In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Georgia was widely pilloried for a series of high-profile errors related to its bungled Covid-19 data dashboard, and for its early reopening based on the data it displayed. The site’s problems damaged the state health department’s credibility, threatening its ability to effectively manage later stages of the pandemic.However, as grantee Keren Landman ...
Fund for Investigative Journalism Diversity Fellow Romina Ruiz-Goiriena’s report, “Gaming the System,” details how wealthy people navigate around U.S. immigration barriers while the other 90 percent are detained or deported. The investigation includes stories in English and Spanish, videos and an innovative video game, which allows the audience to simulate the experience and navigate obstacles. You can view the full ...
The Syndicate is an 8-episode, narrative podcast series about the rise and fall of one of the most sophisticated marijuana smuggling rings of the past decade. Host and reporter Chris Walker digs into how a group of college friends and family members gamed Colorado’s legal cannabis industry to hide a massive, black market operation. The group made tens of millions ...
Louisville police were executing a no-knock search warrant signed by Judge Mary Shaw when they shot and killed 26-year-old Breonna Taylor in her home. The case put a spotlight on the way Louisville police executes search warrants and how seriously judges scrutinize them.In their new report, grantees from The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting (KyCIR) examined more than 200 warrants ...
On March 18, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) closed all of its field offices to public-facing activities due to the coronavirus, effectively putting much of legal immigration to the United States on pause, including naturalization interviews and oath ceremonies. As the months went by, other federal and state agencies turned to virtual infrastructure for their activities, but ...
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco took office in 2011 with a bold plan: to create a cutting-edge intelligence program that could stop crime before it happened. But the machine Nocco built has turned into a system of organized harassment, according to a new investigation by grantees Neil Bedi and Kathleen McGrory at the Tampa Bay Times. Deputies swarm homes in ...
The pandemic has presented universities a triple whammy: Reduced tax revenues slashing government support, online-only courses gutting dormitory and cafeteria revenues, and – with more students and families out of work – less ability to offset those losses with tuition increases.FIJ grantee Miranda Spivack’s report, published in USA Today, details how the pandemic’s economic impact on universities could create more ...
A National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) study that demonstrated how a modernized American power grid could accelerate the growth of wind and solar energy and reduce reliance on coal was suppressed by Trump appointees in order to help the coal industry, according to FIJ grantee Peter Fairley’s report for InvestigateWest, also published in The Atlantic.The study, as Fairley reports, was ...
In California and other states across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic is hampering the child welfare system. A patchwork of new rules and guidelines meant to slow the spread of the virus has relaxed requirements for face-to-face meetings between caseworkers investigating abuse and children, leaving vulnerable children out of sight and caseworkers stuck at home.In their story, published in the ...
For five months, President Donald Trump’s administration has closed and blocked asylum at the US-Mexico border. This has left countless asylum seekers dangerously and indefinitely stuck — without a clear path forward, according to FIJ grantee William Martin’s report for The New Humanitarian. His article and ten minute documentary follows the story of 20-year-old transgender migrant Alejandra and her journey ...