Al Shaw
Al Shaw is a Senior News Application Developer at ProPublica.
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Al Shaw is a Senior News Application Developer at ProPublica. He uses data and interactive graphics to cover environmental issues, natural disasters and politics.
A year before Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, Shaw was part of a team that produced “Hell and High Water,” which warned of the region's vulnerability to coastal storms. The project won a Peabody Award in 2017. Shaw's project, “Losing Ground,” about the century-long erosion of Louisiana's coast won a Gold Medal from the Society for News Design. His interactive maps surrounding FEMA's response to Hurricane Sandy were honored with the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi award. Before joining ProPublica, Shaw was a designer/developer at the political news website Talking Points Memo.
How We Reconstructed the Flawed Navigation Controls Behind the Navy’s Worst Maritime Accident in 40 Years
To see the complex navigation system aboard the USS John S. McCain is to wonder how any amount of training would have been enough for sailors to have been confident using it.
See How This Political Boss and His Associates Bought Up Valuable Land After A Tax Break Law
Camden’s waterfront sat vacant for decades, but George E. Norcross III helped to usher in lucrative tax breaks. The land went to his friends and allies.
Local Reporting Network
In a Notoriously Polluted Area of the Country, Massive New Chemical Plants Are Still Moving In
Data from an EPA model indicates that communities along the lower Mississippi River corridor already face severely elevated cancer risks from industrial activity. Massive new chemical plants are slated to be built there anyway.
Local Reporting Network
How We Found New Chemical Plants Are Being Built in South Louisiana’s Most Polluted Areas
ProPublica and The Times-Picayune and The Advocate investigated the potential cancer-causing toxicity in the air. Using EPA data, public records requests and more, we found that some of the country’s most toxic air will likely get worse.
Local Reporting Network
Trump Town: Track White House Staff, Cabinet Members and Political Appointees Across the Government
Tracking White House staffers, Cabinet members and political appointees across the government
A Guide to Every Permitted Natural Gas Well in West Virginia
For the first time ever, ProPublica and the Gazette-Mail used software to show over 5,000 permitted wells and the pads on which they sit. Here’s what they look like.
Local Reporting Network
Powerless: What It Looks and Sounds Like When a Gas Driller Overruns Your Land
The gas rush is upending communities with traffic and noise, reshaping the way the state looks and sounds. Residents are often powerless to stop it.
Local Reporting Network
“A Never-Ending Commitment”: The High Cost of Preserving Vulnerable Beaches
In the wake of hurricanes like Florence, the U.S. government pays to dump truckloads of sand onto eroding beaches, in a cycle that is said to harm ecosystems and disproportionately benefit the rich.
New in Trump Town: Staffer Resumes
After discovering that the resumes of political appointees include information not revealed on their financial disclosure forms, Property of the People used data from Trump Town and Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain as many staff resumes as possible.
Hurricane Florence’s Surge Is Expected to Hit Homes That Already Cost the Government Millions
The storm is pummeling coastal towns that are battling rising sea levels and have been repeatedly bailed out by federal flood insurance.