Hi Reader,
Every community deserves answers and accountability. Yet there has been a net loss of 2,886 local U.S. newspapers since 2005.1 Those that have survived are smaller and often lack the resources needed to produce time-consuming investigative reporting projects.
But ProPublica is different, thanks to readers like you. As a nonprofit newsroom, we don’t depend on advertising or short-term investors. Our work is supported largely by donations from individuals, and over the past few years, we’ve grown significantly. For us, that growth comes with a responsibility: to help fill undeniable gaps in deep-dive journalism all over the country. Through our new 50 State Initiative, ProPublica will bring world-class accountability journalism back to every state in the country.
ProPublica has spent the past seven years refining our approach to local journalism. In 2017, we opened our first regional office, in Illinois, and in the years that followed, we opened hubs in the Midwest, South, Southwest, Northwest and Texas. In 2018, we launched the Local Reporting Network to empower under resourced outlets to pursue accountability reporting. Through the LRN, ProPublica funds the work of a local reporter for at least a year and provides them with editorial guidance and resources through every step of the investigative process. ProPublica has since partnered with more than 70 media organizations to produce over 90 projects across 35 states.
In “State of Disrepair: Inside Idaho’s Crumbling Schools,” ProPublica partnered with the Idaho Statesman to investigate why Idaho spends less, per student, on schools than any other state and how restrictive policies created a funding crisis that’s left rural schools with collapsing roofs, deteriorating foundations and freezing classrooms. Spurred by our reporting, the Idaho Legislature approved $2 billion for school districts to repair and replace aging and overcrowded buildings — an amount they said would mark the largest investment in school facilities in state history. Citing our reporting, Gov. Brad Little said in his January State of the State address that he wanted to make funding for school facilities “priority No. 1.”
In our “America’s Dairyland: Risking Workers’ Lives for the Milk We Drink” series, co-published with USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and El Faro, we examined the cruel and often inhumane conditions facing Wisconsin’s immigrant dairy farm workers. Our reporting revealed how a grammatical mistake in Spanish contributed to officials wrongly blaming a Nicaraguan dairy worker for killing his young son in a farm accident, showed the consequences on the dairy industry of a state law that bars undocumented immigrants from driving and exposed how workers are often fired and evicted from their homes when they are hurt at work, among other issues. In all, the yearlong series of stories brought to light the horrors and tragedies of Wisconsin’s dairy industry. In November, elected officials in Dane County, Wisconsin, approved an $8 million fund for farmworker housing. Separately, the sheriff’s office there drafted a proposed policy on how to respond to incidents involving residents with limited English proficiency, and it’s now working with the Justice Department on its first-ever written policy.
We know that local news is essential, and there are critical stories worth telling, but we need to invest in the infrastructure to support sophisticated investigative reporting. Without it, communities lose unbiased information to hold their local officials and institutions accountable, and we miss local political and economic trends that often have national repercussions. ProPublica staff, partnerships and tools help fill the gap in local investigative reporting, catalyzing ambitious, community-driven journalism that sparks change. And we’re just getting started. Help us strengthen the ability of investigative journalism to right wrongs in every corner of this country by making a donation of any amount right now.
As a reader of ProPublica, you know how important it is for journalists everywhere to have the freedom, resources and ability to pursue stories that shine a light on corruption, miscarriages of justice and other wrongdoing. We’re so grateful to our supporters for giving us the ability to make a difference where it’s most needed. I’m asking you to join us today with your donation of any amount and help power one of the largest teams of investigative journalists in the country.
Thanks so much,
Jill Shepherd
Proud ProPublican
