ProPublica
Encyclopedia
ProPublica is a non-profit corporation based in New York City
. It describes itself as an independent non-profit newsroom
that produces investigative journalism
in the public interest. In 2010 it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize
, for a piece written by one of its journalists and published in the New York Times Magazine as well as on ProPublica.org. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time investigative reporters and the resulting stories are given away to news 'partners' for publication or broadcast. In some cases, reporters from both ProPublica and the news partners work together on a story. ProPublica has partnered with more than 50 different news organizations, including 60 Minutes
, CNN
, ABC World News, USA Today
, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times
, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Politico
, Salon.com
, Slate
, MSN Money
, MSNBC.com
, Newsweek
, Reader's Digest
, Business Week, This American Life
, and NPR
among many others.
and Marion Sandler
, the former chief executives of the Golden West Financial Corporation, who have committed $10 million a year to the project. The Sandlers hired Paul Steiger
, former managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, to create and run the organization as editor in chief. At the time ProPublica was set up, Steiger responded to concerns about the role of the Sandlers' political views, saying on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer
:
ProPublica had an initial news staff of 28 reporters and editors, including Pulitzer Prize
winners, Charles Ornstein
, Tracy Weber
, Jeff Gerth
, and Marcus Stern, but has since grown to 32 full-time working journalists. Steiger claimed that he received as many as 850 applications upon ProPublica's start. The organization also appointed a 12-member journalism advisory board consisting of professional journalists.
The newsgroup shares its work under the Creative Commons
no-derivative, non-commercial license. In 2009, the Associated Press
announced a program to distribute ProPublica's work to its collective.
' Open Society Foundations.
ProPublica has attracted attention for the salaries it pays its top executives. The head of ProPublica, Paul Steiger, was paid $571,687 in 2008, according to the company's tax filings. The managing editor, Stephen Engelberg, was paid $343,463. The large salaries have been widely criticized by other journalists and even some in the non-profit world as excessive. Steiger is the former managing editor at the Wall Street Journal. Engelberg is a former New York Times editor who co-wrote the non-fiction book Germs: biological weapons and America's secret war, with Times reporter Judith Miller
.
(it was also awarded to another new organisation for a different story), for "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", written by ProPublica's Sheri Fink
and published in the New York Times Magazine as well as on ProPublica.org. This was the first Pulitzer awarded to an online news source. That investigation also won a National Magazine Award for reporting.
In 2011, Propublica won its second Pulitzer Prize. No other online news organizations have yet to win their first Pulitzer Prize.
ProPublica's reporters have also received the Selden Ring, George Polk, Overseas Press Club, Online Journalism, Investigative Editors and Reporters, Edward R. Murrow and Dart Center awards for their work.
, a company based in Tennessee that buys failing hospitals, cuts staff, and accumulates profit. The report covered patient deaths at numerous Psychiatric Solutions
facilities, the failing physical plant at many of their facilities, and covered the State of Florida
's first closure of Manatee Palms Youth Services
, which has since been shut down by Florida
officials once again. Their report was published in conjunction with The Los Angeles Times.
, a policy analyst for the Libertarian-oriented Cato Institute
and a former columnist for the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News
, criticized a ProPublica report on hydraulic fracturing
as a "one-sided series of facts arrayed to support a point of view". He argued that a common theme in ProPublica's work is that "the government is not doing a good enough job in controlling things, particularly things involving big business". ProPublica later responded to his article.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It describes itself as an independent non-profit newsroom
Newsroom
A newsroom is the place where journalists—reporters, editors, and producers, along with other staffers—work to gather news to be published in a newspaper or magazine or broadcast on television, cable or radio...
that produces investigative journalism
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
in the public interest. In 2010 it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
, for a piece written by one of its journalists and published in the New York Times Magazine as well as on ProPublica.org. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time investigative reporters and the resulting stories are given away to news 'partners' for publication or broadcast. In some cases, reporters from both ProPublica and the news partners work together on a story. ProPublica has partnered with more than 50 different news organizations, including 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, ABC World News, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Politico
Politico (newspaper)
The Politico is an American political journalism organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage of Washington, D.C., includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the Presidency...
, Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, MSN Money
MSN Money
MSN Money, a service of MSN, is a website about business news, that is edited in association with CNBC. It provides stock exchange prices and financial information on companies. Information on stock and share options is also provided. Stock prices are also supplied through msnbc.com.The site also...
, MSNBC.com
Msnbc.com
msnbc.com is a news website owned and operated as a joint venture by NBCUniversal and Microsoft.In addition to original content from its news staff, msnbc.com is the news website for the NBC News family, with content from the cable television news channel MSNBC, NBC shows such as Today, NBC Nightly...
, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
, Business Week, This American Life
This American Life
This American Life is a weekly hour-long radio program produced by WBEZ and hosted by Ira Glass. It is distributed by Public Radio International on PRI affiliate stations and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also featured essays,...
, and NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
among many others.
History
ProPublica is the brainchild of HerbertHerb Sandler
Herbert Sandler is the former CO-CEO of Golden West Financial Corporation and World Savings Bank.-Career:In 1963, the Sandlers created Golden West Financial Corporation, a savings and loan holding company, to acquire Golden West Savings and Loan Association, the predecessor to World Savings Bank...
and Marion Sandler
Marion Sandler
Marion Sandler is the former co-CEO of Golden West Financial Corporation and World Savings Bank. In 2004, after 43 years running Golden West Financial Corporation, she was described by the Columbia School of Journalism as “the first and longest-serving woman chief executive officer in the United...
, the former chief executives of the Golden West Financial Corporation, who have committed $10 million a year to the project. The Sandlers hired Paul Steiger
Paul Steiger
Paul Steiger was managing editor of The Wall Street Journal from 1991 until May 15, 2007.Steiger graduated from the Hun School of Princeton and attended Trumbull College at Yale University, where he was an editor of the Yale News and Review.He is currently editor at large for The Wall Street...
, former managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, to create and run the organization as editor in chief. At the time ProPublica was set up, Steiger responded to concerns about the role of the Sandlers' political views, saying on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
PBS NewsHour is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. The show is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, a company co-owned by former anchors Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, and Liberty Media, which owns a 65% stake in the...
:
- "Coming into this, when I talked to Herb and Marion Sandler, one of my concerns was precisely this question of independence and nonpartisanship... My history has been doing 'down the middle' reporting. And so when I talked to Herb and Marion I said 'are you comfortable with that?' They said 'absolutely'. I said 'well suppose we did an expose of some of the left leaning organizations that you have supported or that are friendly to what you've supported in the past'. They said 'no problem'. And when we set up our organizational structure, the board of directors, on which I sit and which Herb is the chairman, does not know in advance what we're going to report on."
ProPublica had an initial news staff of 28 reporters and editors, including Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winners, Charles Ornstein
Charles Ornstein
Charles Ornstein is a reporter for ProPublica.Ornstein is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he was editor of the college newspaper, the Daily Pennsylvanian.In 1999-2000, he was a Media Fellow with the Henry J...
, Tracy Weber
Tracy Weber
Tracy Weber is an American journalist, and reporter for ProPublica.She graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. and M.A...
, Jeff Gerth
Jeff Gerth
Jeff Gerth is a former investigative reporter for The New York Times who has written lengthy, probing stories that drew both praise and criticism. He shared a Pulitzer Prize in 1999 for his coverage of how American firms gave the Chinese access to sensitive technology related to satellite launches...
, and Marcus Stern, but has since grown to 32 full-time working journalists. Steiger claimed that he received as many as 850 applications upon ProPublica's start. The organization also appointed a 12-member journalism advisory board consisting of professional journalists.
The newsgroup shares its work under the Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
no-derivative, non-commercial license. In 2009, the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
announced a program to distribute ProPublica's work to its collective.
Funding
While ProPublica is largely funded by former banker Herb Sandler, it has also received funding from the Knight Foundation. ProPublica and the Knight Foundation have various connections. For example, Paul Steiger, President of ProPublica, is a trustee of the Knight Foundation. In like manner, Alberto Ibarguen, the President and CEO of the Knight Foundation is on the board of ProPublica. In 2010, it received a two-year contribution of $125,000 each year from George SorosGeorge Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
' Open Society Foundations.
ProPublica has attracted attention for the salaries it pays its top executives. The head of ProPublica, Paul Steiger, was paid $571,687 in 2008, according to the company's tax filings. The managing editor, Stephen Engelberg, was paid $343,463. The large salaries have been widely criticized by other journalists and even some in the non-profit world as excessive. Steiger is the former managing editor at the Wall Street Journal. Engelberg is a former New York Times editor who co-wrote the non-fiction book Germs: biological weapons and America's secret war, with Times reporter Judith Miller
Judith Miller (journalist)
Judith Miller is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, formerly of the New York Times Washington bureau. Her coverage of Iraq's alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction program both before and after the 2003 invasion generated much controversy...
.
Awards
In 2010 ProPublica jointly won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative ReportingPulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting
The Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting has been awarded since 1953, under one name or another, for a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single article or series in print journalism...
(it was also awarded to another new organisation for a different story), for "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", written by ProPublica's Sheri Fink
Sheri Fink
Dr. Sheri Fink is an American journalist and a reporter on subjects covering health, medicine and science. Her articles appeared in a number of high profiled publications such as the New York Times, Discover and Scientific American.-Life:...
and published in the New York Times Magazine as well as on ProPublica.org. This was the first Pulitzer awarded to an online news source. That investigation also won a National Magazine Award for reporting.
In 2011, Propublica won its second Pulitzer Prize. No other online news organizations have yet to win their first Pulitzer Prize.
ProPublica's reporters have also received the Selden Ring, George Polk, Overseas Press Club, Online Journalism, Investigative Editors and Reporters, Edward R. Murrow and Dart Center awards for their work.
Praise
ProPublica is also renowned for conducting a large-scale, circumscribed investigation on Psychiatric SolutionsPsychiatric Solutions
Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. is a subsidiary of Universal Health Services and operates psychiatric hospitals in 32 states.-History:Joey Jacobs, a former executive of Hospital Corporation of America for over 20 years, founded Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. in 1997...
, a company based in Tennessee that buys failing hospitals, cuts staff, and accumulates profit. The report covered patient deaths at numerous Psychiatric Solutions
Psychiatric Solutions
Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. is a subsidiary of Universal Health Services and operates psychiatric hospitals in 32 states.-History:Joey Jacobs, a former executive of Hospital Corporation of America for over 20 years, founded Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. in 1997...
facilities, the failing physical plant at many of their facilities, and covered the State of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
's first closure of Manatee Palms Youth Services
Manatee Palms Youth Services
Manatee Palms Youth Services is a 60-bed psychiatric hospital in Bradenton, Florida, and a subsidiary of for-profit Psychiatric Solutions.-Profile:...
, which has since been shut down by Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
officials once again. Their report was published in conjunction with The Los Angeles Times.
Criticism
Dave KopelDave Kopel
Dave Kopel is an American author, attorney, political science researcher and contributing editor to several publications. He is currently Research Director of the Independence Institute in Golden, Colorado, Associate Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute, contributor to the National Review magazine...
, a policy analyst for the Libertarian-oriented Cato Institute
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
and a former columnist for the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News
Rocky Mountain News
The Rocky Mountain News was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday-Friday circulation was 255,427...
, criticized a ProPublica report on hydraulic fracturing
Hydraulic fracturing
Considerable controversy surrounds the current implementation of hydraulic fracturing technology in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of utilizing pressurized water, or some other liquid, to fracture rock layers and release petroleum, natural gas, or other...
as a "one-sided series of facts arrayed to support a point of view". He argued that a common theme in ProPublica's work is that "the government is not doing a good enough job in controlling things, particularly things involving big business". ProPublica later responded to his article.
Board members
- Herbert Sandler
- Paul SteigerPaul SteigerPaul Steiger was managing editor of The Wall Street Journal from 1991 until May 15, 2007.Steiger graduated from the Hun School of Princeton and attended Trumbull College at Yale University, where he was an editor of the Yale News and Review.He is currently editor at large for The Wall Street...
- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.Henry Louis Gates, Jr.Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr., is an American literary critic, educator, scholar, writer, editor, and public intellectual. He was the first African American to receive the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship. He has received numerous honorary degrees and awards for his teaching, research, and...
- Mary Graham
- Alberto IbargüenAlberto IbargüenAlberto Ibargüen is President and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami, Florida. He is the former publisher of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald in Miami, Florida, and is chairman of the board of the World Wide Web Foundation, founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee...
External links
- ProPublica official site
- What Do Herbert and Marion Sandler Want? - Slate article
- Going Online With Watchdog Journalism - article by Paul Steiger
- CJR: Outside Agitators - Columbia Journalism Review article
- ProPublica A Boost To Watchdogs - Albany Times Union editorial
- Audio interview with Richard Tofel, Managing Director, ProPublica 2009 - Podcast
- The Education of Herb and Marion Sandler - Columbia Journalism Review article