A Closer Look
Examining the News
Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years
The “King of Debt” promised to reduce the national debt — then his tax cuts made it surge. Add in the pandemic, and he oversaw the third-biggest deficit increase of any president.
The Enraging Deja Vu of a Third Coronavirus Wave
Health care workers don’t need patronizing praise. They need resources, federal support, and for us to stay healthy and out of their hospitals. In many cases, none of that is happening.
The Myth of the Latino Vote and What Newsrooms Must Learn From 2020
This election once again showed the need for more distinct voices in newsrooms. ProPublica and Texas Tribune reporter Perla Trevizo explains why newsrooms must comprise and engage the communities they cover — and not just before an election.
El mito del voto latino y lo que los medios pueden aprender del 2020
Esta contienda electoral nuevamente mostró la necesidad de diversificar las redacciones. La reportera de ProPublica y el Texas Tribune, Perla Trevizo, explica por qué los medios deben de poner atención a las diversas comunidades día tras día, no solo antes de las elecciones.
The Unexpected Benefits of Thinking for Yourself in an Age of Polling
The most important thing journalists can do as they think about covering and investigating government and politics in election years is to not assume any outcome.
Not Mentioned in Cuomo’s Coronavirus Book: How Many Nursing Home Residents Died in New York
Cuomo’s new book on leadership, published as the pandemic continues to ravage America, touts his willingness to speak hard truths about the pandemic. Why then has he still not said how many nursing home residents perished on his watch?
The Fed Saved the Economy but Is Threatening Trillions of Dollars Worth of Middle-Class Retirement
The Federal Reserve has bailed out the stock and bond markets and stabilized the economy with its rock-bottom rates — but at the expense of Social Security and pension funds.
America Is About to Lose Its 200,000th Life to Coronavirus. How Many More Have to Die?
As another grim milestone approaches, here are the lessons officials ignored and what the country needs to do to prevent further tragedy.
What Can Mayors Do When the Police Stop Doing Their Jobs?
In cities across the country, leaders face a phenomenon encountered in Baltimore and Chicago: officers slowing their work in the wake of high-profile episodes of police violence. Reporter Alec MacGillis asks: Will the result be different this time?
The CARES Act Sent You a $1,200 Check but Gave Millionaires and Billionaires Far More
The stimulus checks were meant to get average Americans through the lockdown, but those $1,200 payouts were small change compared with the billions in tax breaks the CARES Act handed out to the country’s wealthiest.
The Bailout Is Working — for the Rich
The economy is in free fall but Wall Street is thriving, and stocks of big private equity firms are soaring dramatically higher. That tells you who investors think is the real beneficiary of the federal government’s massive rescue efforts.
I’m an Investigative Journalist. These Are the Questions I Asked About the Viral “Plandemic” Video.
ProPublica health care reporter Marshall Allen describes the questions he asks to assess coronavirus misinformation, starting with a viral video that claims the coronavirus is part of a “hidden agenda.”
Coronavirus Entered My Father’s Nursing Home and Nobody Warned Me. I Did Not Get the Chance to Save Him.
Reporter Jan Ransom’s father was the fourth resident of his nursing home to get COVID-19. Nobody told her about the first, so she couldn’t move him before he got sick. “I think that’s very unfair,” her father told her a week before he died.
How the Coronavirus Bailout Repeats 2008’s Mistakes: Huge Corporate Payoffs With Little Accountability
As the government rushes to aid the economy, how that’s done, who benefits and who is left behind matter. So far, the signs are ominous.
The Real Story About Trump’s Latest Attack on the Press
On Wednesday, President Trump filed a libel suit against the New York Times that should be readily dismissed. That hasn’t stopped him from threatening to file more lawsuits soon.
Paratransit Services in New York City Are Severely Limited and Unpredictable. They Still Cost $614 Million a Year.
Access-A-Ride, the MTA’s system for riders with disabilities, sometimes drops people off hours early, and sometimes hours late. Rides have to be booked a full day in advance. It’s absurdly impractical for day-to-day life.
Iowa’s Lesson: Political Parties Are Not as Good as Government Officials at Counting Votes
Most primaries are run by state and local governments. But caucuses are different — and Iowa shows how that can be a problem.
Local Accountability Journalism Still Has a Huge Impact
Between the Local Reporting Network and ProPublica Illinois, our work shows that state leaders across the country are listening and things can change.
We’ve Been Tracking Pharma Payments to Doctors For Nearly A Decade. We Just Made A Big Breakthrough.
For years, we’ve wondered whether a doctor who received a payment linked to a particular drug prescribed more of that drug. With our new analysis, we finally have the answer: yes.
Balancing the Public Interest and a Family’s Grief
ProPublica published a video last week showing the final hours of a 16-year-old migrant who died in Border Patrol custody. The family said they should have been given a chance to see the video before it appeared. They have a point.
