Michael Grabell
Michael Grabell is a senior editor with ProPublica. Grabell has previously written about economic issues, labor, immigration and trade. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist.
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Michael Grabell is a senior editor with ProPublica. Grabell has previously written about economic issues, labor, immigration and trade. He has reported on the ground from more than 35 states, as well as some of the remotest villages in Alaska and Guatemala. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The New York Times and on Vice and NPR.
Grabell has won two George Polk awards and has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize — in 2021, as part of a team covering COVID-19, and in 2019, with Ginger Thompson and Topher Sanders, for stories that helped expose the impact of family separation at the border and abuse in immigrant children’s shelters. The latter work also won a Peabody award and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting.
He previously won the Gerald Loeb Award for business journalism for his investigation into the dismantling of workers’ compensation and an ASNE award for reporting on diversity for his series on the growth of temp work in the economy.
Safety Reviewers Raise Questions About Construction of New Nuclear Fuel Plant
Two scientists say the NRC took construction and licensing shortcuts at a MOX fuel plant being built in South Carolina. The plant, which will convert plutonium from nuclear weapons into fuel for commercial reactors, is the first construction authorized by the NRC since the Three Mile Island accident.
Villages Testify to Disparity in Benefits Alaska Native Corporations Provide
Congress created the system of Alaska Native Corporations with the promise of bringing prosperity to a scattered indigenous population stuck in poverty. The corporations have created pockets of success but not a wide-scale solution for joblessness and substance abuse.
FAA Moves to Limit Blockout System Hiding Private Jet Flights
Citing a court ruling involving a ProPublica public records request, the Federal Aviation Administration says private jet owners may not block their whereabouts from real-time flight tracking without a valid security concern. The National Business Aviation Association objects to the proposed FAA rule change.
Gov’t Considering Rolling Back Rule Allowing Private Planes to Keep Flights Secret
Under a plan the Department of Transportation is reportedly considering, most private plane owners will no longer be able to prevent the public from tracking their flights.
Alaska Native Firms Shift Stimulus Work to Outsiders
A ProPublica analysis shows that Alaska Native Corporations rely heavily on subcontracts with non-native companies to perform stimulus projects they’ve won through special contracting privileges.
What Are Alaska Native Corporations?
Questions and answers about Alaska Native Corporations
Rampant Fraud, Self-Dealing Alleged in Alaska Native Corporation
Cape Fox Corporation was prey to some of the worst abuses in a system that gives Alaska Native Corporations access to no-bid government contracts of unlimited size. As federal contracting grew, benefits went to non-native consultants instead of providing jobs, dividends to natives.
Revenues for ANCs Skyrocket, but Not Payouts to Natives
Revenues of Alaska Native Corporations have skyrocketed thanks to special privileges that allow them to obtain no-bid contracts of unlimited size. But profits and dividends haven’t kept pace, according to an analysis of ANC annual reports online at ProPublica.