As wildfires swept through Los Angeles in January 2025, New York Times reporter Hannah Dreier noticed something strange – firefighters were working bare-faced for days on end, while residents were told to wear masks or stay indoors to protect themselves from dangerous air pollutants.
In over 400 interviews, public records requests to eight agencies, an analysis of thousands of pages of individual medical and service records, and the creation of a database tracking every national crew deployment over the past two decades, Dreier discovered the dramatic and lasting consequences that firefighters were facing from fighting wildfires without protection, and that the Forest Service had understood the dangers of smoke for decades, but downplayed the risk.
As a result of the reporting, Congress passed a bipartisan law, signed in December 2025, that requires the government to pay $450,000 to wildland firefighters who become disabled or die from smoke-related cancers. Five additional bills prompted by this reporting are still pending at the federal level, and it has also spurred state-level spending and regulation in California, as well as new OSHA and Forest Service protections for wildland firefighters, including the reversal of the Forest Service’s decades-long ban on masks.
Abuse of Power: Beyond the Goon Squad
In 2023, the team at Mississippi Today and The New York Times uncovered that, for a generation, sheriff’s deputies known as the “Goon Squad” tortured suspected drug users across Rankin County, Mississippi, beating, burning and waterboarding their victims until they shared information. That reporting prompted a Justice Department investigation and a new state law increasing police oversight. But, knowing that the full story was still unfolding, and in the face of mounting resistance and intimidation, the local and national collaboration continued reporting on the sheriff’s department.
In 2025 they uncovered even more extensive abuses: a sheriff allegedly stealing inmate labor from local taxpayers for personal profit, a likely murder in the jail that had been written off as an accident, evidence of years of brutality in the jail, including a video showing guards shocking an intellectually disabled man with an electrified vest, and widespread abuse of Tasers by police across the state.
The 2025 reporting led Mississippi lawmakers to propose two statewide Taser oversight laws, at least three investigations by state authorities and two probes by the FBI, a re-opened murder investigation, and several candidates indicating they will run against the sitting sheriff in 2027.
Hope Florida was a much-touted program held up as an alternative to welfare by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and founded by his wife, Casey. Then, reporters from the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald found that it had almost no evidence of success, and the program’s charity arm, the Hope Florida Foundation, had received a mysterious $10 million donation from a state settlement and was refusing to turn over its tax records, in violation of IRS rules.
Working against state agencies that refused to publicly release records, they found that the $10 million came from a Medicaid settlement, and the charity was used to divert nearly all of it to a political committee controlled by the governor’s chief of staff. The team also painstakingly tracked billing codes across three state databases to reveal the money was part of a larger campaign to siphon more than $35 million in taxpayer dollars to political activities.
As a result of the reporting, a criminal investigation was opened, and Hope Florida, once a darling of the Governor’s agenda, lost state funding and was not enshrined into state law – a move the DeSantises had pushed for.
President Trump’s Self Enrichment
Through painstaking reporting, The New York Times exposed the level to which President Trump has used the office of the President to enrich himself and his friends, to degrees never before seen in the U.S. Presidency.
The Times broke open the connection between an agreement to allow valuable U.S-developed computer chips to be exported to the United Arab Emirates and a U.A.E. business deal using the Trump family’s crypto firm, giving it a revenue stream that could be worth tens of millions of dollars annually. Through FEC filings, interviews, and other reporting The Times also built a database of 346 donors who gave significantly to the President’s personal priorities, including his inaugural committee, the White House ballroom project, his family’s crypto firm, and numerous other Trump-supported groups and projects. The team then investigated each of these donors to understand how they may have benefited from the President or his administration, creating a web of payments and favors all made clear to the public for the first time.
As a result of the reporting, several members of Congress have introduced legislation to curtail these kinds of self-enriching efforts, and numerous officials and watchdog groups have called for investigations and ethics inquiries.
Rx Roulette
Reporters from ProPublica uncovered how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has quietly allowed certain medications to flow into the country from known substandard overseas factories and failed to routinely test these drugs for safety or quality, putting the public at risk. The series also revealed that basic information about where generic drugs are made is fragmented, obscured, and effectively inaccessible to consumers, even though generics account for about 90% of U.S. prescriptions.
The team, which included members of ProPublica’s data and news apps teams and over a dozen students from the Medill Investigative Lab, filed almost 50 FOIA requests and sued the FDA to obtain records, ultimately constructing a database of 40,000 generic medications and their factory inspection histories – the first comprehensive list of drugs shipped from banned factories.
Citing the investigation, leaders of the Senate Special Committee on Aging proposed bipartisan reforms and demanded more testing, transparency, and a full accounting of exemptions. The FDA commissioner pledged changes and a tougher stance on foreign plants.
VA Disability Benefits Investigation
This Washington Post investigation uncovered systemic fraud and abuse in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ $193 billion disability benefits program, revealing how some veterans exaggerated minor or treatable conditions to obtain compensation. VA officials were aware of the program’s vulnerabilities but effectively looked away as problems mounted.
After the VA and Justice Department denied their FOIA requests, The Post sued, ultimately forcing the release of more than 10,000 pages of documents, photos, and videos, plus spreadsheets tracking approvals for nearly 1,000 medical conditions over a decade. The team relied exclusively on public records and on-the-record interviews and published extensive source material so readers could independently assess their findings.
Within days of publication, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a special hearing where witnesses acknowledged the existence of fraud and serious flaws within the disability program. Both the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees have pledged to hold more hearings on their findings this year.
Fast and Fatal
In “Fast and Fatal,” reporters Jennifer Gollan and Susie Neilson of the San Francisco Chronicle brought to light the deadly consequences of police chases in the United States. Through meticulous research and data gathering over a year, the reporters unveiled that police chases resulted in over 3,300 deaths from 2017 through 2022, with a significant number of victims being bystanders or passengers, not the fleeing drivers. Many chases began with minor offenses rather than violent crimes, yet very few officers faced consequences for actions that led to fatalities.
A pivotal part of their research included creating a comprehensive database by compiling information from various sources such as research organizations, government data, media reports, and public records. They also identified the dangerous use of the Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT), responsible for numerous deaths, half of which were not the fleeing drivers.
The reporters’ findings prompted significant impact even before publication. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration acknowledged the need to update its fatality data. The investigation spurred legislative calls for accurate data collection on police chase fatalities and inspired NYU’s Policing Project to develop national guidelines for vehicle pursuits, advocating for stricter policies and prohibitions on PIT maneuvers.
“Fast and Fatal” had a ripple effect, with media outlets and academic institutions using the Chronicle’s database to further investigate and raise awareness about pursuit fatalities. The series has been instrumental in changing perceptions and policies about police pursuits, highlighting the critical need for reform to enhance public safety and accountability.
Photo collage courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle.
KARE 11 Investigates: Recovery Inc.
In “Recovery Inc.,” reporters at KARE 11 in Minneapolis revealed widespread evidence of fraud in Minnesota’s addiction recovery industry, exposing how companies billed taxpayers for services never rendered. The investigation began with tips about dubious billing practices and expanded to uncover systemic issues in government oversight and accountability. A key case involved a double murder where the accused did not receive treatment as claimed by the facility. KARE 11’s reporting highlighted egregious examples, such as billing Medicaid for 203 hours of work by a single employee in one day and charging for movie nights as therapy sessions. The series uncovered a relationship between Kyros, a for-profit entity, and Refocus Recovery, a nonprofit, both founded by Daniel Larson. The investigation showed that Refocus funneled 96% of its taxpayer revenue to Kyros, based on exploiting Medicaid billing practices.
KARE 11’s dedicated journalism, often conducted under threats, exposed these practices by interviewing affected individuals and deciphering complex billing data. Their reporting prompted multiple federal and state investigations, including an FBI raid, a Department of Justice asset freeze, and a criminal indictment. The exposé also led to significant leadership changes, with top executives resigning. Furthermore, the investigation inspired swift legislative reform, passing laws to improve supervision, audit Medicaid billing, and eliminate nonprofits with conflicting interests. The series’ ripple effect included bipartisan legislative hearings, and KARE 11’s courage in challenging an unconstitutional gag order fortified its impact, emphasizing the media’s critical watchdog role in society.
Illustration courtesy of KARE-TV.
Medicare Inc.: How Giant Insurers Make Billions Off Seniors
The Wall Street Journal’s investigative series “Medicare Inc.: How Giant Insurers Make Billions Off Seniors” exposed how private insurers exploit the Medicare Advantage system by prioritizing profits over actual patient care. The series, led by a team with extensive experience in analyzing Medicare data, revealed that insurers are financially incentivized to minimize services while increasing reported diagnoses to boost government payments. The investigation involved unprecedented access to Medicare data, covering every service provided to beneficiaries from 2015 to 2022. Through data analysis, interviews and internal corporate documents, the team discovered a disturbing pattern where insurers profited from diagnoses reported without providing corresponding treatment, including during home visits.
The Journal’s in-depth research, which included reverse-engineering Medicare’s payment algorithms, confronted numerous challenges, including learning complex statistical software and processing massive datasets. Their findings uncovered systemic issues, such as insurers exploiting home visit diagnoses to claim billions in inflated payments.
The impact of the investigation has been significant, prompting congressional inquiries and influencing federal policy. The Office of Inspector General recommended halting payments based solely on home visit diagnoses. The Congressional Budget Office estimated a potential $124 billion in savings over ten years if such payments were stopped. Additionally, federal investigations have been initiated, including by the Justice Department and Sen. Chuck Grassley, who cited the reports in demanding disclosures from UnitedHealth. The series has also galvanized further research, with institutions like the Kaiser Family Foundation expanding on the Journal’s findings about end-of-life care patterns. The Journal’s reporting is prompting legislative reforms and encouraging more accountability in Medicare Advantage practices.
Chart image courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.
Our Troops’ Wounded Brains
Dave Philipps’ investigative reporting revealed the pervasive and overlooked brain injuries suffered by U.S. military personnel due to repeated low-level shocks, such as blasts from weapons or high-impact maneuvers. While initially focusing on artillery crew members impacted by firing their own weapons, Philipps expanded his investigation to examine whether these brain injuries were prevalent among other troops with more routine military experiences. He discovered that highly skilled units, including Navy SEALs and TOPGUN pilots, were significantly affected.
Despite a lack of official reports or documents, Philipps conducted extensive on-the-ground interviews with affected troops, veterans, and their families. He navigated the military’s tight controls, insularity, and attempts to obscure the issue by fostering trust within these communities and accessing informal networks. His research documented instances across various military roles, revealing critical insights into how the military had long been blind to the problem due to cultural and institutional obstructions.
The series sparked substantial impact, prompting legislative and policy changes. In December, Congress enacted the Blast Overpressure Safety Act, mandating the military to monitor blast exposure and design safer weapons, anticipating long-term benefits for millions of troops. The Pentagon initiated baseline brain scans for recruits, revealing systemic changes. Additionally, the reporting influenced international military practices, with allied nations reevaluating their training and equipment protocols. Philipps’ work not only highlighted a severe issue but also empowered troop communities, providing a clearer understanding of their injuries and avenues for treatment.
Photo credit Kenny Holston, The New York Times, used here courtesy of The New York Times.
