Alec MacGillis
I have been reporting for ProPublica since 2015, most recently covering the post-pandemic schools crisis.
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What I Cover
In recent years, I have covered gun violence, economic inequality and the post-pandemic crisis in public education.
My Background
I worked for six newspapers, including The Baltimore Sun and The Washington Post. In 2011, I switched to magazines, at The New Republic, before arriving at ProPublica in 2015. My work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The New York Times Magazine, among others. I won the 2016 Robin Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, the 2017 Polk Award for National Reporting and the 2017 Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award. A resident of Baltimore, I am the author of “The Cynic: The Political Education of Mitch McConnell” and “Fulfillment: America in the Shadow of Amazon.”
What Can Mayors Do When the Police Stop Doing Their Jobs?
In cities across the country, leaders face a phenomenon encountered in Baltimore and Chicago: officers slowing their work in the wake of high-profile episodes of police violence. Reporter Alec MacGillis asks: Will the result be different this time?
Dollar Stores Have Become Magnets for Crime and Killing
Discount chains are thriving — while fostering violence and neglect in poor communities.
How Germany Saved Its Workforce From Unemployment While Spending Less Per Person Than the U.S.
The pandemic has cost jobs around the world. Comparing people who lost the same position in the two countries reveals that the U.S. government is spending more on unemployment — but its citizens are getting less.
Rent Is Still Due in Kushnerville
Government stimulus checks and a temporary ban on evictions are tiding over the suddenly jobless residents of housing complexes owned by Jared Kushner’s company. But what will happen when both soon run out?
One Thing the Pandemic Hasn’t Stopped: Aggressive Medical-Debt Collection
U.S. hospitals are in the spotlight for being on the frontline of fighting the pandemic. But in the shadows, debt collection operations continue, often by the same institutions treating coronavirus patients, all while unemployment and uncertainty soar.
What’s It Like on One of the Only University Campuses Still Open in the U.S.?
Liberty University president and Trump supporter Jerry Falwell Jr. caused a stir by keeping the campus of the evangelical university open. Now, a place known for banning premarital sex, alcohol, smoking and cursing is in a sense the most permissive.
“I Will Never Let Boeing Forget Her”
With the 737 MAX, Boeing put profits first and hundreds died. One grieving family is determined to hold the company accountable.
The Tragedy of Baltimore
Since Freddie Gray’s death in 2015, violent crime has spiked to levels unseen for a quarter century. How order collapsed in an American city.
Why the Perfect Red-State Democrat Lost
Taylor Sappington is exactly the kind of candidate his party should want in Ohio. But he couldn’t get union support.
How Struggling Dayton, Ohio, Reveals the Chasm Among American Cities
As a ProPublica/Frontline documentary shows, the economic and social gaps among cities are growing as dramatic as the gaps between urban and rural areas.