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Michael Grabell

Michael Grabell is a senior editor with ProPublica. Grabell has previously written about economic issues, labor, immigration and trade. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist.

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Michael Grabell is a senior editor with ProPublica. Grabell has previously written about economic issues, labor, immigration and trade. He has reported on the ground from more than 35 states, as well as some of the remotest villages in Alaska and Guatemala. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The New York Times and on Vice and NPR.

Grabell has won two George Polk awards and has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize — in 2021, as part of a team covering COVID-19, and in 2019, with Ginger Thompson and Topher Sanders, for stories that helped expose the impact of family separation at the border and abuse in immigrant children’s shelters. The latter work also won a Peabody award and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting.

He previously won the Gerald Loeb Award for business journalism for his investigation into the dismantling of workers’ compensation and an ASNE award for reporting on diversity for his series on the growth of temp work in the economy.

Why Are Prices Still So High? Follow a Tire to Find Out.

From a rubber plantation in Southeast Asia to a repair shop in Mississippi, the story of a tire highlights the turmoil of the post-pandemic economy and its uncertain future.

Unchecked

USDA Plans Major Reforms to Curb Salmonella in Poultry

An earlier ProPublica investigation showed that weak food safety protections have done little to stop Americans from getting sick from salmonella poisoning.

The Hidden Fees Making Your Bananas, and Everything Else, Cost More

A cadre of ocean carriers are charging exorbitant, potentially illegal, fees on shipping containers stuck because of congestion at ports. Sellers of furniture, coconut water, even kids’ potties say the fees are inflating costs.

On the Line

The Plot to Keep Meatpacking Plants Open During COVID-19

Newly released documents reveal that the meatpacking industry’s callousness toward the health of its workers and its influence over the Trump administration were far greater than previously known.

Unchecked

When Dangerous Strains of Salmonella Hit, the Turkey Industry Responded Forcefully. The Chicken Industry? Not So Much.

Consolidation in the poultry industry may be fueling widespread salmonella outbreaks. Turkey companies worked with researchers to eradicate one. So why can’t the chicken industry do the same?

Unchecked

Your Free-Range Organic Chicken May Have Been Processed at a Large Industrial Poultry Plant

To help us make sense of the opaque poultry supply chain, hundreds of ProPublica readers sent in details about their chickens and turkeys. Here’s what we learned.

Unchecked

The Low-and-Slow Approach to Food Safety Reform Keeps Going Up in Smoke

The U.S. has one agency that regulates cheese pizza and another that oversees pepperoni pizza. Efforts to fix the food safety system have stalled again and again.

Unchecked

America’s Food Safety System Failed to Stop a Salmonella Epidemic. It’s Still Making People Sick.

A dangerous salmonella strain has sickened thousands and continues to spread through the chicken industry. The USDA and companies know about it. But contaminated meat continues to be sold.

Unchecked

Look Up the Salmonella Rates Where Your Poultry Was Processed

How worried should you be about salmonella in your chicken or turkey? Chicken Checker lets you look up where it was processed and find out.

On the Line

After Hundreds of Meatpacking Workers Died From COVID-19, Congress Wants Answers

A key House subcommittee cited reports by ProPublica and other news outlets in launching an investigation into how the country’s meatpacking companies handled the pandemic, which has killed hundreds of workers to date.