Kirsten Berg
I cover the federal government and related national and international issues.
Have a Tip for a Story?
I’m interested in tips about records across federal agencies. I take confidentiality seriously and welcome ideas via secure email, Signal or postal mail.
What I Cover
I’ve contributed to investigations on a range of topics, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hobbled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise and ramifications of Chinese transnational repression and organized crime, and the federal judiciary’s repeated failures to provide ethical oversight for its judges.
My Background
My collaborations with colleagues at ProPublica have received numerous honors, including the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, a Selden Ring Award, an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and medal, and recognition as a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Prior to joining ProPublica, I was an editor at Future Tense, the deputy director of the New America Fellows program and a reporter at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. I was also once an intern at ProPublica.
How South Carolina Ended Up With an All-Male Supreme Court
An abortion ban struck down. The lone female justice retiring. And a majority-male legislature rallying behind the one male candidate to replace her. This is how South Carolina ended up with an all-male Supreme Court as new abortion legislation looms.
The Company Testing Air in East Palestine Homes Was Hired by Norfolk Southern. Experts Say That Testing Isn’t Enough.
“It’s almost like if you want to find nothing, you run in and run out,” says one expert.
Muzzled by DeSantis, Critical Race Theory Professors Cancel Courses or Modify Their Teaching
As fewer faculty members are protected by tenure, they’re finding it harder to resist laws that ban certain racial topics. Their students suffer the consequences.
They Called 911 for Help. Police and Prosecutors Used a New Junk Science to Decide They Were Liars.
Tracing the fallacy of 911 call analysis through the justice system, from Quantico to the courtroom.
The Globetrotting Con Man and Suspected Spy Who Met With President Trump
Tao Liu’s criminal odyssey took him from money laundering in Mexico to a massive scam in China to Trump’s exclusive New Jersey golf club. Investigators believed he may have infiltrated U.S. politics as part of a Chinese intelligence operation.
The Other Cancel Culture: How a Public University Is Bowing to a Conservative Crusade
With a rising national profile and donor base and relatively little state funding, Boise State University should be able to resist pressure by the Idaho Legislature. Instead the university, led by a liberal transplant, has repeatedly capitulated.
Inside the Creation of Trump’s Stolen Election Myth
Internal emails and interviews with key participants reveal for the first time the extent to which leading advocates of the rigged election theory touted evidence they knew to be disproven, disputed or dismissed as dubious.
Even on U.S. Campuses, China Cracks Down on Students Who Speak Out
Students and scholars from China who criticize the regime in Beijing can face quick retaliation from fellow students and Chinese officials who harass their families back home. U.S. universities rarely intervene.
Operation Fox Hunt
中国向海外派出秘密小组将被控经济犯罪的人带回中国，无论这些人受到的指控是否正当。这个全球性的行动让目标人物的家人充当人质，迫使移民成为间谍——本文写的是美国新泽西州一个家庭的经历。
6 Questions Officials Still Haven’t Answered After Weeks of Hearings on the Capitol Attack
More than 15 hours of testimony failed to answer fundamental questions about the Capitol attack. Among them: Why national security officials responded differently to BLM protesters than to Trump supporters.