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A ProPublica truck sits outside of USAID’s former headquarters at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C, USA on February 25, 2025. Credit: Jason Andrew for ProPublica
Events

Inside the Big Story: Reporting on the U.S. Agency for International Development

Join us for Inside the Big Story, a quarterly event series that delves into recent investigations and gives ProPublica members an exclusive look at our newsroom’s unique approach to reporting and storytelling.

Virtual Event

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Over the last few months, ProPublica has been diligently tracking the unprecedented and consequential dissolution of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

No president in history had unilaterally shuttered an agency formally enshrined in law until Donald Trump — let alone deputized his wealthiest donor, Elon Musk, to carry out that task in his name with little oversight or accountability. And although the new administration has maintained that it has followed the law, several experts consulted by ProPublica said that in dismantling USAID, the administration may have broken the law.

But ProPublica’s newsroom was ready to meet this unprecedented moment in our country’s history.

Reporters covering global health and the U.S. State Department had already built deep relationships with sources throughout the agency and were prepared to immediately activate those networks to find out what was going on. In the first two weeks of Trump’s second term, our harrowing story on USAID made clear the effect the cuts in foreign aid were already having on people around the world. The headline said it all: “People Will Die.” We also revealed top officials’ own estimates of how many people would be harmed by the cutoff of nearly all USAID programs. The numbers were staggering: One million children will not be treated for severe acute malnutrition. Up to 166,000 people will die from malaria. New cases of tuberculosis will go up by 30%. Two hundred thousand more children will be paralyzed by polio over the next decade. After the Trump administration moved to freeze nearly $60 billion in foreign aid in January, officials repeatedly assured Americans that lifesaving operations would continue. It canceled them anyway.

In this one-hour virtual event, we invite ProPublica members inside the big story of the dismantling of USAID to learn more about how our reporters were able to chronicle these profound changes, and the investigatory innovations that emerged in the process — namely, the birth of ProPublica’s tip truck.

This Q&A with reporters Anna Maria Barry-Jester, Maryam Jameel and Maya Miller, along with engagement product manager Mel Kramer, will offer an inside look at ProPublica’s USAID coverage, as well as our unique approach to community-sourced investigations. Reporters will also highlight how readers can get involved in our current projects.

Submit your question when you RSVP.

Speakers include:

  • Anna Maria Barry-Jester, reporter
  • Maryam Jameel, engagement reporter
  • Maya Miller, engagement reporter
  • Mel Kramer, engagement product manager
  • Jessica Rojas, membership team, moderator

Inside the Big Story is a quarterly event series for ProPublica members that spotlights different aspects of our newsroom, and the many that hands go into each story, to give members a deeper sense of what their membership dollars help support.