West Virginians Overwhelmingly Take Advantage of the Affordable Care Act. They Still Support Trump
Mother Jones
Despite West Virginians overwhelmingly benefiting from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), many still support Donald Trump, who has consistently promised to repeal the law.
Image by Mother Jones
Trump’s presidential bid has the support of only half of his Cabinet
The Washington Post
Only half of former President Trump’s Cabinet members have publicly supported his 2024 presidential bid, while the rest are either opposed to his candidacy or have declined to state their position, reflecting a significant divide among his former inner circle.
Image by The Washington Post
Despite Repeat Complaints, D.C.’s Public Housing Residents Face Delays in Receiving Basic Repairs
Washington City Paper
In fiscal year 2023, emergency repairs took an average of 12 days to be resolved, breaking with DCHA guidelines.
Image by Darrow Montgomery
Deputy who killed Sonya Massey joined Sangamon County Sheriff after past employers questioned his integrity and conduct
Illinois Public Media News – IMP Newsroom
Former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, who is now charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, left the Logan County Sheriff’s Office after complaints were filed alleging misconduct and supervisors suspected he lied on reports.
Image by Farrah Anderson
Deputy who killed Sonya Massey in Springfield was discharged from Army for serious misconduct
Illinois Public Media News – IMP Newsroom
Former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, who is now charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, was previously discharged from the U.S. Army for serious misconduct — and still hired at six police departments in Central Illinois.
Image by Farrah Anderson
New Texas Appellate Court Alarms Environmentalists
Public Health Watch
A 2019 fire at the Exxon Mobil chemical plant in Baytown, Texas, injured dozens of workers. Over the objections of environmentalists, the plant is seeking permission to expand, a dispute likely to wind up in the new 15th Court of Appeals.
Image by Shutterstock
Should American University Police Carry Guns?
Washington City Paper
Universities in the District—and across the country—face tension between student desires for de-policing and campus fears of mass shootings.
Image by Darrow Montgomery/file
Left Out and Underrepresented: Low-Income D.C. Residents Are Convinced Voting Won’t Change Their Lives
Washington City Paper
In the District and across the country, low-income Americans are convinced voting won’t change their lives—resulting in an electorate and policies that favor those with higher incomes
Image by Darrow Montgomery/file
A Hidden Sexual-Assault Scandal at the New York Philharmonic Two musicians were fired for sexual misconduct. Why are they back with the orchestra?
New York Magazine
A comprehensive investigation reveals a troubling pattern of sexual misconduct within the New York Philharmonic, as well as systemic failures in addressing and preventing such behavior, ultimately leading to the reinstatement of accused musicians despite allegations and evidence.
Image by Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images
A police officer took a teen for a rape kit. Then he assaulted her, too.
The Washington Post
A Washington Post investigation has found that over the past two decades, hundreds of police officers have preyed on children, while agencies across the country have failed to take steps to prevent these crimes.
Image by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post
Why faculty members are fleeing Florida
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Gov. Ron DeSantis’s politicized stewardship of the state’s university system has compounded problems facing higher education nationwide, leading to a spike in faculty resignations in 2022 across Florida, an investigation by IRW found. Read the full piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Illustration by Barry Blitt/The Chronicle
A Texas community is being bombarded by cancer-causing chemicals benzene. State officials have known for nearly two decades.
Public Health Watch
In 2005, Texas regulators documented startling amounts of benzene in a community outside Houston. Instead of solving the problem, they allowed a known benzene polluter to expand — a decision scientists worry could haunt residents for years to come. IRW contributed to the reporting of this piece.
Image by Mark Felix/Public Health Watch
Trump pardoned them. Now they’re helping him return to power.
The Washington Post
Former President Trump had 238 clemency orders during his presidency. The Post found that dozens of those recipients are now making an effort to promote his 2024 candidacy through social media and national interviews. Several have gone as far to contribute money to his bid for the Republican nomination or disseminate his false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election. This investigation had help from several IRW fellows.
Image by Caitlin O’Hara/The Washington Post
A home birth midwife faces scrutiny after a baby dies. It’s not the first time.
The Washington Post
The Washington Post examined the case of a home-birth midwife who faced new scrutiny after a baby died and found that inconsistent laws and limited accountability enabled her to practice — despite efforts by some officials to keep her from doing so. IRW’s Hayden Godfrey contributed to this report.
Image by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post
Misconduct concerns, possible drug risks should stop major stroke trial, whistleblowers say
Science
Whistleblowers and former lab members suggest that a star neuroscientist may have manipulated data that support a major stroke trial and Alzheimer’s research. Read Charles Piller’s story in Science. IRW’s Madeleine Sherer contributed.
Illustration by Tavo Montañez/Science
A slow killer: East Texans are diagnosed with diabetes at a higher rate than the national average
Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune
IRW’s Hannah Levitan worked with Public Health Watch to report on the lack of access to affordable health care in Texas, explicitly affecting Texans living with uncontrolled diabetes without insurance. Their investigation found that Texas has the highest uninsured rate at 16.6 percent in 2022, and the state is home to over 2.5 million adults living with diabetes.
Image by Jennifer Scott/Public Health Watch
Home schooling’s rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education
The Washington Post
Several IRW interns including Prayag Gordy investigated the recent rise in home schooling following the COVID-19 pandemic. Their analysis found that in states with enrollment figures, the number of home-schooled students increased 51 percent over the past six school years, out passing those figures of public and private schools.
Image by Thomas Simonetti/The Washington Post
These D.C. police officers work so Much overtime they out-earn the mayor
DCist/WAMU
Data editor Aarushi Sahejpal worked with DCist to uncover the extreme overtime hours recorded by the D.C. Metropolitan Police. The story dives into the top overtime earners in MPD and the several officers who are reporting 18-hour work days.
Image by Nayion Perkins/DCist
How Lunchables ended up on school lunch trays
The Washington Post
The Washington Post examines the erosion of the nutritional value of school lunches across the country, comparing them with those from Chile, where typically nothing is prepackaged, and the only drink available is water. IRW’s Hayden Godfrey contributed to the story.
Image by Matt McClain/The Washington Post
The biggest backlog in the US Diversity Visa Program? All the broken promises to those who applied
The Center for Public Integrity and Mother Jones
IRW intern Daniella Jiménez told the story of Diversity Visa applicants who were told they’d been given a visa, just to later be told the program was full.
Photo from Getty Images
Revealing the Smithsonian’s ‘Racial Brain Collection’
The Washington Post
Several Post Practicum members worked on this Washington Post investigative series into the Smithsonian’s collection of at least 30,700 human bones and other body parts, including 255 brains. This series reveals the museum’s “racial brain collection,” the anthropologist behind its curation and the stories of those whose brains were taken.
Illustration by Tara McCarty/The Washington Post
The harms of COVID misinformation
The Washington Post
IRW post-graduate fellow Hayden Godfrey partnered with Post reporters to analyze disciplinary records of doctors across all 50 states – finding there had been few repercussions for those who jeopardized their patients’ lives by pushing medical misinformation during the COVID pandemic.
Illustration by Laura Padilla Castellanos/The Washington Post
Amid a record heat wave, Texas construction workers lose their right to rest breaks
Texas Tribune and Public Health Watch
IRW summer intern Hannah Levitan told the story of a Texas construction worker after Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill that overturns local ordinances in Austin and Dallas that mandate that such workers receive rest breaks.
Photo by Blaine Young/NPR
Inside the daunting hunt for the ingredients of fentanyl and meth
The Washington Post
Mexican cartels are increasingly manufacturing drugs entirely from chemicals, rather than relying on plants, making detection far more difficult.
Photo by Salwan Georges/The Washington Post
For years, the EPA and Texas Ignored warning signs at a chemical storage site. Then the inferno erupted
The Texas Tribune
Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm. Then on March 17, 2019, a fire blew through a corner of the facility, releasing toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks.
Illustration by Emily Albracht/The Texas Tribune
Tainted history: former Juilliard composition students share allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct
Van Magazine
Juilliard Music School in New York City, home to hundreds of musical proteges, faces allegations of professors engaging in sexual harassment and misconduct with students.
The Attack: Before, During, and After
The Washington Post
An investigation by The Post reveals numerous new warnings of violence on Jan. 6 that went unheeded, the cost of President Donald Trump’s inaction as the Capitol was overrun and the distrust that has spread across the country in the aftermath.
Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/The Washington Post
Canary
The Washington Post
A seven-part investigative podcast telling the stories of two women, separated by decades and united by a shared refusal to stay silent.
Illustration by Ariel Sun/The Washington Post
Broken Doors
The Washington Post
No-knock warrants allow police to force entry. The Broken Doors podcast investigates how this high-risk tactic is used in the American justice system.
Illustration by Katty Huertas/The Washington Post