Hi Reader,
For years, there were people inside the federal government whose job was to count.
They tracked how many children were in America's public schools. How much pollution was in the air and water. How government programs were working — and who they were failing.
But when President Donald Trump took office again last year, his administration dismantled much of this work. (Remember DOGE?)
Clear-cut, trustworthy information about how American society is functioning is getting harder and harder to access as workers in federal agencies that many of us have never heard of have stopped collecting the statistics that helped us understand our country.
In times like these, the public needs a watchdog to look out for it. Someone — or a couple hundred someones — with the skill and muscle to cut through the chaos, highlight exactly what is happening and calculate the consequences.
This is what ProPublica does. Our newsroom exists to provide reliable, unbiased information about the state of our nation, free for anyone who wants it. Our journalists are among the best in the field. They know which questions matter most, and they have the experience and persistence to pursue records, confront officials and keep going when answers don’t come easily. Our stories expose corruption, abuses of power and betrayals of public trust so that the public has access to the facts they need to grasp the problems we're facing and make evidence-based decisions about how to confront them.
We investigate in the public interest because we have seen, time and again, that people and policymakers, when confronted with difficult truths, will work to fix problems that come to light. Our reporting has helped hold officials accountable; exposed life-threatening failures in America's hurricane warning systems, generic drug manufacturing and reproductive healthcare; and calculated the horrors that could lie ahead if childhood vaccines vanish.
We’re able to produce this kind of independent, fearless and unflinching journalism because of readers like you. Investigations like these are time-consuming and expensive. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on donations from individuals to produce journalism in the public interest and keep it free for all. Today, I’m asking you to join ProPublica with a donation of any amount. This work has never been more necessary. Our summer member drive ends on Friday. Stand with us.
Thanks so much,
Megan Martenyi
Proud ProPublican
