Talia Buford

Assistant Managing Editor

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Talia Buford is an Assistant Managing Editor with ProPublica. She joined ProPublica in 2017 as a reporter, covering disparities in environmental impacts. She also served in the role of Talent Development Director at ProPublica. Previously, she was an environment and labor reporter at The Center for Public Integrity, where her work focused mostly on wage theft and the Environmental Protection Agency’s lackluster enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. She also covered energy for POLITICO Pro, and started her career covering municipal and legal affairs at The Providence (R.I.) Journal. She earned a master’s degree in the study of law from Georgetown University Law Center and a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from Hampton University.

Applications Open for ProPublica Investigative Editor Training Program

The yearlong ProPublica Investigative Editor Training Program aims to increase the ranks of investigative editors from diverse backgrounds.

Meet ProPublica’s 2023 Class of Emerging Reporters

These five student journalists will receive stipends and mentorship from ProPublica’s staff as they begin to navigate careers in investigative journalism.

ProPublica Selects 11 for Investigative Editor Training

This inaugural cohort of the training program will receive intensive training and mentorship from ProPublica editors and staff.

Applications Open for ProPublica Investigative Editor Training Program

The yearlong ProPublica Investigative Editor Training Program aims to increase the ranks of investigative editors from diverse backgrounds.

Meet ProPublica’s 2022 Class of Emerging Reporters

These eight student journalists will receive stipends and mentorship from ProPublica’s staff as they begin to navigate careers in investigative journalism.

Meet ProPublica’s Emerging Reporters for the 2021 School Year

These six student journalists will receive stipends and mentorship from ProPublica’s staff.

Meet ProPublica’s Emerging Reporters for the 2020 School Year

These six student journalists were selected from 135 applicants.

She Was Sued Over Rent She Didn’t Owe. It Took Seven Court Dates to Prove She Was Right.

In one of the country’s richest cities, the public housing authority aggressively sued its residents, filing complaints for amounts as little as $5. Some residents were sued over the authority’s own mistakes.

We Reviewed Police Tactics Seen in Nearly 400 Protest Videos. Here’s What We Found.

We asked experts to watch videos showing officers using tear gas, pepper balls and explosives on protesters. Police actions often escalated confrontations.

COVID-19 Took Black Lives First. It Didn’t Have To.

In Chicago, 70 of the city’s 100 first recorded victims of COVID-19 were black. Their lives were rich, and their deaths cannot be dismissed as inevitable. Immediate factors could — and should — have been addressed.

Early Data Shows African Americans Have Contracted and Died of Coronavirus at an Alarming Rate

No, the coronavirus is not an “equalizer.” Black people are being infected and dying at higher rates. Here’s what Milwaukee is doing about it — and why governments need to start releasing data on the race of COVID-19 patients.

New York Wants Health Workers to Join the Fight Against COVID-19. Will It Pick Up Their Medical Bills if They Get Sick?

States are recruiting retirees, recent graduates and other health professionals to help overwhelmed hospitals, but if they contract the virus while serving patients, they could be on the hook for any out-of-pocket medical costs.

Some Towns Still Haven’t Halted Utility Shut-offs for Unpaid Water Bills During Coronavirus, Even as Federal Lawmakers Demand It

While some municipalities with only a few cases of the coronavirus have stopped disconnecting water service for residents with overdue bills, a few utility companies at the coronavirus epicenter in Washington have made no such promises.

The Obscure Charges That Utility Companies Add to Your Bills

A New Jersey utility sparked outrage for charging customers to subsidize nuclear plants. We checked the bills. Turns out, that was just one of 16 lurking surcharges.

New Jersey’s $300 Million Nuclear Power Bailout Is Facing a Court Challenge. Does It Have a Chance?

The state’s utility advocate said regulators should not have approved the subsidies for the energy company PSEG.

Nuclear Lobbying Power: N.J. Utility Customers Will Pay $300M in Subsidies

Regulators voted Thursday to approve subsidies, even though PSEG plants are “financially viable.”

In a Time of Cheap Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Power Companies Are Seeking — and Getting — Big Subsidies

Illinois and New York have approved hundreds of millions of dollars in clean-energy incentives for nuclear power companies. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland could be next.

New Jersey Said 10 Years Ago It Would Rank Its Most Contaminated Sites. It Never Did.

The rankings were supposed to ensure that the most dangerous sites remained a priority even as the state gave private companies a bigger role in cleanups. Today, there are nearly 14,000 contamination sites across New Jersey and still no sign of the mandated rankings.

A Hog Waste Agreement Lacked Teeth, and Some North Carolinians Say They’re Left to Suffer

Today, many farmers continue to store the waste in open pits despite the millions of dollars in private investment spent and years of research and political promises. The practice grows more hazardous with each hurricane that pounds the state.

Potential Insurance Bill From Hurricane Florence Could Take Toll on Wallets Far From North Carolina’s Coast

Insurance companies retreated from some communities amid stronger storms, leaving a “last-resort” plan to fill the growing gap.

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