah, pediatric surgeons are taking controversial risks with how they care for kids with cleft lip and palate. Outside doctors found that some parents weren’t told their child’s care was different from the norm.

Despite Major Reform to Military Justice System, Navy Still Leaves Public in Dark

A new law enacts sweeping changes to make prosecutions for serious offenses like sexual assault or murder more fair. The Navy is still fighting a ProPublica lawsuit to make those court cases public.

Here’s What States Are Doing to Abortion Rights in 2023

In the first full legislative session after Roe v. Wade was overturned, states across the country are looking to further restrict or better protect abortion rights. ProPublica looked at what abortion legislation is on the table in 2023.

New Pentagon Rules Keep Many Military Court Records Secret

Despite a 2016 law requiring transparency, the Defense Department is limiting public access to court records in the military justice system. A recent ProPublica lawsuit appears to have spurred the new Pentagon guidance.

Judge Finds Sailor Not Guilty in Fire That Destroyed $1.2 Billion Navy Ship

Even though a separate Navy review found that 34 people, including five admirals, contributed to or directly led to the loss of the USS Bonhomme Richard, Ryan Mays is the only person to have faced a court-martial.

The Navy Accused Him of Arson. Its Own Investigation Showed Widespread Safety Failures.

After the USS Bonhomme Richard fire, investigators found missing fire hoses, a broken sprinkler system and other systemic failures. The Navy is still accusing a sailor of arson, against the advice of a military judge.

The Navy Is Withholding Court Records in a High-Profile Ship Fire Case

The U.S. Navy accused a sailor of setting the 2020 fire on the USS Bonhomme Richard, but it refuses to release records in the case as the law requires.

What the US Didn’t Learn in Afghanistan, According to the Government’s Own Inspector General

A lacerating report this week was the 11th in a clear-eyed series that revealed the US failure to reconstruct Afghanistan over two decades. Why didn’t anyone heed the inspector general’s warnings?

A Las Vegas Judge Approves $1.4 Million Payment to Wrongfully Convicted Man Who Served More Than Two Decades

Fred Steese, who spent decades behind bars for murder — despite the fact that Nevada state prosecutors had documents showing he was in another state at the time of the crime — will receive cash, fees and a certificate of innocence.

U.S. Marine Corps Concludes Its Investigation Into a Fatal 2018 Midair Crash Was Inaccurate

A new review reexamined the December 2018 crash after a ProPublica investigation revealed that Marines had been deprived of adequate training and equipment, and that their repeated pleas for help from superiors before the crash went unaddressed.

What Parents Should Know About Coronavirus as Kids Return to Babysitters, Day Cares and Camps

You never planned on raising kids during a pandemic, and there are no easy decisions. ProPublica scoured the latest research and talked to seven infectious disease and public health experts to help think through the issues facing parents.

It’s Hardly Shocking the Navy Fired a Commander for Warning of Coronavirus Threat. It’s Part of a Pattern.

In dismissing the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy once again punished the messenger, a frontline leader brave enough to tell the unvarnished truth to superiors about a threat to his sailors.

Aumentarán la violencia intrafamiliar y el abuso infantil durante las cuarentenas. También empeorará la negligencia contra las personas en riesgo, informan trabajadores sociales.

Diferentes departamentos de servicios sociales se están esforzando por enfrentar las consecuencias de las restricciones causadas por el coronavirus, y los trabajadores sociales informan que grandes cantidades de norteamericanos en riesgo, ancianos, enfermos y discapacitados están en peligro. “Vamos a tener muertes debido a esto”.

Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Will Rise During Quarantines. So Will Neglect of At-Risk People, Social Workers Say.

Patchwork social service departments are scrambling to address the fallout of coronavirus restrictions, and social workers say vast numbers of at-risk, elderly, sick and disabled Americans will be imperiled. “We are going to see some deaths.”

After Discovering a Sailor With Coronavirus, the U.S. Navy Crowded Dozens Into One Room

On the USS Boxer, where the Navy discovered its first case of coronavirus on a ship, a sailor says his superiors called a meeting that crammed more than 80 senior enlisted sailors and officers together.

Warship Accidents Left Sailors Traumatized. The Navy Struggled to Treat Them.

Recent wars have forced the U.S. military to acknowledge and treat the psychological wounds caused by trauma. But some sailors who survived 2017’s deadly crashes say the Navy’s efforts to help them sometimes fell short.

Trump Says U.S. Is Ready for War. Not All His Troops Are So Sure.

A series of accidents calls the military’s preparedness into question.

Faulty Equipment, Lapsed Training, Repeated Warnings: How a Preventable Disaster Killed Six Marines

Marine commanders did not act on dozens of pleas for additional manpower, machinery and time. When a training exercise ended in death, leadership blamed the very men they had neglected.

The Navy Installed Touch-Screen Steering Systems to Save Money. 10 Sailors Paid With Their Lives.

When the USS John S. McCain crashed in the Pacific, the Navy blamed the destroyer’s crew for the loss of 10 sailors. The truth is the Navy’s flawed technology set the McCain up for disaster.

Blame Over Justice: The Human Toll of the Navy’s Relentless Push to Punish One of Its Own

Navy Cmdr. Bryce Benson accepted responsibility for the deadly crash of the USS Fitzgerald and was told, “That’s done now.” But when another ship crashed, the Navy decided it wasn’t through with him. Its pursuit nearly destroyed him and his family.

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