Request records like a pro in the age of COVID
Requesting and parsing public documents have always been integral parts of the investigative reporter’s toolkit, but COVID-19 has made the process even more difficult.
Download state-by-state PPP loan data
Details on recipients of the Paycheck Protection Program in a searchable format compiled by The Workshop’s Accountability Project.
SBA releases details on PPP loans
After months of legal tussling, the Small Business Administration released detailed data on all recipients of its Paycheck Protection Program.
Educating Emma: One intern’s lesson in investigative reporting
“You aren’t going to understand it,” the spokesman at Virginia’s top education agency told me during our third phone call. His comment came two weeks after I had submitted a public records request to his agency, part of a project I had planned both to report and to use as training. Prior to that call, …
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Journalists put ‘the public’ in public records
A $2.7 million charge for a Breathalyzer database that other states turned over for free. A secret hearing that exonerated a judge caught stealing a Cartier watch worth $4,000. Police departments withholding the names of police arrested for drunken driving — even while they released mugshots of other DUI offenders. Boston Globe reporter Todd Wallack …
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In a crowded field of Polk Award honorees, spotlight falls on podcasts
Amid all the recent hand-wringing about the decline of the news business, audio journalism is going through something of a renaissance, with podcasts proliferating while radio listenership holds steady. In a nod to this changing media landscape, this week the 70th annual George Polk Awards announced the inaugural winner in the podcast category. The honor …
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