Archive
How We Are Monitoring Political Ads on Facebook
ProPublica built software and a machine-learning algorithm to allow Facebook users to send us the political ads that appear on their Facebook news feeds.
Political Ads on Facebook
To make American campaigns more transparent, we’ve built a tool to display political ads that are rarely seen outside their selected audience of Facebook users.
Facebook Allowed Political Ads That Were Actually Scams and Malware
These ads raise doubts about Facebook’s ability to monitor paid political messages. In each case, the ads ran afoul of Facebook’s own guidelines to curb misleading and malicious advertising.
ProPublica Illinois Q&A: Meet Reporter Jason Grotto
Reporter Jason Grotto believes if you’re complacent and just take things at face value, you’re going to miss the truth.
Why America Fails at Gathering Hate Crime Statistics
The FBI relies on local law enforcement agencies to identify and report crimes motivated by bias, but many agencies fumble this task.
A Dubious Arrest, a Compromised Prosecutor, a Tainted Plea: How One Murder Case Exposes a Broken System
One innocent man’s odyssey through the justice system shows the cascading, and enduring, effects of a bad conviction.
The Breakthrough: A Reporter Goes to Ground Zero for Today’s American HIV Epidemic
Linda Villarosa had spent decades covering the spread of AIDS. She thought she was done. Then, she visited Jackson, Mississippi.
More States Hatch Plans to Recycle Drugs Being Wasted in Nursing Homes
After reading ProPublica’s story, lawmakers in Florida and New Hampshire say they plan to follow the example of an Iowa nonprofit that redistributes leftover medications to needy patients.
Carried Interest Reform Is a Sham
Republicans claim they’re fixing a tax loophole that benefits wealthy money managers. Don’t believe them.
Let’s Make a List of Useful ‘Mediathings’ in Illinois
Mom blogs. Prison newsletters. Neighborhood Facebook groups. Help us make a list of where Illinoisans get specific information.
Bombs in Your Backyard
The military spends more than a billion dollars a year to clean up sites its operations have contaminated with toxic waste and explosives. A full map of these sites — which exist in every state in the country, some near schools and residential neighborhoods — has never been made public; until now.
Reporting Recipe: Bombs in Your Backyard
We published data on 40,000 hazardous sites across the country polluted by U.S. military operations. Here’s how journalists can find local stories.
Facebook to Temporarily Block Advertisers From Excluding Audiences by Race
The social network’s actions come after a ProPublica investigation revealed that Facebook failed to keep its promise to reject discriminatory housing ads.
White House May Share Nuclear Power Technology With Saudi Arabia
The overture follows an intense and secretive lobbying push involving Michael Flynn, Tom Barrack, Rick Gates and even Iran-Contra figure Robert McFarlane.
Hate Crime Training for Police Is Often Inadequate, Sometimes Nonexistent
Only a fraction of bias crimes ever get reported. Fewer still get successfully prosecuted. Perhaps the widespread lack of training for frontline officers has something to do with that.
ProPublica Illinois Q&A: Meet Reporter Melissa Sanchez
Reporter Melissa Sanchez says the key to finding stories is to pay attention to what people are doing and expressing an interest in their lives.
Seven Ways Patients Can Protect Themselves From Outrageous Medical Bills
Experts in reducing charges for medical services say patients need to push for detailed answers up front about the true costs of their care.
A Hospital Charged $1,877 to Pierce a 5-Year-Old’s Ears. This Is Why Health Care Costs So Much.
An epidemic of unnecessary treatment is wasting billions of health care dollars a year. Patients and taxpayers are paying for it.
Why We Had to Buy Racist, Sexist, Xenophobic, Ableist, and Otherwise Awful Facebook Ads
We repeated our 2016 test to figure out whether Facebook was adequately policing itself. It wasn’t.
For Some Victims, Reporting a Rape Can Bring Doubt, Abuse — and Even Prosecution
False reporting is a crime, one that some police would like to make a priority. But history shows the police can’t always tell the truth from a lie.
