ProPublica
ProPublica (/proʊˈpʌblɪkə/),[2] legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City dedicated to investigative journalism. ProPublica states that its investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time investigative reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to news partners for publication or broadcast. In some cases, reporters from both ProPublica and its partners work together on a story. ProPublica has partnered with more than 90 different news organizations and has won six Pulitzer Prizes.[3]
Founded
2007
14-2007220
- Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
United States
- Paul Steiger (Executive Chairman)
- Herbert Sandler (Founding Chairman)
- Stephen Engelberg (Editor-in-Chief)
- Richard Tofel (President)
- Robin Fields (Managing Editor)
- Charles Ornstein (Managing Editor, Local)
> 100[1]
In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize; the story chronicled the urgent life-and-death decisions made by one hospital's exhausted doctors when they were cut off by the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina,[4][5][6] and was published both in The New York Times Magazine[7] and ProPublica's website.[8]
Funding[edit]
While the Sandler Foundation provided ProPublica with significant financial support, it also has received funding from the Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Atlantic Philanthropies.[15] ProPublica and the Knight Foundation have various connections. For example, Paul Steiger, executive chairman of ProPublica, is a trustee of the Knight Foundation.[16] In like manner, Alberto Ibarguen, the president and CEO of the Knight Foundation is on the board of ProPublica.[17] ProPublica, along with other major news outlets, received grant funding from Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.[18]
ProPublica has attracted attention for the salaries it pays its employees.[19][20] In 2008, Paul Steiger, the editor of ProPublica, received a salary of $570,000.[21] Steiger was formerly the managing editor at The Wall Street Journal, where his total compensation (including options[21]) was double that at ProPublica.[22] Steiger's stated strategy is to use a Wall Street Journal pay model to attract journalistic talent.[23] In 2010, eight ProPublica employees made more than $160,000, including managing editor Stephen Engelberg ($343,463) and the highest-paid reporter, Dafna Linzer, formerly of the Washington Post ($205,445).[24]
Awards[edit]
In 2010, ProPublica jointly won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting (it was also awarded to the Philadelphia Daily News for an unrelated story) for "The Deadly Choices at Memorial", "a story that chronicles the urgent life-and-death decisions made by one hospital's exhausted doctors when they were cut off by the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina."[25] It was written by ProPublica's Sheri Fink and published in The New York Times Magazine[7] as well as on ProPublica.org.[8] This was the first Pulitzer awarded to an online news source.[5][6] The article also won the 2010 National Magazine Award for Reporting.[26]
In 2011, ProPublica won its second Pulitzer Prize.[27] Reporters Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for their series, The Wall Street Money Machine. This was the first time a Pulitzer was awarded to a group of stories not published in print.
In 2016, ProPublica won its third Pulitzer Prize, this time for Explanatory Reporting, in collaboration with The Marshall Project for "a startling examination and exposé of law enforcement's enduring failures to investigate reports of rape properly and to comprehend the traumatic effects on its victims."[28]
In 2017, ProPublica and the New York Daily News were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for a series of reports on the use of eviction rules by the New York City Police Department.[29][30][31]
In 2019, the Peabody Awards honored ProPublica with the first-ever Peabody Catalyst Award for releasing audio in 2018 that brought immediate change to a controversial government practice of family separation at the southern border.[32]
Also in 2019, ProPublica reporter Hannah Dreier was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her series that followed immigrants on Long Island whose lives were shattered by a botched crackdown on MS-13.[33]
In May 2020, ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for illuminating public safety gaps in Alaska.[34]
In that same year, ProPublica also won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for coverage of the United States Navy and the collisions of the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) with civilian vessels in separate incidents in the western Pacific. The stories were written by T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi.[35]
In 2021 and 2022, ProPublica journalists Lisa Song and Mark Olalde won SEAL Awards for consistent excellence in environmental reporting.[36][37]
