About the Local Reporting Network

In 2024, ProPublica launched the 50 State Initiative, a commitment to support accountability reporting projects in every state by the end of 2029. ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network began in January 2018 in an effort to help remedy the lack of investigative reporting at the local level. Many local news organizations are facing enormous financial strain and cutbacks; they want to do deeper accountability coverage but simply don’t have the resources. That issue is exacerbated by the fact that the strongest accountability reporting these days often relies on a mix of specialized skills that can be scarce in local newsrooms, including data, research, crowdsourcing and visual storytelling.

Our partners’ stories have made a real difference in their communities, and their work has been recognized nationally with prestigious journalism awards. One of our partners, the Anchorage Daily News, won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for public service for our collaboration that examined sexual violence in Alaska.

We have now partnered with more than 70 newsrooms across the country. You can learn more about our previous work below. Sign up here to get updates.

Here’s information on how to apply.

Projects Underway

Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage, Alaska
Reporter: Kyle Hopkins

Bangor Daily News
Bangor, Maine
Reporter: Sawyer Loftus

Capitol News Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Reporter Molly Parker

The Connecticut Mirror
Hartford, Connecticut
Reporter: Dave Altimari

Honolulu Civil Beat
Honolulu, Hawaii
Reporter: Nick Grube

KYUK
Bethel, Alaska
Reporter: Emily Schwing

Michigan Public
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Reporter: Beenish Ahmed

New York Focus
New York, New York
Reporter: Spencer Norris

North Dakota Monitor
Bismarck, North Dakota
Reporter: Jacob Orledge

Oregon Public Broadcasting
Portland, Oregon
Reporter: Tony Schick

The Seattle Times
Seattle, Washington
Reporter: Lulu Ramadan

Verite News
New Orleans, Louisiana
Reporter: Richard A. Webster

Wisconsin Watch
Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin
Reporter: Phoebe Petrovic

Previous Partners and Projects

2023

Under the Gun: How Gun Violence Is Impacting the Nation
WPLN/Nashville Public Radio
Nashville, Tennessee
Reporter: Paige Pfleger

Division of Families: Georgia’s Housing Policies Separate Parents From Children
Atlanta, Georgia
Reporter: Stephannie Stokes

The Long Burn: The Slow Recovery From New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire
Source New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Reporter: Patrick Lohmann

Breach of Trust: Utah’s Troubled Handling of Sexual Assaults
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City, Utah
Reporter: Jessica Miller

Lawmakers Attempting Takeover of Funds for Jackson’s Water System, Federal Manager Warns
Mississippi Free Press
Jackson, Mississippi
Reporter: Nick Judin

Checked Out: LA’s Lost Residential Hotels
Capital & Main
Los Angeles, California
Reporter: Robin Urevich

Waiting on Paychecks: New York’s Rampant Wage Theft Goes Unpunished
Documented
New York, New York
Reporter: Marcus Baram

In a Push for Green Energy, One Federal Agency Made Tribes an Offer They Had to Refuse
High Country News
Paonia, Colorado
Reporter: B. Toastie Oaster

Long-Term Challenge: Maine’s Lax Oversight of Residential Care Facilities
The Maine Monitor
Hallowell, Maine
Reporter: Rose Lundy

State of Disrepair: Inside Idaho’s Crumbling Schools
Idaho Statesman
Boise, Idaho
Reporter: Becca Savransky

Committed to Jail: How Mississippi Jails People for Mental Illness
Mississippi Today
Jackson, Mississippi
Reporter: Isabelle Taft

Mayor, Judge and Jury: Louisiana’s Mayor’s Courts
WVUE-TV
New Orleans, Louisiana
Reporter: Samantha Sunne

Crisis Point: How New York Wrecked Mental Health Care for Kids
The City
New York, New York
Reporter: Abigail Kramer

West Virginians Could Get Stuck Cleaning Up the Coal Industry’s Messes
Mountain State Spotlight
West Virginia
Reporter: Ken Ward

No Defense: How Mississippi Fails Poor Defendants
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
Tupelo, Mississippi
Reporter: Caleb Bedillion

Uprooted: Virginia Universities Have Expanded by Dislodging Black Communities
Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO
Norfolk, Virginia
Reporter: Brandi Kellam

2022

The Title Pawn Trap
The Current
Savannah, Georgia
Reporter: Margaret Coker

Juvenile Injustice, Tennessee: Where Kids Meet the Rule of Law
WPLN/Nashville Public Radio
Nashville, Tennessee
Reporter: Meribah Knight

The Price Kids Pay: How Schools and Police Work Together to Punish Students
The Chicago Tribune
Chicago, Illinois
Reporter: Jennifer Smith Richards

How Foreign Private Equity Hooked New England’s Fishing Industry
New Bedford Light
New Bedford, Massachusetts
Reporter: Will Sennott

Nowhere to Go: New Mexico’s Troubled Foster Care System
Searchlight New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Reporter: Ed Williams

$53.3 Million. 33 Jobs. No Plan. That’s How Mississippi Lawmakers Are Spending BP Oil Spill Money.
Sun Herald
Biloxi, Mississippi
Reporter: Anita Lee

They Faced Foreclosure Not From Their Mortgage Lender, but From Their HOA
Rocky Mountain PBS
Denver, Colorado
Reporter: Brittany Freeman

Unequal Discipline: Native Students Face Harsh Discipline in New Mexico
New Mexico in Depth
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Reporter: Bryant Furlow

Missouri Allows Some Disabled Workers to Earn Less Than $1 an Hour. The State Says It’s Fine If That Never Changes.
The Kansas City Beacon
Kansas City, Missouri
Reporter: Madison Hopkins

Promised Land: A Failed Housing Pledge to Native Hawaiians
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Honolulu, Hawaii
Reporter: Rob Perez

Disaster After Disaster: Growing Storms, Faltering Aid
The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
New Orleans, Louisiana
Reporter: Richard A. Webster

Casinos Pled Poverty to Get a Huge Tax Break. Atlantic City Is Paying the Price.
The Press of Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Reporter: Alison Burdo

2021

In San Francisco, Hundreds of Homes for the Homeless Sit Vacant
San Francisco Public Press
San Francisco, California
Reporter: Nuala Bishari

Schoolyard Sheriffs: Policing Kids in Antelope Valley Schools
KPCC/LAist
Los Angeles, California
Reporter: Emily Elena Dugdale 

In Alaska, Commercial Aviation Is a Lifeline. The State Is Also Home to a Growing Share of the Country’s Deadly Crashes.
KUCB and CoastAlaska
Unalaska, Alaska
Reporter: Zoë Sobel

Black Snow: Big Sugar’s Burning Problem
Palm Beach Post
Palm Beach, Florida
Reporter: Lulu Ramadan

Bittersweet: How America’s Richest School Spends Its Wealth
The Philadelphia Inquirer and Spotlight PA
Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Reporter: Bob Fernandez

The Way Prisoners Flag Guard Abuse, Inadequate Health Care and Unsanitary Conditions Is Broken
WBEZ
Chicago, Illinois
Reporter: Shannon Heffernan

Unwatched: A Louisiana Law Department That Polices Itself
WRKF and WWNO
Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana
Reporter: Richard Webster 

The City Where Investigations of Police Take So Long, Officers Kill Again Before Reviews Are Done
Open Vallejo
Vallejo, California
Reporter: Laurence Du Sault

Lights Out: Profitable Utility Company Shut Off Electricity to Homes Hundreds of Thousands of Times
Outlier Media
Detroit, Michigan
Reporter: Sarah Alvarez

2020

State of Denial: Inside Arizona’s Division of Developmental Disabilities
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona
Reporter: Amy Silverman

Gilded Badges: How New Jersey Cops Profit From Police Unions and Avoid Accountability
Asbury Park Press
Neptune, New Jersey
Reporter: Andrew Ford

Pollution Profiteers: Inside California’s Toxic Hauling Industry
Bay City News Foundation
Oakland, California
Reporter: Scott Morris

Oil Companies Are Profiting From Illegal Spills. And California Lets Them.
The Desert Sun
Palm Springs, California
Reporter: Janet Wilson

Sunken Costs: Coal Ash in Georgia
Georgia Health News
Atlanta, Georgia
Reporter: Max Blau

Paradise Lost: Hawaii’s Disappearing Beaches
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Honolulu, Hawaii
Reporter: Sophie Cocke

Defenseless: Investigating the Only State Without Public Defenders
The Maine Monitor
Hallowell, Maine
Reporter: Samantha Hogan

Birth Rights: Investigating Florida’s NICA Program
Miami Herald
Miami, Florida
Reporter: Carol Marbin Miller

Profiting From the Poor: Inside Memphis’ Debt Machine
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism
Memphis, Tennessee
Reporter: Wendi C. Thomas

The Two Hospitals Have Similar Infant Death Rates — Until You Look at Extremely Premature Babies
New Mexico In Depth
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Reporter: Bryant Furlow

In a Small Town, a Battle for Racial Justice Confronts a Bloody Past and an Uncertain Future
The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun
Raleigh, North Carolina
Reporter: Carli Brosseau

Power Play: The Influence of Virginia’s Biggest Utility
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond, Virginia
Reporter: Patrick Wilson

2019

Lessons Lost: How Federal Schools Are Failing Native American Students
Arizona Republic
Phoenix, Arizona
Reporter: Alden Woods

Desperation Town: How Youngstown Gave Itself Away for the Promise of Jobs
The Business Journal
Youngstown, Ohio
Reporter: Dan O’Brien

She Was Sued Over Rent She Didn’t Owe. It Took Seven Court Dates to Prove She Was Right.
Capital Gazette
Annapolis, Maryland
Reporter: Danielle Ohl

At a Great Price: The True Cost of the Sears Headquarters Deal
The Daily Herald
Arlington Heights, Illinois
Reporter: David Bernstein

Critical Condition: Investigating the Business of Oklahoma’s Rural Hospitals
The Frontier
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Reporter: Brianna Bailey

The Elk, the Tourists and the Missing Coal Country Jobs
Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting
Louisville, Kentucky
Reporter: R.G. Dunlop

Unchecked Power: The Extraordinary Power of Alabama Sheriffs
Reckon by AL.com
Birmingham, Alabama
Reporter: Connor Sheets

Invisible Walls: Connecticut’s Separate and Unequal Housing
Connecticut Mirror
Hartford, Connecticut
Reporter: Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

The Real Bosses of New Jersey: How Unelected Officials Run Your Government
WNYC
New York, New York
Reporter: Nancy Solomon

The Untouchables: Investigating South Carolina’s Judges
The Post and Courier
Charleston, South Carolina
Reporter: Joseph Cranney

Overcorrection: Crisis in California Jails
The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento, California
Reporter: Jason Pohl

Locked Down: An Investigation of Mississippi’s Prisons
Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting
Jackson, Mississippi
Reporter: Jerry Mitchell

A 911 Emergency: Rhode Island’s Deadly 911 Flaws
The Public’s Radio
Providence, Rhode Island
Reporter: Lynn Arditi

Lawless: Sexual Violence in Alaska
Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage, Alaska
Reporter: Kyle Hopkins

Profiting From the Poor: Inside Memphis’ Debt Machine
MLK50
Memphis, Tennessee
Reporter: Wendi C. Thomas

Miswired: How Kentucky Missed the Technology Revolution
Louisville Courier-Journal
Louisville, Kentucky
Reporter: Alfred Miller

Big Jim: West Virginia’s Conflicted Governor
Charleston Gazette-Mail
Charleston, West Virginia
Reporter: Ken Ward Jr.

Polluter’s Paradise: Environmental Impact in Louisiana
The New Orleans Advocate/The Times-Picayune
New Orleans, Louisiana
Reporter: Joan Meiners

Campus Complicity: Faculty Sexual Misconduct in Illinois
NPR Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Reporter: Rachel Otwell

2018

Accused in Elkhart: Justice in an Indiana County
South Bend Tribune
South Bend, Indiana
Reporter: Christian Sheckler

Louisiana’s Ethical Swamp: Lawmakers’ Conflicts of Interest
The New Orleans Advocate
New Orleans, Louisiana
Reporter: Rebekah Allen

A Sick System: Repeat Attacks After Pleading Insanity
The Malheur Enterprise
Malheur County, Oregon
Reporter: Jayme Fraser

The New Power Brokers: West Virginia’s Natural Gas Industry
Charleston Gazette-Mail
Charleston, West Virginia
Reporter: Ken Ward Jr.

Half Life: Nuke Lab Workers Getting Sick
Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Reporter: Rebecca Moss

HUD’s House of Cards: Public Housing Failures
The Southern Illinoisan
Carbondale, Illinois
Reporter: Molly Parker

Trauma After Tragedy: PTSD in First Responders
WMFE
Orlando, Florida
Reporter: Abe Aboraya

Awards and Impact

The impact of our Local Reporting Network has been extraordinary.

The Anchorage Daily News, in a first-of-its-kind investigation, found that one in three communities in Alaska has no local law enforcement: no state troopers to stop an active shooter, no village police officers to break up family fights, not even untrained city or tribal cops to patrol the streets. Following that coverage, U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr visited Alaska and later declared a state of emergency, releasing millions in federal funds to devote to the problem.

MLK50, a nonprofit news organization in Memphis, Tennessee, reported on how the area’s largest hospital system sued and garnished the wages of thousands of poor patients, including its own employees, for unpaid medical debts. The hospital subsequently curtailed its lawsuits against patients for unpaid medical debts, dramatically expanded its financial assistance policy for hospital care and raised the minimum wage it pays employees.

In Indiana, the South Bend Tribune, working with ProPublica senior reporter Ken Armstrong, reported in 2018 on how police officers in Elkhart beat a handcuffed man and about how the police chief promoted officers despite records of discipline. As a result of those articles, the police chief was forced to resign, an independent investigation was launched and the officers involved in the beating were criminally charged. The mayor of Elkhart also abandoned his reelection effort.

In Rhode Island, The Public’s Radio reported how 911 call takers were not trained to provide CPR instructions by phone and about people who died after those call takers failed to give proper guidance. The state legislature added money for training to the state budget.

And WNYC reported on how a company in Camden, New Jersey, provided a false answer on an application for tax breaks, leading the state to freeze the tax break pending further investigation.

You can find more information on the impact section of our website

Our Local Reporting Network collaborations have received numerous national journalism honors, including the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for public service.

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