Stephen Engelberg
Stephen Engelberg is ProPublica’s editor-in-chief and served as founding managing editor from 2008–2012.
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Stephen Engelberg was the founding managing editor of ProPublica from 2008–2012, and became editor-in-chief on January 1, 2013. He came to ProPublica from The Oregonian in Portland, where he had been a managing editor since 2002. Before joining The Oregonian, Mr. Engelberg worked for The New York Times for 18 years, including stints in Washington, D.C., and Warsaw, Poland, as well as in New York. He is a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board.
Mr. Engelberg’s work since 1996 has focused largely on the editing of investigative projects. He started the Times’s investigative unit in 2000. Projects he supervised at the Times on Mexican corruption (published in 1997) and the rise of Al Qaeda (published beginning in January 2001) were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. During his years at The Oregonian, the paper won the Pulitzer for breaking news and was a finalist for its investigative work on methamphetamines and charities intended to help the disabled. He is the co-author of “Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War” (2001).
Was FBI's Science Good Enough to ID Anthrax Killer?
Federal prosecutors say sound science connected U.S. Army scientist Bruce Ivins to the anthrax letter attacks in 2001. But a former FBI official involved in the case now says more research was needed to make the scientific evidence strong enough to be used in court.
New Evidence Adds Doubt to FBI’s Case Against Anthrax Suspect
The FBI still insists it had the right man in Bruce Ivins, an Army biologist who committed suicide in 2008 before being charged with the mailings that killed five people. But an in-depth look by ProPublica, PBS and McClatchy found new evidence challenging the government’s claims.
Grassley Challenges DOJ, FBI on Anthrax Case
Senior Republican asks Attorney General and FBI Director to explain why civil lawyers initially filed court papers questioning a key aspect of case against Army researcher.
Judge Allows Feds to Revise Filing in Anthrax Case
The Justice Department initially asserted flatly that Army researcher Bruce Ivins, whom the FBI accused of manufacturing the anthrax, lacked the specialized equipment needed to produce the deadly powder at a U.S. bio-weapons lab.
Second Thoughts on Sex and Politics
The resignation of Oregon Congressman David Wu provides a compelling argument for why news organizations should aggressively pursue allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct—even old ones.
Judge Says U.S. Must Show Good Cause to Revise Anthrax Filing
In an order issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hurley of West Palm Beach, Fla., said the government must "show good cause" before he will allow it to change the original filing, which lawyers for the department’s Civil Division made in an eight-year-old case brought against the government by the family of one of the five victims.
Government Anthrax Flip-Flop Could Boost Victims’ Lawsuit
Conflicting court filings and a retraction could undermine the Department of Justice’s credibility in a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of photographer Robert Stevens, first victim to die in the 2001 anthrax letter attacks.
Justice Department Retracts Court Filings That Undercut FBI's Anthrax Case
The unusual seven-page correction, hurriedly filed in federal court in Florida, does not erase testimony from government scientists who challenged the FBI's finding that Bruce Ivins mailed anthrax-filled letters that killed five people in 2001.
Justice Department Filing Casts Doubt on Guilt of Bruce Ivins, Accused in Anthrax Case
The Justice Department has called into question a key pillar of the FBI's case against Bruce Ivins, the Army scientist accused of mailing the anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and terrorized Congress a decade ago.
In the Phone Hacking Scandal, Remember Watergate
From this side of the Atlantic, the British phone hacking scandal seems more about a failure of British law enforcement than of the press to police itself.